Friday morning thoughts: Epictetus on Serenity
From The Art of Living, a modern translation of the Roman Stoic philosopher Epictetus and his famous Discourses (put into writing around 108 AD):
All human beings seek the happy life, but many confuse the means- for example, wealth and status- with that life itself. This misguided focus on the means to a good life makes people get further from the happy life. The really worthwhile things are the virtuous activities that make up the happy life, not the external means that may seem to produce it.
The surest sign of the higher life is serenity. Moral progress results in freedom from inner turmoil. You can stop fretting about this and that.
It is much better to die of hunger unhindered by grief and fear than to live affluently beset with worry, dread, suspicion, and unchecked desire.
Amen Mr. Irish.
Big Al
A friend of a friend living in Calabasas could stand to read the above. Life is pretty derelic with it’s entirely, and only, about making money.
Could not agree more, John W
Big Al
Irish! What B.S. A yacht is much more fun! (And you don’t get wet when it rains!)
cfs….I would not know about that , as i have never been on one
The key is knowing when enough is enough for you, as an individual.
And then get out of the rat race and smell the roses.
(Spoken as someone who semi-retired in his forties.)
I completely agree and this is spoken from a very happy semi-retired sixty something year old!
Big Al
I see London did it’s usual takedown in gold and silver just before the Friday close!
This is SO predictable…….
cfs…just habit.
Jeff you made me think…..my wife says that is tough to do!
I have often typed…
“I wish upon no one tomorrow’s equivalent of yesterday’s lions.”
The statement does not directly consider whether the person being considered is 1) having the lion equivalent unleashed upon them or 2) alternatively whether they are involved in the unleashing.
To the victim the lion demonstrated their virtue and therefore in the end liberating.
For the cog of tyranny the lion was a tool of their terror and therefor in the end a sign of their condemnation.
Mere security alone does not allow serenity. Truth is serene.
After writing the above I googled the last sentence and I found the below deep thought page, to wit:
http://www.vopus.org/en/gnosis/philosophy/the-truth.html
The above reminds me of the book “the millionaire next door”—-families that lived simply compared to the affluent but yet had a net worth of over a million dollars. I remember my son came home when he was in high school years ago and asked me one night why we weren’t living in the “high rent” area in suburbia. His friends had been teasing him about it since I was a physician. It was one of my greatest teaching moments I had with one of my children. I have 3 great kids that carry on the same philosophy I have about how you earn your money and what you do with it.
We have taught our girls that it is about passion and absolutely nothing else. Know what they are all doing absolutely great today!
Big Al
Al, I got your e-mail. I’ll have my phone with me. Doc.
This is very good. Statements like this help us to appreciate the things in life that are truly important and not the material things.
Amen GS, amen!
Big Al
GS…I totally agree , my wife & i worked all our lives, we were working class , we could not afford the material things not that we craved them , we have four children , who are very down to earth, we though them the important things in life , love , good health , a roof over their heads , & enough food to live .WE showed them the poverty around the world ,& managed to convince them that compared to those people…we were millionaires . My wife has gone to a better place , & when i go we know that we have left a better legacy behind…..Our children .
We gotta get together some time Mr. Irish! Birds of a feather, my friend.
Big Al
Personally, I don’t fret about ANYTHING since God is in absolute control. That said, I cannot help but cringe whenever I sense deception in this world. Needless to say, I am cringing day and night!!!
I would bet that most of us are, Bentnail!
Big Al
Better to take your children on to a large pond in a small boat , & teach them to row , & hear their laughter,
Than to take them in a large yacht in a vast open see , & have to listen to them moan that they are bored.
The simple free things , give the best pleasure.