"A good person is invincible, for they don't rush into contests in which they aren't the strongest. If you want their property, take it-take also their staff, profession, and body. But you will never compel what they set out for, nor trap them in what they would avoid. For the only contest the good person enters is that of their own reasoned choice. How can such a person not be invincible?"-EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.6.5-7
("선한 사람은 무적입니다, 왜냐하면 자신이 가장 강하지 않은 싸움에 서둘러 나서지 않기 때문입니다. 만약 그들의 재산을 원한다면 가져가십시오 - 그들의 지팡이도, 직업도, 육신도 가져가십시오. 그러나 그들이 추구하는 것을 결코 강요할 수 없으며, 그들이 피하려는 것에 결코 가둘 수 없을 것입니다. 왜냐하면 선한 사람이 참여하는 유일한 싸움은 그들이 스스로 이성적으로 선택한 싸움이기 때문입니다. 어떻게 그런 사람이 무적이지 않을 수 있겠습니까?" -에픽테토스, 담론, 3.6.5-7)
One of the most fundamental principles of martial arts is that strength should not go against strength. That is: don't try to beat your opponent where they are strongest. But that's exactly what we do when we try to undertake some impossible task we haven't bothered to think through. Or we let someone put us on the spot. Or we say yes to everything that comes our way.
Some people think that "choosing your battles" is weak or calculating. How could reducing the ...
