Seneca, On Peace of Mind 15.2

We ought therefore to bring ourselves into such a state of mind that all the vices of the vulgar may not appear hateful to us, but merely ridiculous, and we should imitate Democritus rather than Heraclitus.

The latter of these, whenever he appeared in public, used to weep, the former to laugh: the one thought all human doings to be follies, the other thought them to be miseries.

We must take a higher view of all things, and bear with them more easily: it better becomes a man to scoff at life than to lament over it.

Tradition has long referred to Democritus as the “laughing philosopher”, and to Heraclitus as the “weeping philosopher”. This wonderful image is quite prevalent, for example, in the history of art. I suspect that it has less to do with the content of their teachings than it does with anecdotes about the dispositions of their particular personalities.

I struggle greatly to laugh at the world, and I find it far too easy to frown at the world. I should take Seneca’s advice to heart. When confronted with pain, let me meet it with my own joy, with a sense of lightness. What good will come of it if I wallow and mope?

I am more inclined to the melancholic tendencies of Heraclitus than the sanguine tendencies of Democritus. Once I understand where my feelings and instincts are taking me, I can then make conscious decisions to adjust my own judgments.

Should I laugh in the sense of carelessness, or of ridicule? Not at all. I should laugh in the sense of recognizing that what I think to be so terrible, so crushing, is hardly a threat. I can smile, and I can look beyond it, and I can walk right by it, knowing that I do not need to be ruled by my impressions, that who I am is far greater than such trivial things.

I often think of an ideal from Boethius, that if I care nothing for what is in my pockets, I can whistle my way past any robber. What can he take from me that truly matters? The money will come and go, and the fame will come and go, and even the health of my body will come and go. Yes, in the end, my very life will come and go. I can laugh when all of those things matter so much to him, and not so much to me.

I can laugh if I can attend to the bigger picture. I would laugh if I saw two dogs bickering over an old bone, and so I should laugh when I see people fighting over the shallow spoils of life. In the vanity and silliness of it is the very humor of it.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

It will only bring me sadness when I think of it as a loss. It can only bring me contentment when I see how insignificant it is, when compared the to the genuine happiness of life.

Then I can smile, and then I can laugh.

Written in 12/2011

IMAGE: Heraclitus and Democritus