The difference between “simple” and “easy” (As I use them)… Continue reading
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Tag Archives: virtue
The Stoic Hero’s Triad of Virtue
In your preparation for taking on life, there are three facets of your training that are key. You’ve heard them before, as they are nothing new. They are Body, Mind, and Spirit. A Stoic Hero, of course has his own spin on these three aspects. I know these seem kind of cliche. I tried to be more original but there really is no other way to break it down. To be ready, to be virtuous (which means to be happy), I have to work on all three. They are not independent of each other…no way! Your physical health is affected by your mind and spirit, your mind is connected to your body is connected to your emotional well being, and on and on. Interestingly, each of these aspects fit quite nicely with the buoys on my philosophical raft. Continue reading
On Personal Liberty; You Always Have a Choice
Every once in a while my view on how society should be organized seeps into my entries on philosophy. This view stems from my objectivist leanings, as well as my libertarian outlook. I say “should be” because society is actually a compendium of different personal philosophies bastardized by the collective brutality of government, societal norms, and those who abuse natural law. Simply put, how things should be as a society are not how they are…at least not exactly. However, that does not mean that I shouldn’t strive for the “ought.” The Stoic maintains his virtue despite its absence all around him.
A cornerstone of our behavior is personal liberty. Continue reading
Simple but not Easy; Just Be Good
“Whatever any one does or says, I must be good, just as if the gold, or the emerald, or the purple were always saying this, Whatever any one does or says, I must be emerald and keep my color.”–Marcus Aurelius Meditations Book 7
Whenever I need straightforward Stoic guidance, I turn to Marcus Aurelius. Continue reading
What you are grasping for will not make you free.
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From Epictetus Discourses Book IV, Chapter 4:
“Come forward and tell us! when was your sleep more tranquil, now or before you became Caesar’s friend?
At once the answer comes, ‘Cease, by the gods I beg you, to mock at my fortune; you do not know what a miserable state is mine; no sleep comes near to me, but in comes some one to say, “Now he’s awake, now he’ll be coming out”; then troubles and cares assail me.’
Tell me, when did you dine more agreeably, now or before?
Hear again what he says about this: if he is not invited, he is distressed, and if he is invited he dines as a slave with his lord, anxious all the while for fear he should say or do something foolish.
For my thoughts on this, visit my post at bubblews.com.