STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 10, 2016
"A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something."
--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
I see this every day, both in myself and in others. Have an active and constant concern for those around you. And don't be afraid to do what is good, loving, or just because you fear the possibility of failure, or of being vulnerable to harm. If you've done well, that is its own reward; if others respond by trying to hurt you, that's entirely on them. Inaction, out of indifference or fear, is just as crippling as malicious action.
"A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something."
--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)
I see this every day, both in myself and in others. Have an active and constant concern for those around you. And don't be afraid to do what is good, loving, or just because you fear the possibility of failure, or of being vulnerable to harm. If you've done well, that is its own reward; if others respond by trying to hurt you, that's entirely on them. Inaction, out of indifference or fear, is just as crippling as malicious action.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 11. 2016
"If someone turned your body over to just any person who happened to meet you, you would be angry. But are you not ashamed that you turn over your own faculty of judgment to whoever happens along, so that if he abuses you it is upset and confused?"
--Epictetus (Enchiridion 28)
There are few better opportunities for practicing self-control and good judgment than when someone is just pushing all your buttons. Make no mistake, it's a kind of power play, and the ball is in your court.
"If someone turned your body over to just any person who happened to meet you, you would be angry. But are you not ashamed that you turn over your own faculty of judgment to whoever happens along, so that if he abuses you it is upset and confused?"
--Epictetus (Enchiridion 28)
There are few better opportunities for practicing self-control and good judgment than when someone is just pushing all your buttons. Make no mistake, it's a kind of power play, and the ball is in your court.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 12, 2016
"For love of bustle is not industry – it is only the restlessness of a hunted mind."
--Seneca the Younger (Letter III to Lucillius)
Being constantly busy is not always the same as being productive. I should try to seek the quality of my inner life, not the quantity of my worldly success. The diversion and distraction of endless committee meetings, longer work hours, or bigger and better social and professional honors will never make me happy; it will always leave me a victim of my circumstances.
"For love of bustle is not industry – it is only the restlessness of a hunted mind."
--Seneca the Younger (Letter III to Lucillius)
Being constantly busy is not always the same as being productive. I should try to seek the quality of my inner life, not the quantity of my worldly success. The diversion and distraction of endless committee meetings, longer work hours, or bigger and better social and professional honors will never make me happy; it will always leave me a victim of my circumstances.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 13, 2016
"To diagnose good and evil, useful and useless, or helpful and harmful is the job of no one other than the philosopher. . . Therefore it seems to be necessary for a king to study philosophy."
--Musonius Rufus (Lecture 8)
I am all too familiar with the claim that philosophy is useless, or the insistence that Plato's philosopher-king is a pipe dream. But while any ruler or politician, or anyone in any authority for that matter, may be charming and eloquent, resourceful or wealthy, isn't t it most important that he understand right from wrong, true from false? If so, then rulers must become philosophers, and philosopher must become rulers. By philosopher, I don't mean an academic snob who publishes in prestigious journals or preens and postures in the lecture hall. I mean someone, anyone, who lives for the true and the good. This isn't just a theoretical ideal. It's a common-sense maxim.
"To diagnose good and evil, useful and useless, or helpful and harmful is the job of no one other than the philosopher. . . Therefore it seems to be necessary for a king to study philosophy."
--Musonius Rufus (Lecture 8)
I am all too familiar with the claim that philosophy is useless, or the insistence that Plato's philosopher-king is a pipe dream. But while any ruler or politician, or anyone in any authority for that matter, may be charming and eloquent, resourceful or wealthy, isn't t it most important that he understand right from wrong, true from false? If so, then rulers must become philosophers, and philosopher must become rulers. By philosopher, I don't mean an academic snob who publishes in prestigious journals or preens and postures in the lecture hall. I mean someone, anyone, who lives for the true and the good. This isn't just a theoretical ideal. It's a common-sense maxim.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 14. 2016
"Philosophy is certainly the medicine of the soul. Its aid is to be sought not from without, as in diseases of the body; and we must labour with all our resources and with all our strength to cure ourselves."
--Cicero (Tuscan Disputations, Book III)
I am always amazed at the parallels between Stoic philosophy and contemporary Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The true and the good remain timeless. My own sanity, and sanctity, don't come from others; they come from my own understanding and my own choices.
"Philosophy is certainly the medicine of the soul. Its aid is to be sought not from without, as in diseases of the body; and we must labour with all our resources and with all our strength to cure ourselves."
--Cicero (Tuscan Disputations, Book III)
I am always amazed at the parallels between Stoic philosophy and contemporary Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The true and the good remain timeless. My own sanity, and sanctity, don't come from others; they come from my own understanding and my own choices.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 15, 2016
"How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything which happens in life."
--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations, Book 12)
It is all too easy to slip into a reliance on the normal, on patterns, on the expected. But the fact is that life is wildly unpredictable. All the more reason not to depend on those conditions that are beyond our control.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 21, 2016
"When you are offended at any man's fault, immediately turn to yourself and reflect in what like manner you do wrong yourself; for example, in thinking that money is a good thing, or pleasure, or a bit of reputation, and the like. For by attending to this you will quickly forget your anger."
--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations, Book 10)
I believe that philosophy is to be practiced, not merely studied, and this is a perfect instance. I now try to use the above as an actual mental discipline, right on the spot, whenever I feel offended, hurt, or wronged. If I do it right, I then immediately recognize my own equivalent flaws, and thereby recognize myself in my enemy. Then I can breathe easy, with a bit more humility and compassion. When you've seen me be vindictive, petty, or easy to anger, it's because I failed to follow my mental routine! Sorry. . .
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 22, 2016
"Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother acts unjustly, do not lay hold of the act by that handle wherein he acts unjustly, for this is the handle which cannot be borne; but lay hold of the other, that he is your brother, that he was nurtured with you, and you will lay hold of the thing by that handle by which it can be borne."
--Epictetus (Enchiridion 43)
I'm not entirely sure why, but I just love that image. I imagine that awkward moment when I'm all befuddled, not sure how to pick up an oversized box or a piece of ungainly luggage. The 'handle' that can make it possible for me to bear, carry, tolerate another is charity, not resentment. Drum roll: It's the love handle. . .
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 23, 2016
"We are mad, not only individually, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; but what of war and the much-vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples? There are no limits to our greed, none to our cruelty. And as long as such crimes are committed by stealth and by individuals, they are less harmful and less portentous; but cruelties are practised in accordance with acts of senate and popular assembly, and the public is bidden to do that which is forbidden to the individual. Deeds that would be punished by loss of life when committed in secret, are praised by us because uniformed generals have carried them out. Man, naturally the gentlest class of being, is not ashamed to revel in the blood of others, to wage war, and to entrust the waging of war to his sons, when even dumb beasts and wild beasts keep the peace with one another. Against this overmastering and widespread madness philosophy has become a matter of greater effort, and has taken on strength in proportion to the strength which is gained by the opposition forces."
--Seneca the Younger (Letter to Lucilius 95)
A brief foray into the the brutally honest politics of a Stoic.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 24, 2016
“Indeed, the condition of human nature is just this; man towers above the rest of creation so long as he realizes his own nature, and when he forgets it, he sinks lower than the beasts. For other living things to be ignorant of themselves, is natural; but for man it is a defect.
--Boethius (The Consolation of Philosophy)
Having been a teacher for over two decades now, it's always sad to see how many people truly dislike learning or understanding. Perhaps because of the effort or humility it requires, perhaps simply because of narrow self-absorption and enslavement to desire, they just won't see the point of it. It is also so gratifying and fulfilling when I come across someone who embraces human nature and rises above the beasts.
"How ridiculous and what a stranger he is who is surprised at anything which happens in life."
--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations, Book 12)
It is all too easy to slip into a reliance on the normal, on patterns, on the expected. But the fact is that life is wildly unpredictable. All the more reason not to depend on those conditions that are beyond our control.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 16, 2016
"Never say about anything, I have lost it, but say I have given it back. Is your child dead? You have given him back. Is your wife dead? She has been given back. Has your estate been taken from you? Has not then this also been given back? 'But he who has taken it from me is a bad man.' But what is it to you, by whose hands the giver demanded it back? So long as he may allow you, take care of it as a thing which belongs to another, as travelers do with their inn."
--Epictetus (Enchiridion IX)
The way Epictetus says this may seem a little harsh to our modern, sensitive ears, but attend to the meaning: I don't own anyone or anything as being mine. The things that I use and appreciate daily are lent to me by nature, the people I love are a gift, a privilege life has shared with me, not a right or an entitlement. I never owned them to begin with, so I cannot lose them, and they were good and beautiful for their own sake, not because I held them. When I lose these people or things, I shouldn't despair. I should be grateful for the chance to have enjoyed them, and gladly return what I have borrowed to nature and the rule of providence. Nothing happens in vain, and everything is charged with grace.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 17, 2016
"Nothing, therefore, is more important than that we should not, like sheep, follow the flock that has gone before us, and thus proceed not where we should, but where the rest are going. Now nothing gets us into greater troubles than our subservience to common rumor, and our habit of thinking that those things are best which are most generally received as such, of taking many counterfeits for truly good things, and of living not by reason but by imitation of others. This is the cause of those great heaps into which men rush until they are piled one upon another. In a great crush of people, when the crowd presses upon itself, no one can fall without drawing some one else down upon him, and those who go before cause the destruction of those who follow them."
--Seneca the Younger (On a Happy Life, Book I)
G.K. Chesterton said this just as prudently, though perhaps more succinctly: "dead things swim with the current, living ones against it." We are like lemmings. For all the benefits of having attended a prestigious college, beyond the means of so many, its biggest drawback was the sense that we were all simply doing what was expected of us. I was 'supposed' to be a scholar who wrote books reviewed in all the best journals, my girl at the time was 'supposed' to go to law school and be a charming success, my dear friend was 'supposed' to follow in his father's footsteps, be a real estate mogul in New Jersey, and play golf on the weekends. Lies within lies. Men and women are made to be happy, not mindless drones. Don't let them fool you; the appearance of happiness is not the same as its content. Rotten things are very often under those pretty veneers.
"Never say about anything, I have lost it, but say I have given it back. Is your child dead? You have given him back. Is your wife dead? She has been given back. Has your estate been taken from you? Has not then this also been given back? 'But he who has taken it from me is a bad man.' But what is it to you, by whose hands the giver demanded it back? So long as he may allow you, take care of it as a thing which belongs to another, as travelers do with their inn."
--Epictetus (Enchiridion IX)
The way Epictetus says this may seem a little harsh to our modern, sensitive ears, but attend to the meaning: I don't own anyone or anything as being mine. The things that I use and appreciate daily are lent to me by nature, the people I love are a gift, a privilege life has shared with me, not a right or an entitlement. I never owned them to begin with, so I cannot lose them, and they were good and beautiful for their own sake, not because I held them. When I lose these people or things, I shouldn't despair. I should be grateful for the chance to have enjoyed them, and gladly return what I have borrowed to nature and the rule of providence. Nothing happens in vain, and everything is charged with grace.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 17, 2016
"Nothing, therefore, is more important than that we should not, like sheep, follow the flock that has gone before us, and thus proceed not where we should, but where the rest are going. Now nothing gets us into greater troubles than our subservience to common rumor, and our habit of thinking that those things are best which are most generally received as such, of taking many counterfeits for truly good things, and of living not by reason but by imitation of others. This is the cause of those great heaps into which men rush until they are piled one upon another. In a great crush of people, when the crowd presses upon itself, no one can fall without drawing some one else down upon him, and those who go before cause the destruction of those who follow them."
--Seneca the Younger (On a Happy Life, Book I)
G.K. Chesterton said this just as prudently, though perhaps more succinctly: "dead things swim with the current, living ones against it." We are like lemmings. For all the benefits of having attended a prestigious college, beyond the means of so many, its biggest drawback was the sense that we were all simply doing what was expected of us. I was 'supposed' to be a scholar who wrote books reviewed in all the best journals, my girl at the time was 'supposed' to go to law school and be a charming success, my dear friend was 'supposed' to follow in his father's footsteps, be a real estate mogul in New Jersey, and play golf on the weekends. Lies within lies. Men and women are made to be happy, not mindless drones. Don't let them fool you; the appearance of happiness is not the same as its content. Rotten things are very often under those pretty veneers.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January, 18, 2016
"The person who lives luxuriously would also be entirely unjust, inasmuch as he would shrink from performing tasks he ought to undertake on behalf of his city, if performing them meant abandoning his luxurious lifestyle."
--Musonius Rufus (Lecture 20)
This one, like the similar one in Matthew 19:21-22, is a very hard lesson. But if I am to value my character over my possessions, I should always sacrifice the latter for the former. I already wondered as a kid about the very rich in my town who preached all the correct causes, but who owned million dollar homes, went on vacations in the south of France, and yet couldn't be troubled to offer a kind word or a helping hand to a neighbor. It is much harder doing it than saying it. It's not the wealth that is the problem. It's what I do with it, and if I put my money where my mouth is.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 19, 2016
'Enjoy the blessing of strength while you have it and do not bewail it when it is gone, unless you believe that youth must lament the loss of infancy, or early manhood the passing of youth. Life's race-course is fixed; Nature has only a single path and that path is run but once, and to each stage of existence has been allotted its own appropriate quality; so that the weakness of childhood, the impetuosity of youth, the seriousness of middle life, the maturity of old age—each bears some of Nature's fruit, which must be garnered in its own season."
--Cicero (On Old Age, Sec. 33)
Good grief, I was never any good at this. It's too easy to rush the future or miss the past. I'd like a bit more time to practice, please.
"The person who lives luxuriously would also be entirely unjust, inasmuch as he would shrink from performing tasks he ought to undertake on behalf of his city, if performing them meant abandoning his luxurious lifestyle."
--Musonius Rufus (Lecture 20)
This one, like the similar one in Matthew 19:21-22, is a very hard lesson. But if I am to value my character over my possessions, I should always sacrifice the latter for the former. I already wondered as a kid about the very rich in my town who preached all the correct causes, but who owned million dollar homes, went on vacations in the south of France, and yet couldn't be troubled to offer a kind word or a helping hand to a neighbor. It is much harder doing it than saying it. It's not the wealth that is the problem. It's what I do with it, and if I put my money where my mouth is.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 19, 2016
'Enjoy the blessing of strength while you have it and do not bewail it when it is gone, unless you believe that youth must lament the loss of infancy, or early manhood the passing of youth. Life's race-course is fixed; Nature has only a single path and that path is run but once, and to each stage of existence has been allotted its own appropriate quality; so that the weakness of childhood, the impetuosity of youth, the seriousness of middle life, the maturity of old age—each bears some of Nature's fruit, which must be garnered in its own season."
--Cicero (On Old Age, Sec. 33)
Good grief, I was never any good at this. It's too easy to rush the future or miss the past. I'd like a bit more time to practice, please.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 20, 2016
"If you expect a physician to help you, you must first lay bare your wound."
--Boethius (The Consolation of Philosophy)
Denial, repression, diversion, call it what you will. It all sounds easy and wonderful, but trust me, it will kill your spirit in the end. Ignoring our suffering or our wrongdoings doesn't make them go away. It makes them worse.
Oh look, a pretty picture! Many of you may know how much I love Leunig's cartoons. This one happened to fit today!
"If you expect a physician to help you, you must first lay bare your wound."
--Boethius (The Consolation of Philosophy)
Denial, repression, diversion, call it what you will. It all sounds easy and wonderful, but trust me, it will kill your spirit in the end. Ignoring our suffering or our wrongdoings doesn't make them go away. It makes them worse.
Oh look, a pretty picture! Many of you may know how much I love Leunig's cartoons. This one happened to fit today!
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 21, 2016
"When you are offended at any man's fault, immediately turn to yourself and reflect in what like manner you do wrong yourself; for example, in thinking that money is a good thing, or pleasure, or a bit of reputation, and the like. For by attending to this you will quickly forget your anger."
--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations, Book 10)
I believe that philosophy is to be practiced, not merely studied, and this is a perfect instance. I now try to use the above as an actual mental discipline, right on the spot, whenever I feel offended, hurt, or wronged. If I do it right, I then immediately recognize my own equivalent flaws, and thereby recognize myself in my enemy. Then I can breathe easy, with a bit more humility and compassion. When you've seen me be vindictive, petty, or easy to anger, it's because I failed to follow my mental routine! Sorry. . .
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 22, 2016
"Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother acts unjustly, do not lay hold of the act by that handle wherein he acts unjustly, for this is the handle which cannot be borne; but lay hold of the other, that he is your brother, that he was nurtured with you, and you will lay hold of the thing by that handle by which it can be borne."
--Epictetus (Enchiridion 43)
I'm not entirely sure why, but I just love that image. I imagine that awkward moment when I'm all befuddled, not sure how to pick up an oversized box or a piece of ungainly luggage. The 'handle' that can make it possible for me to bear, carry, tolerate another is charity, not resentment. Drum roll: It's the love handle. . .
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 23, 2016
"We are mad, not only individually, but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders; but what of war and the much-vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples? There are no limits to our greed, none to our cruelty. And as long as such crimes are committed by stealth and by individuals, they are less harmful and less portentous; but cruelties are practised in accordance with acts of senate and popular assembly, and the public is bidden to do that which is forbidden to the individual. Deeds that would be punished by loss of life when committed in secret, are praised by us because uniformed generals have carried them out. Man, naturally the gentlest class of being, is not ashamed to revel in the blood of others, to wage war, and to entrust the waging of war to his sons, when even dumb beasts and wild beasts keep the peace with one another. Against this overmastering and widespread madness philosophy has become a matter of greater effort, and has taken on strength in proportion to the strength which is gained by the opposition forces."
--Seneca the Younger (Letter to Lucilius 95)
A brief foray into the the brutally honest politics of a Stoic.
STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 24, 2016
“Indeed, the condition of human nature is just this; man towers above the rest of creation so long as he realizes his own nature, and when he forgets it, he sinks lower than the beasts. For other living things to be ignorant of themselves, is natural; but for man it is a defect.
--Boethius (The Consolation of Philosophy)
Having been a teacher for over two decades now, it's always sad to see how many people truly dislike learning or understanding. Perhaps because of the effort or humility it requires, perhaps simply because of narrow self-absorption and enslavement to desire, they just won't see the point of it. It is also so gratifying and fulfilling when I come across someone who embraces human nature and rises above the beasts.
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