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Sunday, July 31, 2022

Stoic Snippets 155


Remember that to change your opinion and to follow him who corrects your error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in your error. 

For it is your own, the activity which is exerted according to your own movement and judgment, and indeed according to your own understanding too. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.16 

IMAGE: Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son (c. 1668)



Saturday, July 30, 2022

The Atonement of Hercules


Though I became familiar with many of the myths about Hercules from an early age, I did not take any special interest in them, as I initially saw little more than tales about a "strong guy" proving his toughness. I preferred Superman in that regard, because at least Superman was also presented as being driven by his deep sense of right and wrong. 

Only later did I realize how those elements were also present in the stories of Hercules, and I simply hadn't bothered to look as carefully as I should have. I now understand that while I may never have the physical powers of a demigod, there is nothing stopping me from continually training my moral powers. 

The Labors of Hercules are far more than celebrations of brawn, or even of cleverness. The entire context of why he commits to these seemingly impossible tasks is not about bragging rights, but rather about doing something right to make up for something wrong. Yes, I even call it a sort of atonement, since Hercules is doing a form of penance for his sins. 

Hera was not too fond of Hercules, and she had cursed him with a madness. In this enraged state, he murdered his own wife and children. Upon realizing what he had done, Hercules visited the Oracle at Delphi to learn  how he might cleanse himself of his guilt. He was told he must serve at the will of his cousin, King Eurystheus, and to perform any tasks given to him. 

Eurystheus originally demands ten labors, though he ended up considering two to be incomplete, and so there were ultimately twelve. 

There are different versions of these, though this is the set I came to know: 

1) Slaying the Nemean Lion 
2) Slaying the Lernaean Hydra 
3) Capturing the Ceryneian Hind 
4) Capturing the Erymanthian Boar 
5) Cleaning the Augean Stables 
6) Slaying the Stymphalian Birds 
7) Capturing the Cretan Bull 
8) Obtaining the Mares of Diomedes 
9) Obtaining the Girdle of Hippolyta 
10) Obtaining the Cattle of Geryon 
11) Obtaining the Apples of the Hesperides 
12) Capturing Cerberus 

Each of these, of course, has the element of action and adventure, often with a clever twist, and yet I must remember that they are bound together as challenges of character as well as challenges of the body. My duties for the day might not be as grand, though I can still approach them with the same motivation. 

I have wondered if, as with all good stories, their meaning could be taken allegorically, and I will sometimes reflect on one of labors in terms of what symbolic struggle it might represent. Hence I was pleased to find how Heraclitus the Grammarian had already expressed the point much more precisely than I could: 

I turn to Heracles. We must not suppose he attained such power in those days as a result of his physical strength. Rather, he was a man of intellect, an initiate in heavenly wisdom, who, as it were, shed light on philosophy, which had been hidden in deep darkness. 

The most authoritative of the Stoics agree with this account. 

The Erymanthian boar which he overcame is the common incontinence of men; the Nemean lion is the indiscriminate rush towards improper goals; in the same way, by fettering irrational passions he gave rise to the belief that he had fettered the violent Cretan bull. 

He banished cowardice also from the world, in the shape of the hind of Ceryneia. 

There was another "labor" too, not properly so called, in which he cleared out the mass of dung from the Augean stables—in other words, the foulness that disfigures humanity. 

The Stymphalian birds he scattered are the windy hopes that feed our lives; the many-headed hydra that he burned, as it were, with the fires of exhortation, is pleasure, which begins to grow again as soon as it is cut out. . . . 

We all carry our own peculiar burdens, big or small, and Hercules can inspire us in every one of of them. 

—9/2005






Dhammapada 226


Those who are ever watchful, who study day and night, and who strive after Nirvana, their passions will come to an end. 



Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.2


But I have answered the detractors of philosophy in general, in my Hortensius. And what I had to say in favor of the Academics, is, I think, explained with sufficient accuracy in my four books of the Academic Question.

 

But yet I am so far from desiring that no one should write against me, that it is what I most earnestly wish; for philosophy would never have been in such esteem in Greece itself, if it had not been for the strength which it acquired from the contentions and disputations of the most learned men; and therefore I recommend all men who have abilities to follow my advice to snatch this art also from declining Greece, and to transport it to this city; as our ancestors by their study and industry have imported all their other arts which were worth having. 

 

Thus the praise of oratory, raised from a low degree, is arrived at such perfection that it must now decline, and, as is the nature of all things, verge to its dissolution in a very short time. 

 

Let philosophy, then, derive its birth in Latin language from this time, and let us lend it our assistance, and bear patiently to be contradicted and refuted; and although those men may dislike such treatment who are bound and devoted to certain predetermined opinions, and are under such obligations to maintain them that they are forced, for the sake of consistency, to adhere to them even though they do not themselves wholly approve of them; we, on the other hand, who pursue only probabilities, and who cannot go beyond that which seems really likely, can confute others without obstinacy, and are prepared to be confuted ourselves without resentment. 

 

Besides, if these studies are ever brought home to us, we shall not want even Greek libraries, in which there is an infinite number of books, by reason of the multitude of authors among them; for it is a common practice with many to repeat the same things which have been written by others, which serves no purpose but to stuff their shelves; and this will be our case, too, if many apply themselves to this study. 


—from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.2 

 

One of the reasons I have developed an admiration for Cicero is that his thinking is eclectic. He does not limit himself to this or that “school” of philosophy, but rather seeks out what he finds to be true in any and all of them. He does not succumb to what I call the bondage of the “-isms”, where a loyalty to narrow dogma hinders us from appreciating a wider truth, but rather is open to a broad range of possibilities, often to be taken in different senses. 

 

At the same time, he does not succumb to the opposing extreme of relativism, because he understands why philosophy demands sound thinking, and thereby provides the only firm foundation for all our actions. Where I cannot grasp the meaning of what I am doing, I’m not really doing much of anything at all. 

 

Much of my interest these days in in Stoicism, and yet I think it would be foolish to limit myself only to Stoicism, or to reject the wisdom of any other traditions. A greater harmony can be found far more often than I might initially believe. If it happens to be true, it shouldn’t matter where I happened to find it. So, some Stoics are shocked to learn of my love for Aquinas, and some Thomists are aghast at my admiration for Wittgenstein. 

 

While the Tusculan Disputations have a strong Stoic influence, to be sure, one particular way in which Cicero diverges from that creed is in his appreciation of certain aspects of Academic skepticism. 

 

There would be enough material for a whole shelf of books here, but in the simplest of terms, the Stoic stress on “grasping” a certainty in impressions (katalepsis) is contrasted by the Academic stress on accepting that our knowledge will only be more or less likely. A firm direct realism is countered by an emphasis on moderate doubt. 

 

Can I know for sure? For the Stoic it can be done with great effort, and for the Academic it can merely be approached by degrees. 

 

Whatever our own conclusions on the matter, I would suggest that Cicero’s sort of skepticism is quite healthy, and hardly destructive. It reflects his greater intent of taking in multiple points of view, balancing them against one another, and then holding to the most probable solution. 

 

Accordingly, there need be no bitterness or animosity in the act of philosophical discourse. Sadly, far too many in intellectual circles find a pleasure in combat, yet that need not be our concern; our only concern should be to employ the dialectic to discover a shared awareness that can get the job done. 

 

Don’t let the partisan pundits get you down. Those who are immovable in their opinions will always put the conclusion before the evidence, instead of the evidence before the conclusion. 

 

Rome was always known for the high quality of its rhetoric, and it was Cicero’s hope that the great city might also become brilliant in its philosophy. Just as good orators can debate, while still remaining respectful to one another, so good philosophers can dispute, while still remaining united in a common goal of happiness. 

 

Having more books, or the oldest books, or the newest books, makes little difference. To deal with the pains of life calls for a more comprehensive and a far more forgiving awareness. 

—Reflection written in 7/1996 



Friday, July 29, 2022

Seven Deadly Sins


A modern take on on some timeless vices . . . 

James Todd, The Seven Deadly Sins (2010) 

Vanity / Greed / Wrath / Envy / Lust / Gluttony / Sloth 









Thursday, July 28, 2022

Sayings of Publilius Syrus 70


The slothful enjoyment of it, is the worst part of prosperity. 

IMAGE: George Frederick Watts, "For He Had Great Possessions" (1894) 

—Referencing Mark 10:22, Matthew 19:22



Aesop's Fables 56


The Man and the Satyr 

A man had lost his way in a wood one bitter winter's night. As he was roaming about, a Satyr came up to him, and finding that he had lost his way, promised to give him a lodging for the night, and guide him out of the forest in the morning. 

As he went along to the Satyr's cell, the Man raised both his hands to his mouth and kept on blowing at them. "What do you do that for?" said the Satyr. 

"My hands are numb with the cold," said the Man, "and my breath warms them." 

After this they arrived at the Satyr's home, and soon the Satyr put a smoking dish of porridge before him. But when the Man raised his spoon to his mouth he began blowing upon it. "And what do you do that for?" said the Satyr. 

"The porridge is too hot, and my breath will cool it." 

"Out you go," said the Satyr. "I will have nothing to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath." 





Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Abandoned Places 35


Romain Veillon, Le Jour des Temps (2020) 



Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Stockdale on Stoicism 24


The Stoics were good citizens. In politics, the Stoic would love his country and hold himself ready to die at any time to avert its disgrace or his own. 

But a man's conscience was to be higher than any law. A man has a right to be responsible, self-ruling, autonomous. 

So on good and evil, where does that leave us? 

Nothing that is natural can be evil. Death cannot be evil. Disease cannot be evil. Natural disasters cannot be evil. Nothing inevitable can be evil. 

The Universe as a whole is perfect, and everything in it has a place in the overall design. Inevitability is produced by the workings of this mechanism. 

Events do not happen by chance, they arrive by appointment. There is a cause for everything, and "chance" is simply a name for undiscovered causes. 

—from James B. Stockdale, The Stoic Warrior's Triad 



Monday, July 25, 2022

The Last Judgement Triptych


As a reference for Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ 3.48: 

John Martin, The Plains of Heaven / The Last Judgement / The Great Day of His Wrath (1851-1853) 






















—The three pieces were meant to go together something like this: 









Sayings of Ramakrishna 166


Of all the birds of the air the crow is considered to be the wisest, and he thinks himself so too. 

He never falls into a snare. He flies off at the slightest approach of danger, and steals the food with the greatest dexterity. 

But all this wisdom can supply him with no better living than filth and foul matter. This is the result of his having the wisdom of the pettifogger. 



Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ 3.48


Of the day of eternity and of the straitnesses of this life 

1. Oh most blessed mansion of the City which is above! Oh most clear day of eternity which the night obscures not, but the Supreme Truth ever enlightens! Day always joyful, always secure and never changing its state into those which are contrary. Oh would that this day might shine forth, and that all these temporal things would come to an end. It shines indeed upon the Saints, glowing with unending brightness, but only from afar and through a glass, upon those who are pilgrims on the earth. 

2. The citizens of heaven know how glorious that day is; the exiled sons of Eve groan, because this is bitter and wearisome. The days of this life are few and evil, full of sorrows and straits, where man is defiled with many sins, ensnared with many passions, bound fast with many fears, wearied with many cares, distracted with many questionings, entangled with many vanities, compassed about with many errors, worn away with many labors, weighed down with temptations, enervated by pleasures, tormented by poverty. 

3. Oh when shall there be an end of these evils? When shall I be delivered from the wretched slavery of my sins? When shall I be mindful, O Lord, of You alone? When shall I rejoice in You to the full? When shall I be in true liberty without any impediment, without any burden on mind or body? When shall there be solid peace, peace immovable and secure, peace within and without, peace firm on every side? Blessed Jesus, when shall I stand to behold You? When shall I gaze upon the glory of Your kingdom? When shall You be to me all in all? Oh when shall I be with You in Your Kingdom which You have prepared from the foundation of the world for them that love You? I am left destitute, an exile in a hostile land, where are daily wars and grievous misfortunes. 

4. Console my exile, mitigate my sorrow, for towards You all my desire longs. For all is to me a burden, whatsoever this world offers for consolation. I yearn to enjoy You intimately, but I cannot attain unto it. I long to cleave to heavenly things, but temporal things and unmortified passions press me down. In my mind I would be above all things, but in my flesh I am unwillingly compelled to be beneath them. So, wretched man that I am, I fight with myself, and am made grievous even unto myself, while the spirit seeks to be above and the flesh to be beneath. 

5. Oh how I suffer inwardly, while with the mind I discourse on heavenly things, and presently a crowd of carnal things rush upon me while I pray. My God, be not You far from me, nor depart in wrath from Your servant. Cast forth Your lightning and scatter them; send out Your arrows, and let all delusions of my enemy be confounded. Recall my senses unto Yourself, cause me to forget all worldly things; grant me quickly to cast away and despise the imaginations of sin. Succour me, O Eternal Truth, that no vanity may move me. Come unto me, O Heavenly Sweetness, and let all impurity flee from before Your face. Pardon me also, and of Your mercy deal gently with me, whensoever in prayer I think on anything besides You; for truly I confess that I am wont to be continually distracted. For often and often, where in the body I stand or sit, there I myself am not; but rather am I there, whither I am borne by my thoughts. Where my thought is, there am I; and there commonly is my thought where that which I love is. That readily occurs to me, which naturally delights, or pleases through custom. 

6. Wherefore You, who are the Truth, has plainly said, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. If I love heaven, I gladly meditate on heavenly things. If I love the world, I rejoice in the delights of the world, and am made sorry by its adversities. If I love the flesh, I am continually imagining the things which belong to the flesh; if I love the spirit, I am delighted by meditating on spiritual things. For whatsoever things I love, on these I readily converse and listen, and carry home with me the images of them. But blessed is that man who for Your sake, O Lord, is willing to part from all creatures; who does violence to his fleshly nature and crucifies the lusts of the flesh by the fervor of his spirit, so that with serene conscience he may offer unto You a pure prayer, and be made worthy to enter into the angelic choirs, having shut out from himself, both outwardly and inwardly, all worldly things. 

IMAGE: John Martin, The City of God and the Waters of Life (c. 1851) 



Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.1


Book 2: On Bearing Pain 

 

Neoptolemus, in Ennius, indeed, says that the study of philosophy was expedient for him; but that it required limiting to a few subjects, for that to give himself up entirely to it was what he did not approve of. 

 

And for my part, Brutus, I am perfectly persuaded that it is expedient for me to philosophize; for what can I do better, especially as I have no regular occupation? But I am not for limiting my philosophy to a few subjects, as he does; for philosophy is a matter in which it is difficult to acquire a little knowledge without acquainting yourself with many, or all its branches, nor can you well take a few subjects without selecting them out of a great number; nor can anyone, who has acquired the knowledge of a few points, avoid endeavoring with the same eagerness to understand more. 

 

But still, in a busy life, and in one mainly occupied with military matters, such as that of Neoptolemus was at that time, even that limited degree of acquaintance with philosophy may be of great use, and may yield fruit, not perhaps so plentiful as a thorough knowledge of the whole of philosophy, but yet such as in some degree may at times deliver us from the dominion of our desires, our sorrows, and our fears; just as the effect of that discussion which we lately maintained in my Tusculan villa seemed to be that a great contempt of death was engendered, which contempt is of no small efficacy towards delivering the mind from fear; for whoever dreads what cannot be avoided can by no means live with a quiet and tranquil mind. 

 

But he who is under no fear of death, not only because it is a thing absolutely inevitable but also because he is persuaded that death itself has nothing terrible in it, provides himself with a very great resource towards a happy life. However, I am not tolerant that many will argue strenuously against us; and, indeed, that is a thing which can never be avoided, except by abstaining from writing at all. 

 

For if my Orations, which were addressed to the judgment and approbation of the people (for that is a popular art, and the object of oratory is popular applause), have been criticized by some people who are inclined to withhold their praise from everything but what they are persuaded they can attain to themselves, and who limit their ideas of good speaking by the hopes which they conceive of what they themselves may attain to, and who declare, when they are overwhelmed with a flow of words and sentences, that they prefer the utmost poverty of thought and expression to that plenty and copiousness (from which arose the Attic kind of oratory, which they who professed it were strangers to, though they have now been some time silenced, and laughed out of the very courts of justice), what may I not expect, when at present I cannot have the least countenance from the people by whom I used to be upheld before? 

 

For philosophy is satisfied with a few judges, and of her own accord industriously avoids the multitude, who are jealous of it, and utterly displeased with it; so that, should any one undertake to cry down the whole of it, he would have the people on his side; while, if he should attack that school which I particularly profess, he would have great assistance from those of the other philosophers. 

—from Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.1 

 

There is often a sad divide between vaguely evoking philosophy and then putting in the actual effort of being philosophical, or a bitter irony when someone makes use of fuzzy philosophical concepts in order to reject the very significance of philosophy. 

 

At first, I may assume this is a distinctly modern problem, and then Cicero shows me once again how there is nothing new under the sun. It seems to be a common weakness of human nature to only take something as far as it is immediately comfortable, and to cast it aside as soon as it requires the exercise of tender loving care.

 

As with all things in life, philosophy will offer its rewards in proportion to our commitments. Where it is treated as an amusing pastime, it may provide us with pleasant diversions from our usual troubles. Where it is treated as defining the core of who we are, it becomes a lasting solution for our most severe tribulations. 

 

I know little about Neoptolemus, but from how Cicero describes him, I think I know many who are much like him. A little bit of learning is fine, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the day-to-day business. Perhaps a smattering of this or that topic is expedient, though engaging with the full breadth and depth of philosophy might hinder the acts of winning wars, acquiring wealth, or building up fame. 

 

There is, however, a completely different way of looking at it, such that the guidance of philosophy could radically modify how we even got about dealing with conflict, money, and status, and where we may well be tempted to forgo these entanglements as much as we can. If wisdom rules, then virtue becomes the highest good, and if virtue is the goal, then the rest will appear quite trivial. 

 

In the first book of these Tusculan Disputations, Cicero and the Auditor did not arrive at an exhaustive account of what it means to die, and yet they nevertheless came to the insight that, whatever our ultimate fate may be, death does not have to be an evil, and can further be accepted as a good. In doing so, life itself is given a whole new level of meaning, in which dying well becomes a necessary part of living well. 

 

Likewise, in this second book, an equally challenging question about the nature of suffering opens the door to an equally enlightening revelation about how pain need not be an obstacle to happiness, but can rather be transformed into an opportunity for happiness. As all good philosophers, Stoic or otherwise, come to understand, the appearance of opposition regularly gives way to an appreciation of harmony—an open-minded attitude makes this attainable. 

 

By extension, if some people, especially the most influential and grandiose, ridicule the place of philosophy, I must be careful not to take offense or to consider them as my enemies; they are only doing what I have done time and time again, confusing a difficulty with an impossibility, or taking the unfamiliar as unreasonable. 

 

Cicero knew this well from his own lifelong practice of rhetoric, facing the contempt of those who saw fine words in defense of principles as nothing more than a trickery to excuse iniquity. I may not be able to do properly it right now, though that should not deter me from striving to learn it for the future. 

 

Eloquence of speech or precision in thinking are hardly wasted; the waste is in refusing to attempt either, presuming that I cannot do what I find so strenuous to do. It is not necessary to be a Cicero to be articulate, or a Socrates to be reflective; the best of us should be an inspiration, and not a discouragement, to the rest of us. 

 

Do they still scoff at your philosophy? Take it as a consolation instead of as a burden. 

—Reflection written in 7/1996 


 

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Stoic Snippets 154


Remember that as it is a shame to be surprised if the fig tree produces figs, so it is to be surprised if the world produces such and such things of which it is productive. 

And for the physician and the helmsman it is a shame to be surprised if a man has a fever, or if the wind is unfavorable. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.15 

IMAGE: Ferdinand du Puigaudeau, Old Fig Trees at Penerf (1921) 



Saturday, July 23, 2022

Ellis Walker, Epictetus in Poetical Paraphrase 30


XXX. 

Let not these thoughts torment you: "I alas!
In low ignoble poverty shall pass
My wretched days, and unregarded lie
Buried alive, in dark obscurity;
No honour, no preferment shall I have,
But 'Scutcheonless descend into the grave."

This as a wondrous hardship you bemoan,
A grievous ill, when really 'tis none;
The outward want of pow'r, preferment, place,
Is no more misery, than 'tis disgrace:
And that 'tis no disgrace I shall envince;
Where's the disgrace you are not made a prince?
Or that you're not invited to a feast?
'Tis none, by every man of sense confest:
For where's the man in's wits that can expect
That things not in his pow'r he should effect? 
And why of want of powe'r should you complain?
Who can no place or honour justly claim
Excepting things in your own pow'r; in these
You may be great, and pow'rful as you please.
But then you plead; "I thus shall useless grow
To those I love, nor shall I kindness shew,
Nor wealth nor pow'r on my best friends bestow,
Nor by my int'rest cause them to become,
Free of each gainful privilege in Rome,
Nor, when I please, an officer create,
Nor raise them to be utensils of state."

And whoe'er told you yet, that these things lie 
Within your power or capacity?
Or where's the man; that can to others grant
That place or honour he himself doth want?
But they're importunate, alas! and cry,
"Get it, that we your friends may gain thereby,"
Answer them thus, "I'll do it if I can,
So I may keep myself a modest man,
Just to myself, still innocent and free,
A man of honour and integrity,
I'll use my best endeavours; if I may
Gain it on these conditions, shew the way;
But if you think I'll this true wealth forgo,
That you may something gain, that is not so:
See, how unjust this self-partiality!
And, to be plain, you are no friends for me,
If you prefer a base penurious end,
Before an honest and modest friend:
Suppose your choice were such, then shew me how,
What you so earnestly desire to do,
And keep my principles of freedom too;
But think not I will part with happiness,
That you some worthless pleasure may possess."

But thus your country nothing by you gains:
What's this advantage that your country claims?
Is it that baths you make, with cost and charge?
Or porches build inimitably large,
Where late posterity may read your name,
Which there you consecrate to lasting fame?
These gifts from you your country can expect,
No more than physick from an architect,
Or that a shoemaker should armour make,
Or of your foot a smith the measure take;
For 'tis enough, if each perform in's trade
The work for which he seems by nature made.
If each man mind the way in which he's plac'd,
The smith his anvil, shoemaker his last.
And thus if you the height of wisdom reach,
And, what so well you know, as well can teach,
If by these noble methods you profess,
You with another honest man can bless
The city where you dwell, you give no less
Than he, who on his country doth confer
Porches, or baths, or amphitheatre.
"Well then i'th' city, where I useful am,
What office shall I have?"
  Such as you can,
Keeping your honour, and your conscience free,
With spotless innocence and modesty:
But if while fondly you desire to please
Your fellow-citizens, you part with these,
You labour but in vain; for where's the use
Of one grown impudent and scandalous? 

Dhammapada 225


The sages who injure nobody, and who always control their body, they will go to the unchangeable place, where, if they have gone, they will suffer no more. 



Epictetus, Discourses 1.24.5


Poor slave, where are your crowns, where your diadem? Your guards avail you naught. Therefore when you come near to one of those great men remember this, that you are meeting a tragic character, no actor, but Oedipus in person. 

 

“No, but such a one is blessed, for he has a great company to walk with him.”

 

I too join the ranks of the multitude and have a large company to walk with. 

 

To sum up: remember that the door is open. 

 

Do not be a greater coward than the children, but do as they do. 

 

Children, when things do not please them, say, “I will not play anymore”; so, when things seem to you to reach that point, just say, “I will not play anymore,” and so depart, instead of staying to make moan. 


—from Epictetus, Discourses 1.24 

 

Yes, people do still wear crowns, though they have taken on different appearances over the years. 

 

In Scent of a Woman, the headmaster has his Jaguar XJ-S. Take note of how the folks up in first class look back in disgust at the peasants in coach. I know an abbot at a two-bit monastery who wears a giant gaudy ring, and he glows when people kiss it. 

 

I try not to get angry anymore, or even to laugh, because they deserve compassion instead of contempt. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. These are precisely the sort of people Sophocles or Dante were warning us about. 

 

Whether or not we travel in the best of circles depends entirely on how we measure the merits of our company. When I get caught up in the thoughtlessness of conformity, I will feel very lonely, and then I remember how I am never truly alone. Nature always provides me with so many opportunities to act in friendship, however grubby or unrefined. 

 

Or do I want the glitz and the glamor? Then it isn’t really friendship, is it? 

 

If my conscience feels nauseous at the thought of cooperating with scoundrels, I can still opt out. This can only be achieved, however, if I have my values in order, for otherwise I will continue to crave the trivialities deep down on the inside. 

 

Astute children have the good sense to pick up their toys and go home when the games turn nasty, and I can do just the same in the grown-up playground. 

 

But let me not confuse such a principle with the malice of dismissing or shunning my fellows; at no point is it necessary to deny the person, only to refuse the vice. If I am completely honest with myself, I know full well when love or hate are intended.

 

I may not agree with the concupiscence and the relativism of a Timothy Leary, yet that old hippie phrase can also be adapted to what Epictetus has to say: “Turn on, tune in, drop out.” 

 

Awake from the slumber. Recognize your nature within the whole of Nature. Stop following the script some buffoon has written for you, and then begin to do your own vital work. 

 

Now that is true bravery in the face of difficulties! 

—Reflection written in 3/2001 

IMAGE: Charles Jalabert, Oedipus and Antigone (1842)