Stoicism
OVERVIEW
Stoicism differs from most existing schools of Philosophy in one important sense: its purpose is practical application. It is not a purely intellectual enterprise. It’s a tool that can used to become better in one’s occupation and makes one better with friends, family and the general public. Stoicism is useful in simply making one a better person.
Stoic practice is much closer to a yoga session or a pre-athletic warm up than to a technical book of philosophy that a university professor might write. It’s preparation dealing with the things of everyday life through the use of Stoicism where the right state of mind is the most issue.
In modern usage, the word "Stoic" refers to someone who is unemotional or indifferent to pain, pleasure, grief or joy, and has little in common with its philosophical roots. However , that is not at all Stoicism in the classic sense. How and why that modern misinformed idea of Stoics developed is unclear, but someone in the entertainment or movie business likely misused the term and it stuck.
HISTORY
Stoicism is a Hellenistic school of philosophy, developed by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium around 300 B.C., which teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions in order to develop clear judgment and inner calm and the ultimate goal of freedom from suffering.
The 1st Century AD Roman philosopher and Stoic, Seneca the Younger (4 B.C. - A.D. 65), the most famous and popular philosopher of his day, took the subject of anger seriously enough to dedicate a whole book to the subject. He saw anger as a philosophical problem and amenable to treatment by philosophical argument, not just an irrational outburst over which we have no control. He thought that anger arose from holding overly optimistic ideas about the world, leading to unrealistic expectations, and advised a more pessimistic attitude so that one was mentally prepared for the kinds of bad things that happen, which would therefore not lead to such outbursts of anger.
It had three principal leaders. Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each day to write himself notes about restraint, compassion and humility. Epictetus endured the horrors of slavery to found his own school where he taught many of Rome’s greatest minds. Seneca, when Nero turned on him and demanded his suicide, could think only of comforting his wife and friends.
During its initial phase, Stoicism was generally seen as a back-to-nature movement, critical of superstitions and taboos (based on the Stoic idea that the law of morality is the same as Nature).
Stoicism is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, but rather a way of life, involving constant practice and training, and incorporating the practice of logic, Socratic dialogue and self-dialogue, contemplation of death, and a kind of meditation aimed at training one's attention to remain in the present moment.The term "stoic" was taken from the "stoa poikile" (meaning "painted porch" or "colonnade") where Zeno of Citium used to teach.
As an ethical doctrine, the goal of Stoicism is freedom from passion (in the ancient sense of "anguish" or "suffering") through the pursuit of reason and "apatheia" (apathy, in its ancient sense of being objective, unemotional and having clear judgment). It teaches indifference and a "passive" reaction to external events (on the grounds that nothing external could be either good or evil) and equanimity in the face of life's highs and lows.
Zeno's successor was Cleanthes of Assos (c. 330 - 230 B.C.), but perhaps his most influential follower was Cleanthes' student Chrysippus of Soli (c. 280 - 207 B.C.), who was largely responsible for the molding of what we now call Stoicism. He built up a unified account of the world, consisting of formal logic, materialistic physics and naturalistic ethics. The main focus of Stoicism was always Ethics, although their logical theories were to be of more interest for many later philosophers.
Stoicism became the foremost and most influential school of the Greco-Roman world, especially among the educated elite, and it produced a number of remarkable writers and personalities, such as Panaetius of Rhodes (185 - 109 B.C.), Posidonius (c.135 - 50 B.C.), Cato the Younger (94 - 46 B.C.), Seneca the Younger (4 B.C. - A.D. 65), Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
BASIC BELIEFS
- Only concern yourself with what you can control.
-Accept that which you cannot control.
- Use reason to tame harmful emotion (fear, grief, pain, greed).
- Avoid the trap of wealth — it will not lead to happiness .
The Stoics taught that becoming a clear, unbiased and self-disciplined thinker allows one to understand the "logos" (the natural universal reason in all things). Thus, unhappiness and evil are the results of ignorance, and if someone is unkind, it is because they are unaware of their own universal reason. The solution to this evil and unhappiness can be achieved through the practice of Stoic philosophy (the examination of one's own judgments and behavior in order to determine where they might have diverged from the universal reason of nature). Hence the famous Stoic maxim: "Live according to nature", both in the sense of the laws of the universe and of man's own essential nature, reason.
SIMILAR PHILOSOPHIES
In many respects, it bears a remarkable similarity to the ethical teaching of Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563 - 483 B.C.) and Buddhism, which is grounded in the four noble truths: 1) all life has suffering; 2) suffering is rooted in passion and desire; 3) happiness is freedom from the passions; 4) moral restraint and self-discipline is the means by which one becomes free from suffering.
It toned down some of the harsher principles of Cynicism with some moderation and real-world practicality.
To some extent, Stoicism assumes Determinism in that it holds that we will in any case do as the necessity of the world compels us, but it holds that we should not merely obey the law, but assent to our own obedience and follow the law consciously and deliberately, as only a rational being can.
Stoic Logic and Epistemology asserts the certainty of knowledge, which can be attained through the use of reason and by verifying the conviction with the expertise of one's peers and the collective judgment of humankind. It holds that the senses are constantly receiving sensations, in the form of pulsations which pass from objects through the senses to the mind, where they leave behind an impression. The mind is able to approve or reject an impression, to enable it to distinguish a representation of reality which is true from one which is false.
This theory stands, therefore, in direct opposition to the Idealism of Plato, for whom the mind alone was the source of knowledge, the senses being the source of all illusion and error.
Neo-Stoicism is a syncretic movement, combining a revival of Stoicism with Christianity, founded by the Belgian Humanist Justus Lipsius (1547 - 1606). It is a practical philosophy which holds that the basic rule of good life is that one should not yield to the passions (greed, joy, fear and sorrow), but submit to God.
VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE
In Stoicism's God is never fully transcendent but always Devine. God as the world-creating entity is personalized in Christian thought, but Stoicism equates God with the totality of the universe ( similar to Buddhism and Hinduism), which was deeply contrary to Christianity. The only incarnation in Stoicism is that each person has a part of the Logos (Universal Reason/Consciousness) within. Stoicism, unlike Christianity, does not posit a beginning or end to the universe.
In Metaphysics, the Stoics believed in a Universe which is a material but reasoning substance, which can be called God or Nature, and which they divided into two classes, the passive (essentially, matter) and the active (variously described as Fate or Logos, a material, intelligent aether or primordial fire, which acts on the passive matter).
The souls of people and animals are emanations from this primordial fire, and are likewise subject to Fate. This notion that all things are composed of fire is borrowed from Heraclitus, and they also held a cyclical view of history, in which the world was once fire and would become fire again.
death
PRACTICES
An important aspect of Stoicism involves improving the individual’s ethical and moral well-being by having a will which is in agreement with Nature, and by practicing the four cardinal virtues (derived from the teachings of Plato): wisdom ("sophia"), courage ("andreia"), justice ("dikaiosyne") and temperance ("sophrosyne").
For the Stoics, living according to reason and virtue is to live in harmony with the divine order of the universe, and recognizing the common reason and essential value of all people. They therefore promoted Egalitarianism, and, unusually for their day, encouraged the acceptance of even slaves as equals on the grounds that all are the "sons of God", echoing Socrates' claim that "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world". They also denied the importance of external differences such as rank and wealth in social relationships.
To the Stoics, then, all things are material, and nothing is more than material (Materialism). Words and God himself are material; emotions are material, because they have physical manifestations (e.g. blushing, smiling); the mind or soul reduces to matter, because the body produces thoughts or sense impressions in the soul, and the soul produces movements in the body, both which would be impossible if body and soul were not of the same substance.
The Stoics also believed that all the world is one, issuing from one principle (Monism), and that a divine reality pervades the whole universe (Pantheism). Thus, the universe is like a giant living body, with its own leading part (the stars or the sun), but with all parts being interconnected, so that what happens in one place affects what happens elsewhere. In addition, everything in the universe is predetermined (Determinism), although humans have a certain amount of free will (in the same way as eddies play around within the overall current of a river).
Stoics practiced what are known as “spiritual exercises” and drew upon them for strength.
1.Practice Misfortune
“It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself for difficult times; while fortune is bestowing favors on it is then is the time for it to be strengthened against her rebuffs.” -Seneca
Seneca, who enjoyed great wealth as the adviser of Nero, suggested that we ought to set aside a certain number of days each month to practice poverty. Take a little food, wear your worst clothes, get away from the comfort of your home and bed. Put yourself face to face with want, he said, you’ll ask yourself “Is this what I used to dread?”
It’s important to remember that this is an exercise and not a rhetorical device. He doesn’t mean “think about” misfortune, he means live it. Comfort is the worst kind of slavery because you’re always afraid that something or someone will take it away. But if you cannot just anticipate but practice misfortune, then chance loses its ability to disrupt your life.
Emotions like anxiety and fear have their roots in uncertainty and rarely in experience. Anyone who has made a big bet on themselves knows how much energy both states can consume. The solution is to do something about that ignorance. Make yourself familiar with the things, the worst-case scenarios, that you’re afraid of.
Practice what you fear, whether a simulation in your mind or in real life. The downside is almost always reversible or transient.
2.Train Perception to Avoid Good and Bad
“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” -Marcus Aurelius
The Stoics had an exercise called Turning the Obstacle Upside Down. What they meant to do was make it impossible to not practice the art of philosophy. Because if you can properly turn a problem upside down, every “bad” becomes a new source of good.
Suppose for a second that you are trying to help someone and they respond by being surly or unwilling to cooperate. Instead of making your life more difficult, the exercise says, they’re actually directing you towards new virtues; for example, patience or understanding. Or, the death of someone close to you; a chance to show fortitude.
Marcus Aurelius described it like this:
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
The common refrain about entrepreneurs is that they take advantage of, even create, opportunities. To the Stoic, everything is opportunity. What a Stoic does is turn every obstacle into an opportunity.
There is no good or bad to the practicing Stoic. There is only perception. You control perception. You can choose to extrapolate past your first impression (‘X happened.’ –> ‘X happened and now my life is over.’). If you tie your first response to dispassion, you’ll find that everything is simply an opportunity.
3.Remember—It’s All Ephemeral
“Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both.” -Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself a simple and effective reminder to help him regain perspective and stay balanced:
“Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend…or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are.”
Returning to the point of the exercise, it’s simple: remember how small you are. For that matter, remember how small most everything is.If everything is ephemeral, what does matter? Right now matters. Being a good person and doing the right thing right now, that’s what matters and that’s what was important to the Stoics.
Take Alexander the Great who conquered the known world and had cities named in his honor. This is common knowledge. The Stoics would also point out that, once while drunk, Alexander got into a fight with his dearest friend, Cleitus, and accidentally killed him. Afterward, he was so despondent that he couldn’t eat or drink for three days. Sophists were called from all over Greece to see what they could do about his grief, to no avail.
Is this the mark of a successful life? From a personal standpoint, it matters little if your name is emblazoned on a map if you lose perspective and hurt those around you.
Learn from Alexander’s mistake. Be humble and honest and aware. That is something you can have every single day of your life. You’ll never have to fear someone taking it from you or, worse still, it taking over you.
PEOPLE WHO PRACTICED STOICISM
Stoicism has been practiced by kings, presidents, artists, writers and entrepreneurs. Both historical and modern men illustrate Stoicism as a way of life.
Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each day to write himself notes about restraint, compassion and humility. Epictetus endured the horrors of slavery to found his own school where he taught many of Rome’s greatest minds. Seneca, when Nero turned on him and demanded his suicide, could think only of comforting his wife and friends.
Prussian King, Frederick the Great, was said to ride with the works of the Stoics in his saddlebags because they could, in his words, “sustain you in misfortune”. Meanwhile, Montaigne, the politician and essayist, had a line from Epictetus carved into the beam above the study in which he spent most of his time.
The founding fathers were also inspired by the philosophy. George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his neighbors at age seventeen, and afterwards, put on a play about Cato to inspire his men in that dark winter at Valley Forge. Whereas Thomas Jefferson had a copy of Seneca on his nightstand when he died.
The economist Adam Smith’s theories on the interconnectedness of the world—capitalism—were significantly influenced by the Stoicism that he studied as a schoolboy, under a teacher who had translated Marcus Aurelius’ works.
The political thinker, John Stuart Mill, wrote of Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism in his famous treatise On Liberty, calling it “the highest ethical product of the ancient mind.”
CONCLUSION
The Stoics were writing honestly, often self-critically, about how they could become better people, be happier, and deal with the problems they faced. Ultimately, that’s what Stoicism is about. It’s not some systematic discussion of why or how the world exists. It is a series of reminders, tips and aids for living a good life.
Stoicism, as Marcus Aurelius reminds himself, is not some grand Instructor but a balm, a soothing ointment to an injury wherever we might have one. Epictetus was right when he said that “life is hard, brutal, punishing, narrow, and confining, a deadly business.” We should take whatever help we can get, and it just happens that that help can come from ourselves.
The principles within Stoicism are, perhaps, the most relevant and practical sets of rules for entrepreneurs, writers, and artists of all kinds.
The Stoics focus on two things:
How can we lead a fulfilling, happy life?
How can we become better human beings?
The goal of Stoicism is to attain inner peace by overcoming adversity, practicing self-control, being conscious of our impulses, realizing our ephemeral nature and the short time allotted—these were all meditative practices that helped them live with their nature and not against it. It’s important that we understand the obstacles that we face and not run from them; it’s vital that we learn to transmute them into fuel to feed our fire.
9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos:
1. Acknowledge that all emotions come from within;
2. Find someone you respect, and use them to stay honest;
3. Recognize there is life after failure ;
4. Read purposefully, and apply your knowledge;
5. Challenge yourself to be brutally honest;
6. Reflect on what you spend the most time on ;
7. Remind yourself: you weren’t meant to procrastinate;
8. Put the phone away and be present;
9. Remind yourself that time is our most precious resource
Throughout your day find a moment, however fleeting, to just sit and be still. Doesn’t matter where you are. Take a few deep breathes, put your phone on vibrate so there’s no chance of interruption, and just reflect on the series of events that took place throughout your day.
Let your mind focus on the task at hand, what you’re trying to accomplish, and do it with diligence, patience, attentiveness, and care.
The way we lead our lives and do our work must embody the principles that we practice. Less comparing, criticizing, and consuming; more creating, learning, and living.
“…People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they’re really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.”
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations
Scott Ramsey
September 14. 2017
OVERVIEW
Stoicism differs from most existing schools of Philosophy in one important sense: its purpose is practical application. It is not a purely intellectual enterprise. It’s a tool that can used to become better in one’s occupation and makes one better with friends, family and the general public. Stoicism is useful in simply making one a better person.
Stoic practice is much closer to a yoga session or a pre-athletic warm up than to a technical book of philosophy that a university professor might write. It’s preparation dealing with the things of everyday life through the use of Stoicism where the right state of mind is the most issue.
In modern usage, the word "Stoic" refers to someone who is unemotional or indifferent to pain, pleasure, grief or joy, and has little in common with its philosophical roots. However , that is not at all Stoicism in the classic sense. How and why that modern misinformed idea of Stoics developed is unclear, but someone in the entertainment or movie business likely misused the term and it stuck.
HISTORY
Stoicism is a Hellenistic school of philosophy, developed by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium around 300 B.C., which teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of overcoming destructive emotions in order to develop clear judgment and inner calm and the ultimate goal of freedom from suffering.
The 1st Century AD Roman philosopher and Stoic, Seneca the Younger (4 B.C. - A.D. 65), the most famous and popular philosopher of his day, took the subject of anger seriously enough to dedicate a whole book to the subject. He saw anger as a philosophical problem and amenable to treatment by philosophical argument, not just an irrational outburst over which we have no control. He thought that anger arose from holding overly optimistic ideas about the world, leading to unrealistic expectations, and advised a more pessimistic attitude so that one was mentally prepared for the kinds of bad things that happen, which would therefore not lead to such outbursts of anger.
It had three principal leaders. Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each day to write himself notes about restraint, compassion and humility. Epictetus endured the horrors of slavery to found his own school where he taught many of Rome’s greatest minds. Seneca, when Nero turned on him and demanded his suicide, could think only of comforting his wife and friends.
During its initial phase, Stoicism was generally seen as a back-to-nature movement, critical of superstitions and taboos (based on the Stoic idea that the law of morality is the same as Nature).
Stoicism is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, but rather a way of life, involving constant practice and training, and incorporating the practice of logic, Socratic dialogue and self-dialogue, contemplation of death, and a kind of meditation aimed at training one's attention to remain in the present moment.The term "stoic" was taken from the "stoa poikile" (meaning "painted porch" or "colonnade") where Zeno of Citium used to teach.
As an ethical doctrine, the goal of Stoicism is freedom from passion (in the ancient sense of "anguish" or "suffering") through the pursuit of reason and "apatheia" (apathy, in its ancient sense of being objective, unemotional and having clear judgment). It teaches indifference and a "passive" reaction to external events (on the grounds that nothing external could be either good or evil) and equanimity in the face of life's highs and lows.
Zeno's successor was Cleanthes of Assos (c. 330 - 230 B.C.), but perhaps his most influential follower was Cleanthes' student Chrysippus of Soli (c. 280 - 207 B.C.), who was largely responsible for the molding of what we now call Stoicism. He built up a unified account of the world, consisting of formal logic, materialistic physics and naturalistic ethics. The main focus of Stoicism was always Ethics, although their logical theories were to be of more interest for many later philosophers.
Stoicism became the foremost and most influential school of the Greco-Roman world, especially among the educated elite, and it produced a number of remarkable writers and personalities, such as Panaetius of Rhodes (185 - 109 B.C.), Posidonius (c.135 - 50 B.C.), Cato the Younger (94 - 46 B.C.), Seneca the Younger (4 B.C. - A.D. 65), Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
BASIC BELIEFS
- Only concern yourself with what you can control.
-Accept that which you cannot control.
- Use reason to tame harmful emotion (fear, grief, pain, greed).
- Avoid the trap of wealth — it will not lead to happiness .
The Stoics taught that becoming a clear, unbiased and self-disciplined thinker allows one to understand the "logos" (the natural universal reason in all things). Thus, unhappiness and evil are the results of ignorance, and if someone is unkind, it is because they are unaware of their own universal reason. The solution to this evil and unhappiness can be achieved through the practice of Stoic philosophy (the examination of one's own judgments and behavior in order to determine where they might have diverged from the universal reason of nature). Hence the famous Stoic maxim: "Live according to nature", both in the sense of the laws of the universe and of man's own essential nature, reason.
SIMILAR PHILOSOPHIES
In many respects, it bears a remarkable similarity to the ethical teaching of Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563 - 483 B.C.) and Buddhism, which is grounded in the four noble truths: 1) all life has suffering; 2) suffering is rooted in passion and desire; 3) happiness is freedom from the passions; 4) moral restraint and self-discipline is the means by which one becomes free from suffering.
It toned down some of the harsher principles of Cynicism with some moderation and real-world practicality.
To some extent, Stoicism assumes Determinism in that it holds that we will in any case do as the necessity of the world compels us, but it holds that we should not merely obey the law, but assent to our own obedience and follow the law consciously and deliberately, as only a rational being can.
Stoic Logic and Epistemology asserts the certainty of knowledge, which can be attained through the use of reason and by verifying the conviction with the expertise of one's peers and the collective judgment of humankind. It holds that the senses are constantly receiving sensations, in the form of pulsations which pass from objects through the senses to the mind, where they leave behind an impression. The mind is able to approve or reject an impression, to enable it to distinguish a representation of reality which is true from one which is false.
This theory stands, therefore, in direct opposition to the Idealism of Plato, for whom the mind alone was the source of knowledge, the senses being the source of all illusion and error.
Neo-Stoicism is a syncretic movement, combining a revival of Stoicism with Christianity, founded by the Belgian Humanist Justus Lipsius (1547 - 1606). It is a practical philosophy which holds that the basic rule of good life is that one should not yield to the passions (greed, joy, fear and sorrow), but submit to God.
VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE
In Stoicism's God is never fully transcendent but always Devine. God as the world-creating entity is personalized in Christian thought, but Stoicism equates God with the totality of the universe ( similar to Buddhism and Hinduism), which was deeply contrary to Christianity. The only incarnation in Stoicism is that each person has a part of the Logos (Universal Reason/Consciousness) within. Stoicism, unlike Christianity, does not posit a beginning or end to the universe.
In Metaphysics, the Stoics believed in a Universe which is a material but reasoning substance, which can be called God or Nature, and which they divided into two classes, the passive (essentially, matter) and the active (variously described as Fate or Logos, a material, intelligent aether or primordial fire, which acts on the passive matter).
The souls of people and animals are emanations from this primordial fire, and are likewise subject to Fate. This notion that all things are composed of fire is borrowed from Heraclitus, and they also held a cyclical view of history, in which the world was once fire and would become fire again.
death
PRACTICES
An important aspect of Stoicism involves improving the individual’s ethical and moral well-being by having a will which is in agreement with Nature, and by practicing the four cardinal virtues (derived from the teachings of Plato): wisdom ("sophia"), courage ("andreia"), justice ("dikaiosyne") and temperance ("sophrosyne").
For the Stoics, living according to reason and virtue is to live in harmony with the divine order of the universe, and recognizing the common reason and essential value of all people. They therefore promoted Egalitarianism, and, unusually for their day, encouraged the acceptance of even slaves as equals on the grounds that all are the "sons of God", echoing Socrates' claim that "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world". They also denied the importance of external differences such as rank and wealth in social relationships.
To the Stoics, then, all things are material, and nothing is more than material (Materialism). Words and God himself are material; emotions are material, because they have physical manifestations (e.g. blushing, smiling); the mind or soul reduces to matter, because the body produces thoughts or sense impressions in the soul, and the soul produces movements in the body, both which would be impossible if body and soul were not of the same substance.
The Stoics also believed that all the world is one, issuing from one principle (Monism), and that a divine reality pervades the whole universe (Pantheism). Thus, the universe is like a giant living body, with its own leading part (the stars or the sun), but with all parts being interconnected, so that what happens in one place affects what happens elsewhere. In addition, everything in the universe is predetermined (Determinism), although humans have a certain amount of free will (in the same way as eddies play around within the overall current of a river).
Stoics practiced what are known as “spiritual exercises” and drew upon them for strength.
1.Practice Misfortune
“It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself for difficult times; while fortune is bestowing favors on it is then is the time for it to be strengthened against her rebuffs.” -Seneca
Seneca, who enjoyed great wealth as the adviser of Nero, suggested that we ought to set aside a certain number of days each month to practice poverty. Take a little food, wear your worst clothes, get away from the comfort of your home and bed. Put yourself face to face with want, he said, you’ll ask yourself “Is this what I used to dread?”
It’s important to remember that this is an exercise and not a rhetorical device. He doesn’t mean “think about” misfortune, he means live it. Comfort is the worst kind of slavery because you’re always afraid that something or someone will take it away. But if you cannot just anticipate but practice misfortune, then chance loses its ability to disrupt your life.
Emotions like anxiety and fear have their roots in uncertainty and rarely in experience. Anyone who has made a big bet on themselves knows how much energy both states can consume. The solution is to do something about that ignorance. Make yourself familiar with the things, the worst-case scenarios, that you’re afraid of.
Practice what you fear, whether a simulation in your mind or in real life. The downside is almost always reversible or transient.
2.Train Perception to Avoid Good and Bad
“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” -Marcus Aurelius
The Stoics had an exercise called Turning the Obstacle Upside Down. What they meant to do was make it impossible to not practice the art of philosophy. Because if you can properly turn a problem upside down, every “bad” becomes a new source of good.
Suppose for a second that you are trying to help someone and they respond by being surly or unwilling to cooperate. Instead of making your life more difficult, the exercise says, they’re actually directing you towards new virtues; for example, patience or understanding. Or, the death of someone close to you; a chance to show fortitude.
Marcus Aurelius described it like this:
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
The common refrain about entrepreneurs is that they take advantage of, even create, opportunities. To the Stoic, everything is opportunity. What a Stoic does is turn every obstacle into an opportunity.
There is no good or bad to the practicing Stoic. There is only perception. You control perception. You can choose to extrapolate past your first impression (‘X happened.’ –> ‘X happened and now my life is over.’). If you tie your first response to dispassion, you’ll find that everything is simply an opportunity.
3.Remember—It’s All Ephemeral
“Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both.” -Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself a simple and effective reminder to help him regain perspective and stay balanced:
“Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend…or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are.”
Returning to the point of the exercise, it’s simple: remember how small you are. For that matter, remember how small most everything is.If everything is ephemeral, what does matter? Right now matters. Being a good person and doing the right thing right now, that’s what matters and that’s what was important to the Stoics.
Take Alexander the Great who conquered the known world and had cities named in his honor. This is common knowledge. The Stoics would also point out that, once while drunk, Alexander got into a fight with his dearest friend, Cleitus, and accidentally killed him. Afterward, he was so despondent that he couldn’t eat or drink for three days. Sophists were called from all over Greece to see what they could do about his grief, to no avail.
Is this the mark of a successful life? From a personal standpoint, it matters little if your name is emblazoned on a map if you lose perspective and hurt those around you.
Learn from Alexander’s mistake. Be humble and honest and aware. That is something you can have every single day of your life. You’ll never have to fear someone taking it from you or, worse still, it taking over you.
PEOPLE WHO PRACTICED STOICISM
Stoicism has been practiced by kings, presidents, artists, writers and entrepreneurs. Both historical and modern men illustrate Stoicism as a way of life.
Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each day to write himself notes about restraint, compassion and humility. Epictetus endured the horrors of slavery to found his own school where he taught many of Rome’s greatest minds. Seneca, when Nero turned on him and demanded his suicide, could think only of comforting his wife and friends.
Prussian King, Frederick the Great, was said to ride with the works of the Stoics in his saddlebags because they could, in his words, “sustain you in misfortune”. Meanwhile, Montaigne, the politician and essayist, had a line from Epictetus carved into the beam above the study in which he spent most of his time.
The founding fathers were also inspired by the philosophy. George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his neighbors at age seventeen, and afterwards, put on a play about Cato to inspire his men in that dark winter at Valley Forge. Whereas Thomas Jefferson had a copy of Seneca on his nightstand when he died.
The economist Adam Smith’s theories on the interconnectedness of the world—capitalism—were significantly influenced by the Stoicism that he studied as a schoolboy, under a teacher who had translated Marcus Aurelius’ works.
The political thinker, John Stuart Mill, wrote of Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism in his famous treatise On Liberty, calling it “the highest ethical product of the ancient mind.”
CONCLUSION
The Stoics were writing honestly, often self-critically, about how they could become better people, be happier, and deal with the problems they faced. Ultimately, that’s what Stoicism is about. It’s not some systematic discussion of why or how the world exists. It is a series of reminders, tips and aids for living a good life.
Stoicism, as Marcus Aurelius reminds himself, is not some grand Instructor but a balm, a soothing ointment to an injury wherever we might have one. Epictetus was right when he said that “life is hard, brutal, punishing, narrow, and confining, a deadly business.” We should take whatever help we can get, and it just happens that that help can come from ourselves.
The principles within Stoicism are, perhaps, the most relevant and practical sets of rules for entrepreneurs, writers, and artists of all kinds.
The Stoics focus on two things:
How can we lead a fulfilling, happy life?
How can we become better human beings?
The goal of Stoicism is to attain inner peace by overcoming adversity, practicing self-control, being conscious of our impulses, realizing our ephemeral nature and the short time allotted—these were all meditative practices that helped them live with their nature and not against it. It’s important that we understand the obstacles that we face and not run from them; it’s vital that we learn to transmute them into fuel to feed our fire.
9 Principles to Help You Keep Calm in Chaos:
1. Acknowledge that all emotions come from within;
2. Find someone you respect, and use them to stay honest;
3. Recognize there is life after failure ;
4. Read purposefully, and apply your knowledge;
5. Challenge yourself to be brutally honest;
6. Reflect on what you spend the most time on ;
7. Remind yourself: you weren’t meant to procrastinate;
8. Put the phone away and be present;
9. Remind yourself that time is our most precious resource
Throughout your day find a moment, however fleeting, to just sit and be still. Doesn’t matter where you are. Take a few deep breathes, put your phone on vibrate so there’s no chance of interruption, and just reflect on the series of events that took place throughout your day.
Let your mind focus on the task at hand, what you’re trying to accomplish, and do it with diligence, patience, attentiveness, and care.
The way we lead our lives and do our work must embody the principles that we practice. Less comparing, criticizing, and consuming; more creating, learning, and living.
“…People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they’re really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.”
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations
Scott Ramsey
September 14. 2017