(독서) Daily Stoic-8월13일 TAKE CHARGE AND END YOUR TROUBLES

"Many words have been spoken by Plato, Zeno, Chrysippus, Posidonius, and by a whole host of equally excellent Stoics. I'll tell you how people can prove their words to be their own-by putting into practice what they've been preaching."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 108.35; 38 ("플라톤, 제논, 크리시푸스, 포시도니우스 그리고 그에 못지않게 훌륭한 스토아 학파의 수많은 철학자들이 많은 말을 남겼습니다. 그들이 자신의 말이 진정한 것임을 증명할 수 있는 방법은 바로 자신이 설파한 것을 실천에 옮기는 것입니다." - 세네카, 도덕적 서신, 108.35; 38)   One of the criticisms of Stoicism by modern translators and teachers is the amount of repetition. Marcus Aurelius, for example, has been dismissed by academics as not being original because his writing resembles that of other, earlier Stoics. This criticism misses the point.   Even before Marcus's time, Seneca was well aware that there was a lot of borrowing and overlap among the philosophers. That's because real philosophers weren't concerned with authorship, only what worked. More important, they believed that what was said mattered less than what was done.   And this is as true now as it was then. You're welcome to take all of the words of the great philosophers and use them to your own liking (they're dead; they don't mind). Feel free to tweak and edit and improve as you like....

"When the problem arose for us whether habit or theory was better for getting virtue-if by theory is meant what teaches us correct conduct, and by habit we mean being accustomed to act according to this theory-Musonius thought habit to be more effective." -MUSONIUS RUFUS, LECTURES, 5.17.31-32, 5.19.1-2("우리에게 덕을 얻는 데 있어서 습관이 더 좋은지 아니면 이론이 더 좋은지 문제가 생겼을 때, 이론이란 우리가 올바른 행위를 가르치는 것을 의미하고, 습관이란 이 이론에 따라 행동하는 것에 익숙해지는 것을 의미한다면, 무소니우스는 습관이 더 효과적이라고 생각했습니다." -무소니우스 루푸스, 강연, 5.17.31-32, 5.19.1-2) As Hamlet says,"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."There is no time to chop logic over whether our theories are correct. We're dealing with the real world here. What matters is how you're going to deal with this situation right in front of you and whether you're going to be able to move past it and onto the next one. That's not saying that anything goes-but we can't forget that although theories are clean and simple, situations rarely are. 햄릿이 말하길, "하늘과 땅 사이에는 호라티오, 네 철학이 상상하지 못한 것들이 더 ...

"We don't abandon our pursuits because we despair of ever perfecting them."-EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.2.37b ("우리는 결코 완벽에 도달할 수 없다고 절망해서 우리가 추구하는 것을 포기하지 않습니다." -에픽테토스, 담화, 1.2.37b)   Psychologists speak of cognitive distortions-exaggerated thinking patterns that have a destructive impact on the life of the patient. One of the most common is known as all-or-nothing thinking (also referred to as splitting). Examples of this include thoughts like:   •If you're not with me, you're against me. •So-and-so is all good/bad. • Because this wasn't a complete success, it is a total failure.   This sort of extreme thinking is associated with depression and frustration. How could it not be? Perfectionism rarely begets perfection- only disappointment.   Pragmatism has no such hang-ups. It'll take what it can get. That's what Epictetus is reminding us. We're never going to be perfect-if there is even such a thing. We're human, after all. Our pursuits should be aimed at progress, however little that it's possible for us to make. 심리학자들은 환자의 삶에 파괴적인 영향을 미치는 과장된 사고 패턴을 인지 왜곡(cognitive distortions)이라고 합니다. 그 중 가장 흔한 것 중 하나는'흑백 사고'(splitting)로도 알려진 '전부 아니면 전무의 사고'(all-or-nothing thinking)입니다. 이러한 사고의 예로는 다음과 같은 것이 있습니다: ...

"Don't tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report. It's been reported to you that someone is speaking badly about you. This is the report-the report wasn't that you've been harmed. I see that my son is sick-but not that his life is at risk. So always stay within your first impressions, and don't add to them in your head-this way nothing can happen to you." -MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.49 ("처음 받은 인상에서 더 많은 것을 스스로에게 말하지 마십시오. 누군가가 당신에 대해 나쁘게 말하고 있다는 보고를 받았다면, 그게 전부입니다. 그 보고는 네가 피해를 입었다는 것이 아닙니다. 내 아들이 아프다는 것을 보았다면, 그게 전부입니다. 그의 생명이 위험하다는 것이 아닙니다. 그러니 항상 처음 받은 인상 안에 머물며, 머릿속에서 그것을 더하지 마십시오. 이렇게 하면 당신에게 아무 일도 일어나지 않을 것입니다.." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 명상록, 8.49)   At first, this can seem like the opposite of everything you've been taught. Don’t we cultivate our minds and critical thinking skills presisely so we don’t simply accept things at face value? Yes, most of the time. But sometimes this approach can be ...

"Do now what nature demands of you. Get right to it if that's in your power. Don't look around to see if people will know about it. Don't await the perfection of Plato's Republic, but be satisfied with even the smallest step forward and regard the outcome as a small thing."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.29.(4) ("지금 자연이 당신에게 요구하는 일을 하십시오. 당신의 힘으로 할 수 있는 일이라면 바로 실행하십시오. 다른 사람들이 알아차릴지 신경 쓰지 마십시오. 플라톤의 공화국의 완성을 기다리지 말고, 작은 진전이라도 만족하고 그 결과를 작은 일로 간주하십시오." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 명상록, 9.29.(4))   Have you ever heard the expression "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough"? The idea is not to settle or compromise your standards, but rather not to become trapped by idealism.   The community organizer Saul Alinsky opens his book Rules for Radicals with a pragmatic but inspiring articulation of that idea:   "As an organizer I start from where the world is, as it is, not as I would like it to be. That we accept the world as it is does not in any sense weaken our desire to change it into what we believe it should be-it is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going ...