Leave other people, persons of no endurance, to argue on these matters to little purpose.
Let them sit in a corner and take their paltry fees, or murmur that no one offers them anything, and come forward yourself and practice what you have learned.
For it is not arguments that are wanting nowadays: no, the books of the Stoics are full of them.
What then is the one thing wanting? We want the man who will apply his arguments, and bear witness to them by action.
This is the character I would have you take up, that we may no longer make use of old examples in the school, but may be able to show an example from our own day.
Let them sit in a corner and take their paltry fees, or murmur that no one offers them anything, and come forward yourself and practice what you have learned.
For it is not arguments that are wanting nowadays: no, the books of the Stoics are full of them.
What then is the one thing wanting? We want the man who will apply his arguments, and bear witness to them by action.
This is the character I would have you take up, that we may no longer make use of old examples in the school, but may be able to show an example from our own day.
—from Epictetus, Discourses 1.29
There is a perfectly good reason why people dismiss our current generation of professional philosophers: we move our mouths, while doing absolutely nothing.
I seem to have fallen into a career full of big heads with no spines, where being clever is more important than being wise, and a decadent leisure takes the place of any vigorous constancy.
It doesn’t surprise me when a corporate lawyer acts this way, though a scholar, supposedly a lover of the truth, ought to know better.
I once believed that a life of formal study was ideal for someone who wished to improve his character, but I am now no longer under such an illusion. If anything, the bickering over footnotes has only made it far too easy for me to be cynical and bitter.
What use is the reading and arguing, when at the end of the day I have not managed to become a more understanding and loving human being?
Let me take what good there is from the theory, and now move forward to engaging in the practice. I must harbor no ill will toward the sophists, but I need to be on my way. Perhaps I can look forward to a time when they choose to join me?
It really doesn’t matter what kind of trade I pursue to put food on the table or a roof over my head, as long as I am willing to do so with prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice.
I am most impressed with a man who is simply decent, one of the greatest compliments we now sadly overlook. An old friend of mine liked to use the Yiddish word mensch to describe such a fellow, and I find it to be a wonderful term.
Now I know a number of people who reject philosophy entirely, believing it to be useless in life, and so they suggest learning welding, carpentry, or plumbing instead, yet I strongly resist any such anti-intellectualism.
By all means, pursue a hardy and honest trade, while always remembering that philosophy, rightly understood, is necessary as the basic measure of right and wrong in all walks of life.
If I can’t understand why I ought to act with virtue first and foremost, no amount of technical skill can save me. The art of “making a living” requires the wisdom to find meaning and purpose to the living.
We certainly do need philosophy, just not an emasculated variety that does nothing except pose and prance about. Once I have studied the best route, it is time to hit the road.
I turn to one of my favorite lines from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius:
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
There is a perfectly good reason why people dismiss our current generation of professional philosophers: we move our mouths, while doing absolutely nothing.
I seem to have fallen into a career full of big heads with no spines, where being clever is more important than being wise, and a decadent leisure takes the place of any vigorous constancy.
It doesn’t surprise me when a corporate lawyer acts this way, though a scholar, supposedly a lover of the truth, ought to know better.
I once believed that a life of formal study was ideal for someone who wished to improve his character, but I am now no longer under such an illusion. If anything, the bickering over footnotes has only made it far too easy for me to be cynical and bitter.
What use is the reading and arguing, when at the end of the day I have not managed to become a more understanding and loving human being?
Let me take what good there is from the theory, and now move forward to engaging in the practice. I must harbor no ill will toward the sophists, but I need to be on my way. Perhaps I can look forward to a time when they choose to join me?
It really doesn’t matter what kind of trade I pursue to put food on the table or a roof over my head, as long as I am willing to do so with prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice.
I am most impressed with a man who is simply decent, one of the greatest compliments we now sadly overlook. An old friend of mine liked to use the Yiddish word mensch to describe such a fellow, and I find it to be a wonderful term.
Now I know a number of people who reject philosophy entirely, believing it to be useless in life, and so they suggest learning welding, carpentry, or plumbing instead, yet I strongly resist any such anti-intellectualism.
By all means, pursue a hardy and honest trade, while always remembering that philosophy, rightly understood, is necessary as the basic measure of right and wrong in all walks of life.
If I can’t understand why I ought to act with virtue first and foremost, no amount of technical skill can save me. The art of “making a living” requires the wisdom to find meaning and purpose to the living.
We certainly do need philosophy, just not an emasculated variety that does nothing except pose and prance about. Once I have studied the best route, it is time to hit the road.
I turn to one of my favorite lines from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius:
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
—Reflection written in 5/2001
No comments:
Post a Comment