"Heraclitus would shed tears whenever he went out in public- Democritus laughed. One saw the whole as a parade of miseries, the other of follies. And so, we should take a lighter view of things and bear them with an easy spirit, for it is more human to laugh at life than to lament it."-SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 15.2
("헤라클레이토스는 외출할 때마다 눈물을 흘렸고, 데모크리토스는 웃었습니다. 한 사람은 세상을 고난의 행렬로 보았고, 다른 한 사람은 어리석음의 행렬로 보았습니다. 그러므로 우리는 사물을 가볍게 보고 편안한 마음으로 받아들여야 합니다. 왜냐하면 인생을 비탄하는 것보다 웃는 것이 더 인간적이기때문입니다."- 세네카, 『마음의 평정에 관하여』 15.2)
Is this observation the origin of that famous expression about frustrating news: "I don't know whether to laugh or cry?" The Stoics saw little purpose in getting angry or sad about things that are indifferent to our feelings. Especially when those feelings end up making us feel worse.
It's also another bit of evidence that the Stoics were hardly some depressing, bitter group of old men. Even when things were really bad, when the world made them want to ...
