Epictetus – Enchiridion – A manual of Stoic living. Paragraph 4

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Contentment, Coping with gain and loss, Enchiridon, Epictetus, Living a quiet Stoic life., Public places, Stoicism, Swimming pool

Epictetus (55-135 CE) Enchiridion
A manual for living a contented life
Rendered by Charles Scamahorn (1935- ) 2014

Paragraph 4

When about to do something, for example going to a public swimming pool, consider what type of activity it is, and what kinds of things happen there. Prepare yourself for how you might respond to those things with some forethought. Typically you will be splashed, pushed about and made fun of, and sometimes things are stolen from the storage area. As you enter the area say to yourself, “I am choosing to swim in this public pool, and I want to enjoy myself and maintain my equanimity.” When uncomfortable things happen, as they often will, remember your intention for being here was not only to swim, but also to enjoy yourself by maintaining your good humor. If you become annoyed with some trivial happening you would be contradicting your whole reason for being there. Be prepared not to become annoyed but to take happenings as good fun, and move on and enjoy yourself.

COMMENTS

Epictetus takes a common public event where boisterous activities are common, even between strangers, and where some of them may become annoying. So he makes a general strategy for avoiding becoming annoyed and precipitating an angry interchange. Getting angry usually makes a difficult situation worse. A calm demeanor will better diffuse the conflict and will also help the Stoic keep his own mind tranquil.

Epictetus – Enchiridion – A manual of Stoic living. Paragraph 3

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Contentment, Coping with gain and loss, Enchiridon, Epictetus, Living a quiet Stoic life., Stoicism

Epictetus (55-135 CE) Enchiridion
A manual for living a contented life
Rendered by Charles Scamahorn (1935- ) 2014

Paragraph 3

Everything of which you are aware, from the tiniest to the grandest,  has some value to you. Sometimes it is useful, sometimes beautiful, sometimes a loved person, but often say to yourself, “What are the qualities of its category?” If you are fond of a glass cup, say to yourself, “I am fond of a glass cup,” stating it as a member of a category. Then you will think of it as a member of a category, and if it is broken, you can say it was a cup and there are other cups, and you can maintain your objective equanimity. The same is true of your wife and children. You may think of them as human beings, and when they die it will not be so difficult to maintain your contentment.

COMMENTS

Epictetus’ assertion here is that if we maintain an abstract distance from things, and think often of them as a member of a category, it is easier to relate to their acquisition or loss without emotional stress. We must realize that ultimately all of these things we value will depart from us; sometimes it will be sooner and sometimes later, but they will all go, and if we are bound tightly to them the loss will be painful. The goal is to maintain a pleasant life of equanimity and contentment, and part of achieving that goal is to accept some things as inevitable. When something that is inevitable, like death, happens to a loved one or to ourselves, we can accept it with a calm demeanor. Why disturb our equanimity with unpleasant emotions that will do no good?

Epictetus – Enchiridion – A manual of Stoic living. Paragraph 2

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Contentment, Enchiridon, Epictetus, Living a quiet Stoic life., Stoicism

Epictetus (55-135 CE) Enchiridion
A manual for living a contented life
Rendered by Charles Scamahorn (1935-fl. 2014) 2014

Paragraph 2

Observe that your choice to get something good creates the hope of obtaining it, and your choice to avoid something bad generates the expectation of it not happening. But, if you fail to get the good thing you hoped for you will feel disappointed, and if the thing you tried to avoid happens, you will feel anguish. Therefore, seek only to influence those things that are within your personal control, and only avoid those things that are within your power to avoid. Observe that everyone hates poverty, sickness and death, but to the extent they are not avoidable you should not worry about them as that will only make your life discontent. Set your mind to avoid having undue concern for things over which you have no influence, and place your attention on things over which you do have control, even those contrary to your wishes. Learn to be aware of those things over which you do have control and those over which you don’t have control. Live your life with gentleness, express your impulses with quiet, and influence things over which you have control with gentleness, and ignore the rest.

Comments
Epictetus’ ideas are valuable meditations to perform while on a daily walk. Nearly every person, every tree, every cloud in the sky, every thing is doing what is in its nature, and we have no influence on them, but we do have total control over how we think, feel and respond to them and to our selves. If we want to change those external things like the weather, or conflicts in a distant land we will be disappointed, and if we invest our selves deeply in those uncontrollable things we will be unhappy. If we are dependent on how people feel and talk about us we will be under their control, and we will be unhappy. We cannot change the past, and we can not change the inertia of the past that exists at this moment, but we can change our relationship to those things by accepting them as a fixed reality. We can change our relationship to those things right now. When we make the decision to accept them as out of our influence we can be content with them as they are. When we accept everything as being as it is, and doing what it does, as it chooses to do, then we can be content with all external existence, and most important, we feel contented.

It is our choice to be content or to be miserable.

How to make lemonade out of lemons.

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Stoic philosophy, Stoicism

Except for Stoic sages no one’s life is going to be consistently pleasurable. Even people who are living in the moment of now in the glow of perfect harmony with the reality they are immersed within are living the Stoic’s philosophy without knowing it. Problems come to us all, but with the right relationship to them they are welcome pleasures. The question then becomes how do we put ourselves into a relationship with our core selves and our external world that creates and maintains the harmonious balance that results in personal pleasure. How can we always be getting what we want? The answer is simple, but the acceptance of it requires some growing through what will be thought of at the time as fearful, painful and erroneous experiences. In the end, however, if we learn to accept past things as they have been, and as now beyond any personal influence, and therefore become content with them, then we can take pleasure in them. And similarly with the future, when we accept that there are many things, in fact almost everything, that we cannot influence, then we can be content with what they will be. These two realms of possible contentment, the past over which we have no influence and the future over which we have no influence, comprise almost everything. Our non-influence over the Universe is asymptotically close to absolutely everything. When we accept this obvious fact we can easily accept contentment with those things, and place our attention and efforts on those things over which we might have some influence. How can we be content with the horrors that have happened in history and will with little doubt happen again, even now? We choose to accept the reality that has existed, exists, and will exist and be content with it.

 

 

 

A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking. Nassim Taleb

Light from many lamps – Quotes on mature actions – part 5

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Contentment, happiness, Lights from many lamps, Lillian Watson, Mature behavior, Maturity, Maturity quotations, Properly motivated actions, Social growth, Stoicism

I changed my mind about reality and my relationship to it this year, this month, this week, and today. Perhaps no one has noticed, but I have this year moved from being friendly to other people to being more helpful; this month automatically giving acts of kindness to hostile people; and this week to observing the changes of an after-the-event habit; and this last twenty-four hours to asserting publicly a better human legal policy. With that in mind I have been buffing up the take-home messages selected from Lillian E. Watson’s insights in Light from Many Lamps: A Treasury of Inspiration.

The Universe is infinitely wonderful! It permits all things that can be done; it prevents all things that can’t be done.

When arising in the morning I whisper to myself, “What wonderful things am I going to do today?”

It is wisdom to know that idleness brings boredom and despair; a happy life is filled with kindness, humor and accomplishment.

Unless we observe others, and do something to help them toward their goals, we miss the greatest source of happiness.

Act now on those things where action now is appropriate, and helpful.

You are the only one who can do what’s before you right now, and no one can do it better, right now. This is true of everyone, all the time.

Participate in your world. Make the best use of what is in your power, and be contented with the rest as it happens.

Place yourself in the midst of people of wisdom doing wonderful things.

Your occupation in this world is to act the character that is given to you, and act it well. The time and place of your existence is beyond your control, so do what is right for where you are.

Fear is a natural response. Fear can help you avoid disaster, but it can also prevent you from performing easy, safe and worthwhile actions. Know the difference, then act with dedicated effort.

Your time and attention are your most precious possessions. Use your time well! Without time you can do nothing, and without your attention everything is meaningless.

The end and aim of education is appropriate action. Development of the character and the skills needed for action requires wisdom to know what are the right actions that need to be learned, and that is best done by studying with those who have proven they know the subject.

Be careful when choosing what you think about and identify with, because what you identify with is what will influence your actions.

Keep your promises to yourself, for if you can’t do that you can’t choose to do anything.

Decide what needs to be done, learn what actions will be needed to do it, and practice those actions diligently. To be good at an action requires plenty of practice.

Now is a wonderful time for action, if you have a goal, if you are prepared, and if you are practiced. Now is a terrible time to accomplish anything, and you can do nothing, if you don’t know your goal, are unprepared and unskilled.

Every moment you live is an opportunity to do a conscious act to help another person live a better life. Use those moments wisely, as they will never come again. Do what clearly needs to be done here and now, and don’t waste time and attention on the unknowable distant things.

The best portion of a good man’s life,—
His little nameless, unremembered acts
Of  kindness and of love.
William Wordsworth

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Jesus – Matthew 7:12 Give others life, and help them live it more abundantly. John 10:10

That version of the Golden Rule is positive because it emphasizes doing what should be done to help people live their lives more abundantly. The more modern translations emphasize childish pleasure and property gains as gaining in abundance.

Avoid things with little payoff and probable irrecoverable injuries like base jumping with parachutes. It is more productive to take other kinds of risks, such as speaking up and challenging famous people and authorities in appropriate situations. This type of action may bring a great payoff, but there is little permanent damage associated with failure.

To live is to function, to do something useful beyond one’s transient self. That which exists beyond one’s consciousness has entered the cosmos, but that which is wholly within oneself soon vanishes forever.

My ongoing challenge to the wholly inner qualities like hope, faith and love is that they go to the grave with one’s death. I support and encourage those seemingly similar actions which are generally thought of as confidence, optimism and kindness, because those are acts which help other people live their lives more fruitfully. I encourage people to understand that philosophy, and to help other people learn how to be kind to others. These are external actions, that go far beyond the invisible qualities Faith, Hope and Love, because kindness brings in all people involved, one’s self included, to a happier and more contented life. A kindness is external to one’s thoughts and becomes part of the observable universe, and thus part of eternity.

We live because of our star, the Sun, but it is only one of one hundred billion stars in our galaxy, and our galaxy is only one of one hundred billion galaxies. The number of potential homes where our Earth might get by just fine orbiting almost any of those other stars if it were located in the Goldilocks zone, approaches a one with twenty-two zeros after it. Our human moment in time is similarly tiny compared to the cosmos. But, of that vast number we are here, so let us appreciate our wonderful gift, and use it well.

Always be doing something productive even if it seems trivial.

Greet people with modesty and with offers of help for their problems.

Even in comedy be dignified, self-confident and kind.

The quickest way to learn is to be with and study with those who have succeeded.

People instantly respond to how they are treated.

He who respects all people, himself included, will be respected.

Watch for kindness and you will see it;
Listen for humor and you will hear it;
Strive for wisdom and you will have it.

Light from many lamps – Quotes on mature actions – part 4

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Contentment, happiness, Lights from many lamps, Lillian Watson, Mature behavior, Maturity, Maturity quotations, Properly motivated actions, Social growth, Stoicism

Light from Many Lamps: A Treasury of Inspirationby Lillian Watson. In this book there are many quotations about mature actions. Here are some selections that seemed to lead toward successful actions. [A few have my personal comments inserted in brackets.] Part four.

262
I have never agreed to that old and much-praised proverb which advises you to become an old man early if you wish to be an old man long. Marcus Tullius Cicero [This sentiment is discussed on p. 167 of Inventing Modern Life, by Elsie Parsons. I encountered it as a youth, and remembered it as advice to have the cautious actions of an old man if you didn’t want to get killed as a young one. Mine was the attitude of Taleb’s Black Swan. Avoid things with little payoff and irrecoverable injuries like base jumping with parachutes. My attitude was to take other kinds of  risks, such as to speak up, and challenge famous people and authorities in situations of potentially great payoff but little permanent damage associated with failure.]

264
“The work is done.” But just as one says that, the answer comes: “The race is over, but the work is never done while the power to work remains.” The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only a coming to rest. It cannot be, while you still live. For to live is to function. That is all there is to living. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes [To live is to function, to do something useful beyond one’s transient self, which exists beyond one’s soon-to-vanish self.]

271
To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am. Bernard Baruch [To me, old age has been associated with inflexibility of world view. Some people freeze up when young in years and soon seem old because their world view is easily dated to that time of mental freezing. Because I have watched the horizon of the technological, and social world view I probably seem younger than my years, but then I have been influenced by the two-millennium-old Stoics, so it would seem I’m also two-thousand years old.]

271
But after all, a man’s value is not measured by the years he has lived, or even the work he has done. A man’s value is measured by the character he has molded. Robert Browning [In my ongoing challenge to inner qualities that go to the grave with one’s death, such as character, I support and encourage those actions which are generally thought of as kindness, those acts which help other people live their lives more fruitfully. I encourage people to understand that philosophy, and to help other people learn how to be kind to others, because these are external actions, that go far beyond the invisible qualities Faith, Hope and Love, and character because they bring all people involved, one’s self included, to a happier and more contented life. Character dies with the body, but a kind act becomes part of the Universe.]

276
Let us see to it . . . that our lives, like jewels of great price, be noteworthy not because of their width, but because of their weight. Let us measure them by their performance, not their duration. Seneca [I’m with Seneca. It’s the actions that count the most.]

277
Life must be measured by thought and action, not by time. Sir John Lubbock

284
This time, like all other times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Time and attention are our most precious possessions, and each moment has its ideal action fitted to the moment, and that action is mediated by our attention.]

284
Life is a fragment, a moment between two eternities, influenced by all that has preceded, and to influence all that follows. The only way to illumine it is by extent of view. William Ellery Channing [I have been associated with the Channing Clubs, which are discussion groups of Unitarians since age eighteen.]

289
Whatever answer the future holds, this much I believe we must accept: There can be no putting the jinni back into the bottle. To try to bury or to suppress new knowledge because we do not know how to prevent its use for destructive or evil purposes is a pathetically futile gesture. It is, indeed, a symbolic return to the methods of the Middle Ages. It seeks to deny the innermost urge of the mind of man—the desire for knowledge. . . .  David E. Lilenthal [I am a supporter of this idea, with one exception – the knowledge of how to make WOES, Weapons Of Extermination. That knowledge would lead to the extinction of humanity, and without humans there is nothing we can call good, because it is humans who define good.]

290
We must have the will to set out boldly on the adventure, the resolution to begin from where we are. We need the will and the faith, we need a sense that this is the historic hour to turn the first shovel, to take the first steps. David E. Lilenthal [I like the sentiment, but have chosen slightly different words, which lead to greatly different methods.]

292
Never before in the history of the world has life been so eminently worth living, and never before so thrilling. W. Beran Wolfe [Yes! But, the eternal question as always is – what to do now?]

299
We are members of a world team, We are partners in a grand adventure. We are offered the most challenging opportunity of all history: the chance to help create a new society in which men and women the world around can live and grow invigorated by independence and freedom. Wendell Willkie [Yes! But, what to do now?]

301
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression-everywhere in the world. . . . Franklin D. Roosevelt [Without freedom of speech humanity will wither into howling apes.]

305
I firmly believe that the future of civilization is absolutely dependent upon finding some way of resolving international differences without resorting to war. Dwight D. Eisenhower

[In a world with superweapons, we must soon create an effective legal Leviathan or return to hunting and gathering.]

314
The rose is merely the evidence of the vitality of the root; and the real source of its beauty, the very blush that it wears upon its tender cheek, comes from those silent sources of life that lie hidden in the chemistry of the soil.  Woodrow Wilson [We the people are the soil, and we must make ourselves as healthy as we can.]

315
Its girders are the pioneer traits of initiative, resourcefulness, self-reliance, and pride in achievement . . . If our youth and generations to come clearly understand the relationship between individual effort and common good; if they perceive that our privileges and advantages in this great country, won by the toil and sacrifice of generations before them, can be retained only by a comparable expenditure on their part. Dwight D. Eisenhower

[If only Eisenhower had expanded his world view from his personal country, the US, to the entire world I would be more comfortable with the quote. But he didn’t, and therefore we are left with a world of competing sovereigns with super-weapons, and their eventual use, with disaster and the collapse of modern human societies.]

317
And there is no limitation upon your inherent American right to criticize anybody, anywhere, at any time. . . . We share our rights with those who disagree with us; Wendell Willkie [This is a clear statement supporting free speech, and free speech must be extended, absolutely, to every human alive or who will ever live, not just Americans]

Light from many lamps – Quotes on mature actions – part 3

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Contentment, happiness, Lights from many lamps, Lillian Watson, Mature behavior, Maturity, Maturity quotations, Properly motivated actions, Social growth, Stoicism

Light from Many Lamps: A Treasury of Inspirationby Lillian Watson. In this book there are many quotations about mature actions. Here are some selections that seemed to lead toward successful actions. [A few have my personal comments inserted in brackets.] Part three.

186
The only way to have a friend is to be a friend. Ralph Waldo Emerson [To be loved, love and be lovable.] 240 If you wish to be loved, be lovable. Benjamin Franklin

191
I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. St. Paul

192
In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in doing good to their fellow men. Cicero

193
The best portion of a good man’s life,—
His little nameless, unremembered acts
Of  kindness and of love.
William Wordsworth

195
Ask yourself constantly, “What is the right thing to do?” Confucius

197
All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Jesus – Matthew 7:12

197
He that does good to another does good also to himself, not only in the consequence but in the very act. For the consciousness of well-doing is in itself ample reward. Seneca

198
It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. Ralph Waldo Emerson

211
Without friends the world is but a wilderness. Francis Bacon

212
No one can remain your friend if you hide your soul from him. Dagobert D. Runes

214
Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at the distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand. Thomas Carlyle

224
You can lighten your own load by doing something for someone else. Frederic Loomis

225
Doing good to others is not a duty. It is a joy, for it increases your own health and happiness. Zoroaster

234
Be not simply good; be good for something. Henry David Thoreau

247
It was a wise man who said that it is important not only to pick the right mate but to be the right mate. Donald Culross Peattie

248
The highest happiness on earth is in marriage. Every man who is happily married is a successful man even if he has failed in everything else. William Lyon Phelps

250
But the universal goal—the attainment of harmony—is apparent. The very act of perceiving this goal and striving constantly toward it does much in itself to bring us closer and, therefore, becomes an end in itself. Richard E. Byrd

254
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home; …
Home, home, sweet, sweet home!
There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!
John Howard Payne

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Light from many lamps – Quotes on mature actions – part 2

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Contentment, happiness, Lights from many lamps, Lillian Watson, Mature behavior, Maturity, Maturity quotations, Properly motivated actions, Social growth, Stoicism

Light from Many Lamps: A Treasury of Inspiration by Lillian Watson. In this book there are many quotations about mature actions. Here are some selections that seemed to lead toward successful actions. [A few have my personal comments inserted in brackets.] Part two.

118
Help for the living—Hope for the dead. Robert Ingersoll [Kindness for the living, and optimism for the dead’s friends.]

123
The true way to mourn the dead is to take care of the living who belong to them. Edmund Burke

125
Act,—act in the living Present! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [Act now on those things were action now is appropriate.]

126
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

127
I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair. Alfred Tennyson

129
So first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. . . . Franklin D. Roosevelt

135
Of all who live, I am the one by whom
This work can best be done in the right way.
Henry van Dyke [Of all the quotes in this book, this is the most potent, and an appropriate thought for everyone on every occasion.]

141
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson

145
There is nothing of which we are apt to be so lavish as of time, and about which we ought to be more solicitous; since without it we can do nothing in this world. William Penn

148
No doubt you’re the one that’s right, doctor, and I’m the one that’s wrong . . . My father ditched this bog all his days and never made a pasture. I’ve dug it all my days and I’ve never made a pasture. But pasture or no pasture, I canna help but dig. For my father knew and I know that if you only dig enough a pasture can be made here. John Angus

151
Difficulties are the things that show what men are. Epictetus

155
One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world—making the most of one’s best. Harry Emerson Fosdick

159
All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail. Dorthea Brande

165
When you are in doubt whether an action is good or bad, abstain from it. Zoroaster

165
Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. George Bernard Shaw

168
The end and aim of all education is the development of character.
Francis W. Parker [The end and aim of education is appropriate action. The development of the character, and the skills needed for action requires wisdom to know what are the right actions needed to be learned, and that is best done by studying those who know.]

171
Good thoughts bear good fruit , bad thought bad fruit. James Lane Allen

173
Your disposition will be suitable to that which you most frequently think on; for the soul is, as it were, tinged with the color and complexion of its own thoughts . . . Your life is what your thoughts make it. Marcus Aurelius

174
All that a man does outwardly is but the expression and completion of his inward thought. To work effectively, he must think clearly; to act nobly, he must think nobly. William Ellery Channing

175
Every time is a good time, if people [you] know what to do with it. [and are doing it.] Ralph Waldo Emerson

178
A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature. Seneca

179
No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself. James Russell Lowell 

179
You fulfill the promise that lies latent within you by keeping your promises to yourself. David Harold Fink  [Keep your promises to yourself for if you can not do that you can not do anything.]

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Light from many lamps – Quotes on mature actions

Tags

Mature behavior, Maturity quotations, Properly motivated actions, Stoicism

Light from Many Lamps: A Treasury of Inspiration by Lillian Watson. In this book there are many quotations about mature actions. Here are some selections that seemed to lead toward successful actions. [A few have my personal comments inserted in brackets.] Part one.

5
How important is health to happiness, yet the best promoter of health is something [important] to do.  John Burroughs [Happiness is in making progress on an important task that you of all of the people who have ever lived are here at this time and place able to do.]

6
The [personal] reward of a thing well done is [for you] to have done it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

7
The mintage of wisdom is to know that rest is rust, and that real life is love, laughter, and work. Elbert Hubbard [The action terms would be – kindness, humor and accomplishment. It is wisdom to know that idleness brings boredom and despair; a happy life is fulled with kindness, humor and accomplishment.]

[What wonderful things am I going to do today?]

9
A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it be—without wishing for what he has not. Seneca

10
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. Epictetus

12
But happiness is not in having or being: it is in doing. Lillian Eichler Watson

13
Choose a movement that presents a distinct trend toward greater human happiness and align yourself with it. W. Beran Wolfe

14
Unless we think of others and so something for them, we miss one of the greatest sources of happiness. Ray Lyman Wilbur  [Unless we observe others, and do something to help them toward their goal, we miss the greatest source of happiness.]

17
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy . . . to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly . . . William S. Ogdon

21
The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts. William Lyon Phelps

25
It is humiliating to find how quickly and completely one’s place is filled, but it is a very good lesson. Frederic Loomis [You are the only one who can do this job right now, and no one can do it better, right now. This is true of everyone.]

29
Today should always be our most wonderful day. Thomas Dreier

37
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide … song by Henry Francis Lyte [The Universe is infinitely wonderful! It permits all things that can be done; It prevents all things that can not be done.]

43
Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into you as life, place yourself in the full center of that flood, then you are without effort impelled to truth, to right, and a perfect contentment. Ralph Waldo Emerson [Place yourself with people of wisdom doing wonderful things.]

60
Good-night! good-night! as we so oft have said,
Beneath this roof at midnight, in the days
That are no more, and shall no more return.
Thou hast but taken up thy lamp and gone to bed;
I stay a little longer, as one stays
To cover up the embers that still burn.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

67
Properly understood, prayer is a mature activity indispensable to the fullest development of personality-the ultimate integration of man’s highest faculties. Alexis Carrel

74
This, too, shall pass away. [Now is the only time you can do what you want to do.]

77
Think often of how swiftly all things pass away and are no more-the works of Nature and the works of man. Marcus Aurelius

83
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Epictetus

91
It is not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts. Harold Russell [Make use of what you have to accomplish your task.]

93
Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but not to the will, unless the will consent. Lameness is a hindrance to the leg, but not to the will.  Say this to yourself at each event that happens, for you shall find that though it hinders something else it will not hinder “you.” Epictetus 

93
For your business is to act the character that is given to you and act it well. The choice of the cast is Another’s. Epictetus [This is a practice of improvisation training.]

93
Be willing to have it so. Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune. William James

93
I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found my self, my work, and my God. Helen Keller

96
Nothing happens to a man which he is not formed by nature to bear. Marcus Aurelius [The time will come when nature will return us to random matter, and we have no choice but to bear it.]

113
Spend your brief moment according to nature’s law, and serenely greet the journey’s end as an olive falls when it is ripe, blessing the branch that bare it, and giving thanks to the tree that gave it life. Marcus Aurelius

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How well he fell asleep!
Like some proud river, widening toward the sea;
Calmly and grandly, silently and deep,
Life joined eternity. Samuel T. Coleridge

The Inner Citadel by Pierre Hadot – Book review

Tags

James Bond Stockdale, Marcus Aurelius, Pierre Hadot, Stoic philosophy, Stoicism, The Meditations

The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, by Pierre Hadot, is a scholarly book which analyses “The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius”. Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of the Roman Empire from 161 AD to 180, and is considered the last of the Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoic philosophy which sought to attain tranquility in personal life for himself and for the people of his empire.

I read The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius the summer of 1955, when house-sitting my fraternity house during Washington State College’s summer vacation. I also read 1984, Brave New World, and started On the Nature of Things, and affected smoking a pipe for a week or two. I don’t remember having any particular response to any of these books, at that time, and yet over the years they must have had a subtle but substantial influence. There were several events in the next few years where things happened which my friends failed to cope with, but with which I had no trouble at all. As I was young and of the same culture as my friends, it could only have been because of my attitude developed from reading The Meditations. Strangely, I have always been considered by other people to have a bad attitude, especially by those people who tend to occupy positions of routine legitimate power, such as school teachers. It probably seemed to them like I was obeying their rules, but with a bored and condescending obedience to their power. They were probably right, but I never intentionally disobeyed any known rules. On the other hand those tests of reality which were extremely challenging I always did quite well on. Once again, where would I have developed these strange bad attitudes, except from The Meditations, and other similar sources, and personal cogitations?

Pierre Hadot’s approach to The Meditations was to discuss Stoic themes with relevant passages from Marcus Aurelius and then chase down seeming endless linkages, nuances, and illustrations related to that theme. If one has an eidetic memory there is much to be learned from that approach; but if one’s goal is to improve one’s personal life by the enhanced presentation of Marcus’ ideas then it would be a better use of one’s time to read the much shorter pamphlet by James Bond Stockdale, Courage Under Fire. Stockdale gives his personal usage of Aurelius’ theories of Stoicism under the most difficult of all circumstances, a Vietnamese prison. He writes:

“Those things over which we have no control we simply respond to as part of the world to which we adapt, and feel no responsibility for and to which no emotions are relevant. The thing that brings down a man is not pain but shame!””

““You’ve got to get it straight! You are in charge of you.””