Stoic Wisdom for the Day Collection 5

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 4, 2016
"There are two things that do assault this castle of constancy in us, false goods, and false evils: I define them both to be such things as are not in us but about us: and which properly do not help nor hurt the inner man, that is, the mind. Wherefore I may not call those things good or evil simply in subject and in definition: but I confess they are such in opinion, and by the judgment of the common people. In the first rank [false goods] I place riches, honor, authority, health, long life. In the second [false evils], poverty, infamy, lack of promotion, sickness, death. And to comprehend all in one word, whatsoever else is accidental and happens outwardly."

--Justus Lipsius, Book of Constancy, Chapter 7 (1594)

Justus Lipsius was a Stoic not from the Classical period, but from the Renaissance. I find his stress on the virtue of constancy to be especially comforting. The above is a nice review of the basic Stoic distinction between false goods and false evils. The Stoic model doesn't make sense until one can see that these "outward" things are neither inherently good nor evil, but become so because of our "inner" judgment and use of them.

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 5, 2016
"Life and death, wealth and want affect all men most powerfully. But when men, with a spirit great and exalted, can look down upon such outward circumstances, whether prosperous or adverse, and when some noble and virtuous purpose, presented to their minds, converts them wholly to itself and carries them away in its pursuit, who then could fail to admire in them the splendour and beauty of virtue?"

--Cicero, On Duties (Book 2)

Cicero's take on the first principles of Stoicism, but with the added benefit of his soaring rhetoric.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 6, 2016
"You think that life can be prolonged by the breath of mortal fame, but when slow time robs you of this too, then there awaits for you a second death."

--Boethius (Consolation of Philosophy, Book 2)

Back when I courted socialism (she was a fickle mistress), I used to think that the love of money was our problem. But the school of hard knocks taught me that money is a symptom, not the cause. At the root of our problem is our vanity, our need to feel important, to be the center of things, and money is simply a tool and means to that end. I need to ask myself, whether I leave this mortal coil in hours or in years, what I will possess in the end? The money, of course, will be pointless. And so will all the honor and fame. In my best South Boston accent, "buddy, it'll leave ya high an' dry."



Image: Pence Georg, "The Wheel of Fortune"

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 7, 2016
"It is your duty to leave another man's wrongful act right there where it is."

--Marcus Aurelius (Meditation 9)

Revenge isn't a dish best served cold, it's a dish best never served at all.

Hurt for hurt just makes two hurts, e.g. Matthew 5:44. The Stoics understood this as well. The malice of others is in their power, but the goodness of my own actions is within my power.

Image: Gaisser, "Die Rache" (Revenge), c. 1899

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 8, 2016
"Remember that in life you ought to behave as at a banquet. Suppose that something is carried round and is opposite to you. Stretch out your hand and take a portion with decency. Suppose that it passes by you. Do not detain it. Suppose that it is not yet come to you. Do not send your desire forward to it, but wait till it is opposite to you. Do so with respect to children, so with respect to a wife, so with respect to offices, so with respect to wealth, and you will be some time a worthy partner of the banquets of the gods. But if you take none of the things which are set before you, and even despise them, then you will be not only a fellow banqueter with the gods, but also a partner with them in power. "

--Epictetus (Enchiridion 15)

I've always liked this image of table manners and morality. The virtuous man takes what nature offers with gratitude. The divine man can even politely refuse.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 9, 2016
"If one were to measure what is agreeable by the standard of pleasure, nothing would be more pleasant than self-control; and if one were to measure what is to be avoided by the standard of pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control."

--Musonius Rufus (Fragment 23)

Musonius, the 'Roman Socrates,' is having a bit of fun with us here. The seeking of pleasure and avoidance of pain was the first principle of the rival Epicureans, and Musonius is reminding us that even IF we were to take pleasure as the good, we would STILL need to rule it with self-control and moderation to actually enjoy it. So being conditional and relative, pleasure can't be the highest good, can it? Few things hurt more than unfettered gluttony, avarice, or lust.

Image: Bruegel the Elder, "Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony" 1558

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 10, 2016
There are a number of anecdotes describing what happened when Alexander the Great, master of the world, met Diogenes of Sinope, the philosopher who lived in a barrel. This one is my favorite:

"Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, 'I am searching for the bones of your father, but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.' "

So by all means, let's enjoy those important titles, our fancy homes on the trendy side of town, and all our prestigious degrees. But in the end, we were made from dust, and to dust we shall return.

I will be absent from Facebook for Lent. My beloved children have decided to give up electronic diversions, and I'm joining them in solidarity. A good Stoic thing to do! Stoic Wisdom for the Day should, God willing, return at Easter!

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 29 March, 2016
"Remember that you are like an actor in a play, of such a kind as the author may choose; if short, of a short one; if long, of a long one: if he wishes you to act the part of a poor man, see that you act the part naturally; if the part of a lame man, of a magistrate, of a private person, do the same. For this is your duty, to act with excellence the part that is given to you; but to select the part, belongs to another."

--Epictetus (Enchiridion 17)

Some of my favorite parts in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings strike me as deeply Stoic, especially, and most appropriately, the words of Gandalf:

" 'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.

'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.' "

Or this:

" 'Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.' "

Epictetus couldn't have said it better, I reckon!

 STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 30 March, 2016
"Your grief is renewed and grows stronger every day - by lingering it has established its right to stay, and has now reached the point that it is ashamed to make an end, just as all vices become deep-rooted unless they are crushed when they spring up, so, too, such a state of sadness and wretchedness, with its self-afflicted torture, feeds at last upon its very bitterness, and the grief of an unhappy mind becomes a morbid pleasure.

And so I should have liked to approach your cure in the first stages of your sorrow. While it was still young, a gentler remedy might have been used to check its violence; against inveterate evils the fight must be more vehement. This is likewise true of wounds - they are easy to heal while they are still fresh and bloody. When they have festered and turned into a wicked sore, then they must be cauterized and, opened up to the very bottom, must submit to probing fingers. As it is, I cannot possibly be a match for such hardened grief by being considerate and gentle; it must be crushed."

--Seneca ("On Consolation to Marcia")

Sorry, this is a longer excerpt, but one well worth it. Seneca wrote this letter to a woman who had lost her son, and after three years her grief had only grown worse. His remedy sounds harsh to some, perhaps even heartless, but while he fully recognizes that sorrow in its early stages must be met with sympathy and gentleness, grief that has lingered for too long can't be cured with mere kindness. It has become so hardened, so ingrained that it must be met with strength and force. The analogy of the wound is a fitting one.

I can relate to this all too well. I made the fatal error many years ago of brutally repressing, denying and ignoring the greatest loss I have ever felt. I didn't manage it with the loving care I should have back then, and by the time I saw what I had done to myself, loving care was no longer enough. Only courage and toughness, being tempered like steel, can now be effective. I don't think that's heartless at all. It's tough, but it's still love. In fact, it would be naive and heartless to think otherwise and to prescribe a weak remedy. One cannot coddle self-pity.

Never abandon or discard someone in sorrow, because no person is ever disposable. But sometimes the medicine you give, to yourself or another, must taste very bitter.


Image: Oskar Zwintscher, "Grief" (1898)