(독서) Daily Stoic-8월25일 RESPECT THE PAST, BUT BE OPEN TO THE FUTURE

"I'll never be ashamed to quote a bad writer with a good saying." -SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 11.8 ("나는 결코 나쁜 작가에게서 좋은 말을 인용하는 것을 부끄러워하지 않을 것이다." - 세네카, 마음의 평온에 대하여, 11.8)   One of the striking things about Seneca's letters and essays is how often he quotes the philosopher Epicurus. Why is that strange? Because Stoicism and Epicureanism are supposed to be diametrically opposed philosophies! (In reality the differences while significant tend to be overblown.)   But this is true to form for Seneca. He was looking for wisdom, period. It didn't matter where it came from. This is something that a lot of fundamentalists-in religion, philosophy, anything-seem to miss. Who cares whether some bit of wisdom is from a Stoic, who cares whether it perfectly jibes with Stoicism? What matters is whether it makes your life better, whether it makes you better.   What wisdom or help would you be able to find today if you stopped caring about affiliations and reputations? How much more could you see if you just focused on merit? ...

"Therefore, explain why a wise person shouldn't get drunk-not with words, but by the facts of its ugliness and offensiveness. It's most easy to prove that so-called pleasures, when they go beyond proper measure, are but punishments."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.27 ("그러므로, 현명한 사람은 왜 취하면 안 되는지를 말로가 아니라 그것의 추악함과 불쾌함이라는 사실로 설명해야 합니다. 이른바 쾌락이 적절한 한계를 넘으면 벌이 될 뿐임을 증명하는 것은 매우 쉽습니다." - 세네카, 도덕적 편지, 83.27) Is there a less effective technique to persuading people to do something than haranguing them? Is there anything that turns people off more than abstract notions? That's why the Stoics don't say, "Stop doing this, it's a sin." Instead they say, "Don't do this because it will make you miserable." They don't say, "Pleasure isn't pleasurable." They say, "Endless pleasure becomes its own form of punishment." Their methods of persuasion hew the line in The 48 Laws of Power: "Appeal to People's Self-Interest Never to Their Mercy or Gratitude."   If you find yourself trying to persuade someone to change or do something differently, remember what an effective lever self-interest is. It's not that this or that is bad, it's that...

"It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won't tire and give up, if you aren't busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.32b ("어떤 행동에 주는 주의가 그 가치에 비례해야 함을 기억하는 것이 중요합니다. 그래야 불필요한 일들로 인해 지치지 않고, 허용된 범위를 넘어서지 않도록 할 수 있습니다." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 『명상록』 4.32b)   In 1997, a psychotherapist named Richard Carlson published a book called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and It's All Small Stuff. It quickly became one of the fastest-selling books of all time and spent years on the bestseller lists, ultimately selling millions of copies in many languages.   Whether you read the book or not, Carlson's pithy articulation of this timeless idea is worth remembering. Even Cornelius Fronto, Marcus Aurelius's rhetoric teacher, would have thought it a superior way of expressing the wisdom his student attempted in...

"It's ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such a soul will never be at rest-by longing for things to come it will lose the ability to enjoy present things."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 98.5b-6a (“미래에 대한 불안으로 영혼이 고통을 겪는 것은 비참한 일입니다. 아직 발생하지 않은 고통에 사로잡혀 원하는 것을 얻으려는 영혼은 끝까지 고통 속에남을 것입니다. 그런 영혼은 앞으로 일어날 일을 그리워하다가 현재를 즐길 수 있는 능력을 잃게 될 것입니다.”-세네카, 『도덕적 서한』, 98.5-6a)   The way we nervously worry about some looming bad news is strange if you think about it. By definition, the waiting means it hasn't happened yet, so that feeling bad in advance is totally voluntary. But that's what we do: chewing our nails, feeling sick to our stomachs, rudely brushing aside the people around us. Why? Because something bad might occur soon.   The pragmatist, the person of action, is too busy to waste time on such silliness. The pragmatist can't worry about every possible outcome in advance. Think about it. Best case scenario-if the news turns out to be better than expected, all this time was wasted with needless fear. Worst case scenario-we were miserable for ...

"Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward dress should blend in with the crowd."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 5.2("내면적으로 우리는 모든 면에서 달라야 하지만, 외적으로는 군중과 섞여야 합니다." - 세네카, 『도덕적 서한』, 5.2)Diogenes the Cynic was a controversial philosopher who wandered the streets like a homeless person. A few thousand years later, his utterances still make us think. But if most of us had seen him at the time, we'd have thought: Who is that crazy guy? It's tempting to take philosophy to extremes, but who does that serve? In fact, rejection of the basics of society alienates other people, even threatens them. More important, outward transformation-in our clothes, in our cars, in our grooming-might feel important but is superficial compared with the inward change. That's the change that only we know about.*견유학파 철학자 디오게네스는 논란의...