Stoic Wisdom for the Day Collection 6

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 31 March, 2016
"Suppose. . . that each one of our bodily members should conceive this idea and imagine that it could be strong and well if it should draw off to itself the health and strength of its neighboring member, the whole body would necessarily be enfeebled and die; so, if each one of us should seize upon the property of his neighbors and take from each whatever he could appropriate to his own use, the bonds of human society must inevitably be annihilated."

--Cicero ("On Duty")

The bonds of justice and charity between the members of humanity are as natural and essential as the harmony between the members of the physical body. Remove either, and only disease and death will follow. Greed, malice, or conflict are blights on human nature. And I find that very comforting, because it helps me to try to find peace in all things.
 
Image: Goya "Duel with Clubs" (c. 1823)




















STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 1 April, 2016
When confronted with someone who had given up on life: "Why do you stand there? What are you looking for? Do you expect the God himself to come and speak to you? Cut out the dead part of your soul, and you will recognize the God."

--Musonius Rufus (as quoted by Aelius Aristides)

Or as my great-grandmother always said to me: "God helps those who help themselves." It annoyed me then, but I get it now.

Image: 天道酬勤 "Heaven rewards the diligent"

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 2 April, 2016
"Now what is this famous power of yours, which you so much seek after? Will you not consider, earthbound animals that you are, whom you think you actually command? If you saw one mouse among many, claiming to have rightful power over the rest, how you would laugh!"

--Boethius (The Consolation of Philosophy)

I find it helpful to just have a good chuckle when I see people puffing themselves up with their own self-importance. It humbles us to laugh at ourselves! 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 3 April, 2016
"Wellbeing is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself."
--Zeno of Citium

Often falsely attributed to Tolkien, the folk saying "little by little one travels far" also comes to mind. I will be grateful for a small victory today.

Image: Miranda Mott, "Die Winterreise"

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 4 April, 2016
"He has his wish, whose wish can be to have what is enough."

--Cleanthes of Assos

Sometimes less is more.

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 5 April, 2016
"Can we then hold the poverty-in-wealth of the money-grubbing usurers to be of any account? They may seem to be kings with purses full of gold, but they never even in their dreams have had a glimpse of the wealth that has eyes to see."

--Philo of Alexandria ("On the Virtues")

Philo (25 BC-50 AD) was a Hellenistic-Jewish thinker who made heavy use of Stoic ethics.
To say that greed and wealth are 'not what matters' has sadly become a platitude and truism. So we stroke our egos when we repeat something like the above, and then go right back to our hoarding. And Philo sees that this is because we are so blind to the true wealth of virtue and love that we can't even imagine what it could be like. Time to open our eyes?

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 6 April, 2016
"What do you do when you disembark from a ship? You do not pick up the rudder, do you, or the oars? What do you pick up, then? Your own luggage, your oil-flask, your wallet. So now, if you are mindful of what is your own property, you will never lay claim to that which belongs to another."

--Epictetus (Discourses 24)

It's when I think I have much, or am owed much, that I pave the way for my failure.

I love history not because of the dusty books, but because it's about the lives of real people. I wonder how the Acadian settlers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia must once have felt. On the losing end of the French and Indian War, their homes and fields were destroyed, their property confiscated, and thousands were rounded up to be shipped to the British Colonies. When this group disembarked at Boston Harbor, they must have thought that everything was lost.

But Epictetus reminds us that we should rely on the only things that are fully ours, our minds and wills. They hadn't lost everything at all, because they still had the most precious of possessions, their dignity as persons. They can take everything else, but they can't take that away.

Image: Robert Dafford, "Acadians in the Harbor," 1755

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 7 April, 2016
"You have been wishing to know my views with regard to liberal studies. My answer is this: I respect no study, and deem no study good, which results in money-making. Such studies are profit-bringing occupations, useful only in so far as they give the mind a preparation and do not engage it permanently. One should linger upon them only so long as the mind can occupy itself with nothing greater; they are our apprenticeship, not our real work.

"Hence you see why 'liberal studies' are so called; it is because they are studies worthy of a free man. But there is only one really liberal study, - that which gives a man his liberty. It is the study of wisdom, and that is lofty, brave, and great-souled. All other studies are puny and puerile. You surely do not believe that there is good in any of the subjects whose teachers are, as you see, men of the most ignoble and base stamp? We ought not to be learning such things; we should be done with learning them."

--Seneca the Younger (Letter 88)

This may seem brutally offensive to our modern sensibilities, but perhaps that says more about us than it does about the nature of the true and the good?

Simply put, if learning is to make us better, then it must be directed at our highest end, that of wisdom and moral character, the only qualities that can make us truly free. Anything else is a means, secondary to that end, and hence perhaps even "puny".

If the accumulation of wealth, power, or reputation is our goal, that isn't liberal education at all. It's an enslavement to all those lower things.

Image: Cecco del Caravaggio, "Christ Driving the Moneylenders Out of the Temple"

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 8 April, 2016
"The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and not to say, I wish for green things; for this is the condition of a diseased eye. And the healthy hearing and smelling ought to be ready to perceive all that can be heard and smelled. And the healthy stomach ought to be with respect to all food just as the mill with respect to all things which it is formed to grind. And accordingly the healthy understanding ought to be prepared for everything which happens; but that which says, 'Let my dear children live,' and 'let all men praise whatever I may do,' is an eye which seeks for green things, or teeth which seek for soft things."

--Marcus Aurelius (Meditation 10)

Just as I shouldn't just see or hear what I prefer, selectively ignoring the rest, my thinking should be open to things as they are. I shouldn't try to force things to fit my thinking. A mind willing to be open to anything and everything the world presents to it is the only kind of mind that can ever be sane.

Image: Rembrandt, "Philosopher in Meditation" (1632)

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 15 April, 2016
"The wise man knows that all who strut about in togas and in purple, as if they were well and strong, are, for all their bright color, quite unsound, and in his eyes they differ in no way from the sick who are bereft of self-control. And so he is not even irritated if in their sick condition they venture to be somewhat impertinent to their physician, and in the same spirit in which he sets no value on the honors they have, he sets no value on the lack of honor they show. Just as he will not be flattered if a beggar shows him respect, nor count it an insult if a man from the dregs of the people, on being greeted, fails to return his greeting, so, too, he will not even look up if many rich men look up at him. For he knows that they differ not a whit from beggars."

--Seneca the Younger ("On Firmness")

Being a person with a very sensitive disposition, I am both blessed and cursed. I feel joy with great depth and strength, but it also means I feel pain and loss with a proportional intensity. And that's probably the most important reason why I try to practice Stoicism. My habits of thinking help me to order my habits of feeling, and I learn, slowly but surely, not to allow myself to be battered by anger, irritation, sadness, or loneliness, whenever I am insulted, rejected or ignored by others. Seneca is a great help in practicing this type of firmness and self-control.

Image: Harmen Steenwijck, "Vanitas" (c 1640)

(I'm fascinated lately by the Dutch tradition of 'Vanitas' still-life painting, where symbols of pleasant and attractive things are contrasted with reminders of our mortality. They serve to dampen our vanity, and encourage our humility. )

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 16 April, 2016
"Who of us does not marvel at the action of Lycurgus the Spartan? For when he had been blinded in one eye by one of his fellow-citizens and had received the young man at the hands of the people to punish as he saw fit, he did not choose to do this, but trained him instead and made a good man of him, and afterward escorted him to the public theater. And when the Spartans regarded him with amazement, he said: 'This man I received from you an insolent and violent creature; I return him to you a reasonable man and a good citizen.' "

--Musonius Rufus (Fragment 39)

The Spartans were a fascinating bunch. I still recall one of my favorite teachers, Leland Giovanelli, telling us about the phrase Spartan mothers said to their sons before sending them into battle: "Come home with your shield, or on it." Fight with courage, or return dead. This may make them sound heartless.

But Lycurgus, the legendary founder of Spartan law, wasn't just about toughness. He was about the building of virtue and character, and Musonius' passage remind us just how deeply a man like Lycurgus cared about others. He didn't seek vengeance. He tried to help others become better. Love is the law.

Image: Statue of Lycurgus, Palais de Justice, Brussels.

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 17 April, 2016
". . .You cannot hold him to be a man who has been, so to say, transformed by his vices. If a violent man and a robber burns with greed of other men's possessions, you say he is like a wolf. Another fierce man is always working his restless tongue at lawsuits, and you will compare him to a hound. Does another delight to spring upon men from ambushes with hidden guile? He is as a fox. Does one man roar and not restrain his rage? He would be reckoned as having the heart of a lion. Does another flee and tremble in terror where there is no cause of fear? He would be held to be as deer. If another is dull and lazy, does he not live the life of an ass? One whose aims are inconstant and ever changed at his whims, is in no wise different from the birds. If another is in a slough of foul and filthy lusts, he is kept down by the lusts of an unclean swine. Thus then a man who loses his goodness, ceases to be a man, and since he cannot change his condition to that of a god, he turns into a beast."

--Boethius ("Consolation of Philosophy", Book 4)

The nutritionist may say we are what we eat, the Christian may say the wages of sin are death, and the Stoic may say that we abandon our human nature when we act in ignorance and vice. It's all of a kind.

Whenever I have taught this text, I am sure to add that the animals shouldn't feel offended. They are rightly what they are. But men should feel ashamed of themselves, because they are not themselves. As Boethius also says, “In other living creatures ignorance of self is nature; in man it is vice.”

Image: Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, "Circe Transforms Odysseus’ Companions into Animals" (c. 1650)





















STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: 21 April, 2016
"Aiming then at these high matters, you must remember that to attain them requires more than ordinary effort; you will have to give up some things entirely, and put off others for the moment. And if you would have these also --- office and wealth --- it may be that you will fail to get them, just because your desire is set on the former, and you will certainly fail to attain those things which alone bring freedom and happiness."

--Epictetus (Enchirdion 1)

A man cannot serve two masters. Many people say they will be Christians, or Socialists, and then the promptly seek the things they say they despise. You cannot love God, and then put money or power in His place. You cannot love economic equality, while you drive in your BMW and talk on your latest iPhone.

If I want to be good, I need to make irrevocable decisions. I need to commit.
I am reminded of Robert Frost:

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Your choice will make all the difference. You can't have it both ways. I have always chosen the road less traveled.

 

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)

 

Stoic Wisdom for the Day Collection 4

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 25, 2016
"If you work hard to do what is right, do not be upset by roadblocks; think about how many of the things in your life haven't turned out as you wanted them to, but as they should have."

--Musonius Rufus (Fragment 27)

I shudder to think what I would be like if I had received everything I desired, and I shamefully admit that the most unpleasant things I have ever experienced were necessary to make me better. And I'm absolutely certain that will continue today.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 26, 2016
"There is a true law, a right reason, conformable to nature, universal, unchangeable, eternal, whose commands urge us to duty, and whose prohibitions restrain us from evil. Whether it enjoins or forbids, the good respect its injunctions, and the wicked treat them with indifference."

--Cicero (Of the Republic, Book 3)

I find myself tempted to neglect the natural dignity of others persons, good in their own right, when it inconveniently conflicts with my own selfish desires. It is all too easy to close one's eyes and ears to the needs of others out of vicious arrogance.

But right and wrong don't change because of our fleeting preferences or shallow social trends. Cicero understood that as well as Martin Luther King did in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," two thousand years later.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 27, 2016
"We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say."

--Zeno of Citium (as quoted by Diogenes Laërtius)

My father used to say this when I was a young pup. I should have known he got it from Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism.

Yet it is far more than a clever saying to help children to simmer down. It's a reflection of the very foundation of Stoicism: a happy life is a life of harmony, balance, and contentment with whatever may befall us. We find peace most fully when we listen, and embrace things as they are. Our own words and actions need to follow from that essential act of listening, of opening ourselves. To listen is to accept others, to show respect, to understand, to act only with compassion.

I have an inborn Irish temper. I have slowly but surely tried to learn to use it only when absolutely necessary, and very sparingly. When it comes to words, less is more.

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 28, 2016
"Wise people are in want of nothing, and yet need many things. On the other hand, nothing is needed by fools, for they do not understand how to use anything, but yet they are in want of everything. "

--Chrysippus (as quoted by Seneca the Younger)

'Want' and 'need' are such wonderful terms, seemingly so close yet so far apart. The Rolling Stones had it right, just like Chrysippus, the student of Cleanthes.

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 29, 2016
"bad people obey their lusts as servants obey their masters."

--Diogenes of Sinope

Diogenes was properly a Cynic ('dog-like') philosopher, a school that shared much in common with their Stoic brothers (besides having names that now mean something negative!) I'd suggest the Cynics differed only in the more radical nature of their asceticism and iconoclasm.

Note how the quote not only points out that evil men are ruled by their passions, but also HOW they are ruled by their passions: like a servant or slave, who neither chooses or understands what he does or why he acts, but does so simply out of obedience. So too, I throw away my freedom and judgment when I'm swept away by feelings alone.

When Diogenes, who lived in a barrel on the street, was insulted for being a "dog," he apparently said: "other dogs bite their enemies, I bite my friends to save them."

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 30, 2016
"When any person treats you ill or speaks ill of you, remember that he does this or says this because he thinks that it is right. It is not possible, then, for him to follow that which is right for you, but only that which seems right to himself. Accordingly, if he is wrong in his judgment, he is the person who is hurt, for he is the person who has been deceived."

--Epictetus (Enchiridion, 42)

This is one of the most valuable life lessons I have learned, though I often struggle to follow it. When I'm wronged, I need to recognize that an ignorance of the good, deliberate or not, is the root cause. I'm only hurt if I allow it, while another has hurt himself by his choice. That calls for just compassion, not anger or condemnation.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 31, 2016
"Imagine every man who is grieved at anything or discontented to be like a pig which is sacrificed and kicks and screams. Like this pig also is he who on his bed in silence laments the bonds in which we are held. And consider that only to the rational animal is it given to follow voluntarily what happens; but simply to follow is a necessity imposed on all. "

--Marcus Aurelius (Meditation 10)

The necessity of things beyond my choice doesn't change if I complain or sulk. They will happen whether I wish them to or not. But unlike the beast, that cannot help but submit to its circumstances or instincts, I can learn to freely and joyfully choose to follow nature, to find the right and the good even in those things I didn't ask for.

Below: Eugene Delacroix, "The Last Words of Marcus Aurelius", 1844

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 1, 2016
"No man can live a happy life, or even a supportable life, without the study of wisdom; you know also that a happy life is reached when our wisdom is brought to completion, but that life is at least endurable even when our wisdom is only begun. This idea, however, clear though it is, must be strengthened and implanted more deeply by daily reflection; it is more important for you to keep the resolutions you have already made than to go on and make noble ones."

--Seneca the Younger (Letter 16 to Lucilius)

Seneca's appeal here isn't simply to a vague life of study, but to the ordered daily practice of reflection and meditation on meaning. I ran headlong into this exact problem yesterday, and needed his advice.
Stoicism suggests fixing one's thinking in order to direct one's feelings.

Well, here I was wondering why a single deeply disturbing set of passions has still been gnawing at me. They don't seem to want to go away, and, in fact, seem to get more intrusive daily. I'd thought I'd figured out what those emotions were, where they had come from, and why they were illusory and harmful to me.

But see, there's the rub! I hadn't done that at all. As I was facing the emotions, trying to grapple them with a clear judgment, I realized my judgments weren't guiding the feelings at all. Both were adrift. And I had rushed ahead, based on a quick assumption that I understand a previous part of my thinking. My passions were chaotic because my mind was still chaotic. So time to go back, start over with the building blocks, and handle the simple things before I tackle the nobler ones.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 2, 2016
"If one accomplishes some good, though with toil, the toil passes, but the good remains; if one does something evil with pleasure, the pleasure passes, but the evil remains."

--Musonius Rufus (Fragment 51)

That should help put our priorities in perspective!


Image: Thomas Couture, "The Romans of the Decadence," 1847

 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: February 3, 2016
Zeno's remark about the vain man showing himself off: "With good reason," said Zeno, "he looks askance at the mud because he can't see his face in it."

--Zeno of Citium (as quoted by Diogenes Laertius)

It's easy to think that a lust for sex, power, wealth, or status is at the root of vice. I've seen too much of that, thank you. But maybe behind all that is something as simple as vanity, wishing to see ourselves as the center and measure of all things?

T.S. Eliot said it better than I ever could:

“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm; but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.”

It makes me sad when I see old friends use past "achievements" as tools for their vanity. Dear friend, I was there. You didn't do anything at all, and neither did I. But apparently it looks good on paper.

The other day a colleague and friend was shocked to find I was a member of some sort of honors society.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me!"

"And that makes me sad," I said, "precisely because it matters to you."

Image: Narcissus, by Caravaggio, 1597

 

Stoic Wisdom for the Day Collection 3

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

 

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.

Stoic Wisdom for the Day Collection 2

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 26, 2015
 'Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, "Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you."'

--Epictetus, "Discourses"

My feelings, both of the senses from the outside and the passions from the inside, seem to have great power over me, but only when I permit myself to be enslaved by them without thinking.
I may be deeply excited by beauty or horribly disgusted by ugliness. But hastiness with impressions is often a great danger.

Only if I take my time with them, judge them clearly, will their meaning and value become apparent, and then I can best use them to be happy. I should rule them, and never let them rule me.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 27, 2015
". . .If you consider any man a friend whom you do not trust as you trust yourself, you are mightily mistaken and you do not sufficiently understand what true friendship means. Indeed, I would have you discuss everything with a friend; but first of all discuss the man himself. When friendship is settled, you must trust; before friendship is formed, you must pass judgment."

--Seneca the Younger, "Letter 3 to Lucilius"

The way we abuse the bonds of friendship always baffles me. I suppose I am wired very differently. Choose your friends slowly, wisely, and with great care. Take your time, because it is a commitment. But once they are your friends, do not abandon them. Trust them and love them as you should trust and love yourself, without any condition.

I have learned through great heartbreak that no friend is disposable. Friendship wouldn't be a virtue if it depended on convenience.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 28, 2015
"We admire walls veneered with a thin layer of marble, although we know the while what defects the marble conceals. We cheat our own eyesight, and when we have overlaid our ceilings with gold, what else is it but a lie in which we take such delight? For we know that beneath all this gilding there lurks some ugly wood."

--Seneca the Younger, "Letter 115 to Lucilius"

A love of appearances, of image, of externals is the sign of a rotten soul. As my great-grandfather always said, "A hog in a silk waistcoat is still just a hog." Whenever I succumb to the vanity of thinking with appearances, especially when I envy the manufactured image of others, a little bit of that rot starts to set in. A modern version might be that "no one is ever as happy, popular, or successful as they appear on Facebook"

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 29, 2015
"Philosophy teaches us to act, not to speak; it exacts of every man that he should live according to his own standards, that his life should not be out of harmony with his words, and that, further, his inner life should be of one hue and not out of harmony with all his activities. This, I say, is the highest duty and the highest proof of wisdom – that deed and word should be in accord, that a man should be equal to himself under all conditions, and always the same."

--Seneca the Younger, "Letter 20 to Lucilius"

To quote those great scribes, my favorite band of the 1980's, The Fixx: "Do what you say, say what you mean." If I am consistent in my thoughts, words, and deeds, at the very least I am honest. If I say one thing in public and do another in private, well then, goshdarnit, I'm nothing but a liar and a cheat.
Being honest doesn't always win me worldly rewards; in fact, it often brings me worldly punishments. Quite often. But if I have maintained my character if I do this right, then that's made me better. The rest is just the window dressing of poseurs. . .

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 30, 2015
“So dry your tears. Fortune has not yet turned her hatred against all your blessings. The storm has not yet broken upon you with too much violence. Your anchors are holding firm and they permit you both comfort in the present, and hope in the future.

--Boethius, "The Consolation of Philosophy"

Because the word 'stoic' has negative connotations to many, it is often assumed to be a cold philosophy. I have found just the opposite. It is the practice of true hope, in the knowledge that nature does nothing in vain, that providence provides all that we need if we just look rightly, that the simple love of the true and the good is the richest joy.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 31, 2015
"It is difficulties that show what men are."

--Epictetus, "Discourses"

When I was a young pup, I was often resentful of those more privileged than myself, those blessed with 'affluenza.' Their parents bought them cars, condominiums, gave them unlimited credit cards, or paid for law school with annual checks. It never seemed fair.

But it was fair. With only a few rare exceptions, few of those people turned out to be kind, loving, caring human beings. Most of them became cold, heartless, greedy.

The people I love and respect the most are those who have struggled. They have learned not just the value of a dollar, but the value of character. My hat off to all of you--you know who you are.
 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 1, 2016
"Try how the life of the good man suits you, the life of him who is satisfied with his portion out of the whole, and satisfied with his own just acts and benevolent disposition. "

--Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

I wasted too many years of my life worried about all the externals. Get into a good college, get the best grades, get the best job, marry the most suitable girl, have perfect little kids who will continue the cycle all over again. And all of it was bulls#%t.

When I care first about:
loving, not being loved
giving, not receiving
acting on my responsibilities, not demanding my rights
listening, not preaching
accepting, not rejecting
being grateful, not demanding
caring for my character, not my conditions
working for the good, not just getting paid
humbling myself, but never demeaning another person
critical of my own failures, but never those of others

Then, at those times in my life, I have been the best and happiest. I fail when I break those rules.
I can't think of a better New Year's Resolution than redoubling my efforts to do this well.
To all my friends, I wish you a blessed and happy New Year! You are all much loved!
 

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 2, 2016
"All the good are friends of one another."

--Zeno of Citium

The Stoic insistence on human fellowship can be a great inspiration. I find myself discouraged when I see the gossip, backstabbing, and conflict between people who ought to work together. I shouldn't have to dread church or work because of all the petty conflict and personal vanity I find there. The Stoics stressed that all people shared a common citizenship in humanity, regardless of nation, culture or creed. If I can treat others that way, I have done my part in encouraging them to do the same.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 3, 2016
"He who is running a race ought to endeavor and strive to the utmost of his ability to come off victor; but it is utterly wrong for him to trip up his competitor, or to push him aside. So in life it is not unfair for one to seek for himself what may accrue to his benefit; but it is not right to take it from another."

--Chryssipus (as quoted by Cicero)

Back when I taught at a high school, I recall a basketball team deeply worried that they weren't winners. I questioned if winning was the most important thing. "Of course," they said, "what else matters?" "If winning comes first," I asked, "and you'd do anything to win, would you cheat to win?" They had to think about that one. As in sports, so in life. Aim to win, but by no means at any cost. Compete with virtue. If only the business, legal, and political world could learn this lesson.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 4, 2016
"Remember this— that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life."

--Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations" IV

It all matters, even the smallest actions. I often wonder why we may think that justice and kindness only matter with the 'important' things; don't we see that we won't be able to manage the big things if we can't even do the little things?

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 5, 2016
"You are a little soul, carrying a corpse."

--Epictetus (Fragment XXVI)

I have clearly been reading and practicing Stoicism long enough, or perhaps for too long , when this quote brings me such a wonderful comfort. It manages to dignify and humble us all at the same time.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 6, 2016
"This is the worst trait of minds rendered arrogant by prosperity, they hate those whom they have injured."

--Seneca the Younger (On Anger)

Like all philosophers, the Stoics have their heads in the clouds. Unlike most philosophers, they also have their feet firmly planted on the ground. The above observation is a case in point. Theory might suggest that the entitled, the coddled, the powerful are indifferent to those they abuse. No, they actively despise them, because their arrogance is so great that they cannot bear the dignity of others without hatred.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 7, 2016
"I have always been of the opinion that infamy earned by doing what is right is not infamy at all, but glory."

--Cicero (Against Catiline)

Never confuse what is popular with what is good.

 STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 8, 2016
 “To help us to cheerfully endure those hardships which we may expect to suffer because of virtue and goodness, it is useful to recall what hardships people will endure for immoral reasons. Consider what lustful lovers undergo for the sake of evil desires-and how much exertion others expend for the sake of profit-how much suffering pursuing fame - bear in mind that they all submit to all kinds of toil and hardship voluntarily. "

--Musonius Rufus (On How To Live)

Living well requires effort. And sometimes it seems like too much effort. Then I remember all the time and toil I have spent on pointless things. Whether it be that job, that girl, that certain social status, I wasted countless hours for the wrong things. If I can spend that much effort on the wrong things, surely I can spend them on the right things? If I can waste my time for sex, wealth, or power, surely I can give more to my character? There's plenty of effort right there. I just need to know where to direct it.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: January 9, 2016
We sadly only have fragments from Musonius Rufus, the teacher of Epictetus. This one is priceless:

"Musonius," Herodes said, "ordered a thousand sesterces [brass coins] to be given to a beggar of the sort who was pretending to be a philosopher, and when several people told him that the rascal was a bad and vicious fellow, deserving of nothing good, Musonius, they say, answered with a smile, 'Well then he deserves the money'." (Fragment 50)

It just goes to show that the Stoics also had a sense of humor. 

Stoic Wisdom for the Day Collection 1

My Stoic musings, always intended for my personal improvement and never for any academic purpose, were entirely private for over two decades. I first started sharing very short quotes from the classics with brief observations, and many with an appropriate image, on Facebook in late 2015. I called it Stoic Wisdom for the Day. The discussions with others about these little blurbs encouraged me to offer up more, and A Stoic Breviary was born.

This is just a collection of all of these informal posts strung together, so be aware that all of it together is fairly long. I just thought it would be nice to have them all in one place.

Written in 3/2017

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 16, 2015
"If any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight."

 --Seneca the Younger (De Ira)

At the root of all Stoic truth is the recognition that we find our happiness in what we do, never merely in what happens to us. So when I blame conflict and discord on others, I need to remember that the anger another has for me has absolutely nothing to do with me.

 It's about his judgments, not mine. What is in my control is whether I respond with anger.

The hatred another may have for me only has power if I meet it in kind. If I meet hatred with hatred, I compound it. If I meet hatred with love, I defeat it.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 17, 2015
'These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better." The connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;" "I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours." But you, after all, are neither property nor style.'

 --Epictetus (Enchiridion)

Of all the things that define modernity, I wonder if this is the most critical: we define ourselves by our accidents, and never our substance. Who am I? 'I am the sum of my pleasures, my wealth, my reputation, my status, my job.'

Yet none of these things define us at all. They are things outside of us. Perhaps the saddest thing I've ever seen in my life is watching a person I loved so dearly, a person gifted with brilliant character, slowly but surely define herself by her social image.

If we identify ourselves with pleasure, honor, or wealth, we aren't human beings at all. We are puppets on strings, slaves ruled by things lower than our human dignity.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 18, 2015
"Yes, you can--if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable."

--Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)

This quote is simply loaded, charged with truth. I grow tired of doing things by half measures. I am troubled when I'm told I need to be efficient, not virtuous. I am discouraged when I'm told to simply be mediocre. No! Each and every one of us is called to brilliance. And the way to do this is to treat each moment as if it were the last.

Whenever I think, speak, or act, I say to myself: "If this were my last thought, word, or deed, would I be content?" If the answer is "no," I start again. When I fail in this, it is only because I have allowed my feelings to rule my reason. I am a free man, not a slave to my passions. Insincerity, vanity, or anger are the result of acting without thought for aim, meaning, and purpose.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 19, 2015
"Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions

"The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered; but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men.

But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you will not be harmed."

--Epictetus, "Enchiridion"

This passage is a close to a manifesto of Stoicism as I think we can get. First, distinguish that some things are under my power, others beyond it. Second, recognize that my happiness can only stem from those things under my power, from my own nature. That nature of anything else is just that, something else. It may be good and fine itself, but how it may affect my own judgment is up to me, and me alone.

I practice the following thought exercise quite regularly. Can I find a single thing in my life that has 'made' me happy that is external? If I am truly honest with myself I have yet to be able to answer the question in the affirmative.

"But surely," you might say, "other people have made you happy or unhappy?" No, other people have been who and what they are, according to their nature. It is my judgment and estimation of them that has made me happy or unhappy.

So someone or something may indeed cause me pain or pleasure. But only I decide how I allow it to affect me.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 20, 2015
"Toward good men God has the mind of a father, he cherishes them with love, and he says, 'Let them be harassed by toil, by suffering, by losses, in order that they may gather true strength.'

Bodies grown fat through sloth are weak, and not only labor, but even movement and their very weight cause them to break down.

Unimpaired prosperity cannot withstand a single blow; but he who has struggled constantly with his ills becomes hardened through suffering; and yields to no misfortune; no, even if he falls, he still fights upon his knees."

--Seneca the Younger, "On Providence"

If my happiness doesn't come from the things that happen to me, but what I DO with the things that happen to me, then all fortune, good or ill, is an opportunity to be better. That isn't an easy path to walk, but it is a necessary one. I can learn to use misfortune to my advantage in each and every case.
Stoicism isn't macho bulls%&t. It's toughness isn't one of of coldness, but of a deep concern for the nature of all things.

As a child, I had my face smashed into gravel by bullies, as a young man I had my heart broken by a traitor, and as an older man I have been tossed and turned by hypocrites, demagogues, and charlatans. I have only failed when I have not used these to my improvement.

To paraphrase the great film, Lawrence of Arabia: "Certainly it hurts. . . the trick is not minding that it hurts." 

The Stoics embraced the classical Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude. It is a beautiful irony that I can only become wiser when faced with my ignorance, only kinder and fairer when I appreciate suffering, only more moderate when I experience extremes, only braver when I suffer fear and pain. Life is good, but not because of what it gives us, but because of what we give into it. I will fight upon my knees.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 21, 2015
"All that is from the gods is full of Providence. That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by Providence. From there all things flow; and there is besides necessity, and that which is for the advantage of the whole universe, of which you are a part. But that is good for every part of nature which the nature of the whole brings, and what serves to maintain this nature."

--Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

Grounded upon sound thinking, the Stoic knows that every effect has its cause, that there is nothing random or chaotic in the nature of things, and that the order of nature bears the stamp of Divine design. While Stoicism was never a religion, but rather a philosophy of living, it recognizes that our own lives, and the changes in all things, are part of a greater, harmonious balance of the whole, for each and every part in its own way.

This is why I can rest assured that everything that happens to me is part of that order, even if I may not see the the harmony of the whole at the time. What may at one moment seem the greatest injustice will, in fact, be the greatest blessing. A heavy burden becomes a joyful opportunity. Whether fortune seems good or bad, it is given to me so I might become better.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 22, 2015
"Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and besides bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain."

--Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

My own fatal character flaw has always been what I call a nostalgic melancholy. I think of the fond past, and miss it dearly. Then I think of my future, and I realize I'll never get it back. My past seems like pain, my future seems like hopelessness.

But past and future don't 'exist' at all; they are what once was, or what we hope will be. Live for the now.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 23, 2015
"Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles."

--Epictetus, "Enchiridion"

The Stoic doesn't fear death, because it isn't a bad thing at all. It's part of the nature of created things to come into being and then cease to be. It's a very part of our nature

The reason we fear death, and think it a bad thing, is because we think our lives are measured by quantity. How much money? How many friends? How many years? But the value of life isn't measured by how long, but rather how well. It's a question of quality, not quantity. And either a long or short life can be lived well or poorly

Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, distinguished between some things that were always morally good (wisdom, virtue. . .), some things that were always bad (ignorance, vice. . .) and very many things that were simply morally indifferent. These were external qualities that could be helpful or harmful, depending upon our use of them. Life or death, pleasure or pain, wealth or poverty, sickness or health, long or short life are among these things. I should be indifferent to these, care not one way or other whether I have them or not, because what matters is that I can make use of their absence or presence equally well.

Notice the Stoicism implicit in St. Ignatius of Loyola's "Principle and Foundation." I turn to this at those moments I want to curl up in a ball and scream at the world.

"Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord, and by doing so, to save his soul.
All other things on the face of the earth are created for man in order to help him pursue the end for which he is created.

It follows from this that one must use other created things, in so far as they help towards one's end, and free oneself from them, in so far as they are obstacles to one's end.

To do this, we need to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no other prohibition.

Thus, as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more towards the end for which we are created."

Amen!

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 24, 2015
“Kindness is unconquerable, so long as it is without flattery or hypocrisy. For what can the most insolent man do to you, if you contrive to be kind to him, and if you have the chance gently advise and calmly show him what is right."

--Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"

"But surely the insolent man can hurt me," you might say. "He can insult me, damage my reputation, cause me pain, imprison me, even take my life." Yes, he can. But in the end, he has lost, and you have won. His malice has only harmed his character, and your kindness has only benefited yours. He has become worse, and you have become better. And you can help him become better through your example.

STOIC WISDOM FOR THE DAY: December 25. 2015
"How happy is mankind, if the love that orders the stars above rules, too, in your hearts.

--Boethius, "The Consolation of Philosophy"

I know, quoting Boethius is cheating. No 'proper scholar' thinks of Boethius as a Stoic. Yet his entire "Consolation of Philosophy" is, in my not-so-humble opinion, the culmination of Stoic thinking. His distinctions on the goods of nature and the goods of fortune, for instance, might as well come straight from Zeno, Cleanthes, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, Seneca, or Marcus Aurelius. He was a Roman Patrician, after all, a gentleman of the highest order. This book has saved my life on many occasions!

A Merry Christmas to All!