(독서) Daily Stoic-9월2일 THE PHILOSOPHER'S SCHOOL IS A HOSPITAL

"The rational soul is stronger than any kind of fortune-from its own share it guides its affairs here or there, and is itself the cause of a happy or miserable life."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 98.2b ("이성적인 영혼은 어떠한 운명보다도 강합니다. 자신의 몫으로 인해, 그것은 자신의 일들을 이리저리 인도하며, 행복한 삶이 될지 불행한 삶이 될지의 원인이 됩니다." - 세네카, 『도덕적 서신』, 98.2b)   Cato the Younger had enough money to dress in fine clothing. Yet he often walked around. Rome barefoot, indifferent to assumptions people made about him as he passed. He could have indulged in the finest food. He chose instead to eat simple fare. Whether it was raining or intensely hot, he went bareheaded by choice.   Why not indulge in some easy relief? Because Cato was training his soul to be strong and resilient. Specifically, he was learning indifference: an attitude of "let come what may" that would serve him well in the trenches with the army, in the Forum and the Senate, and in his life as a father and statesman.   His training prepared him for any conditions, any kind of luck. If we undergo our own training and ...

"Whenever you take offense at someone's wrongdoing, immediately turn to your own similar failings, such as seeing money as good, or pleasure, or a little fame-whatever form it takes. By thinking on this, you'll quickly forget your anger, considering also what compels them-for what else could they do? Or, if you are able, remove their compulsion."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 10.30 ("누군가의 잘못된 행동에 화가 날 때마다, 즉시 자신의 비슷한 잘못들을 떠올리십시오. 예를 들어, 돈을 선으로 여기거나, 쾌락을 추구하거나, 약간의 명성을 얻으려 하는 것 등 어떤 형태로든지 말입니다. 이를 생각함으로써, 당신은 곧 분노를 잊게 될 것입니다. 그들이 무엇에 이끌렸는지도 생각해보십시오—그들이 할 수 있는 것이 무엇이겠습니까? 아니면, 가능하다면 그들의 강박을 제거하십시오." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 《명상록》 10.30)   Earlier we were reminded of Socrates's tolerant belief that "no one does wrong on purpose.” The clearest proof of that hypothesis? All the times we did wrong without malice or intention. Remember them? The time you were rude because you hadn't slept in two days. The time you acted on bad information. The time you got...

"Anything that must yet be done, virtue can do with courage and promptness. For anyone would call it a sign of foolishness for one to undertake a task with a lazy and begrudging spirit, or to push the body in one direction and the mind in another, to be torn apart by wildly divergent impulses."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 31.b-32 ("아직 해야 할 일이 있다면, 덕(德)은 그것을 용기와 신속함으로 해낼 수 있습니다. 누구나 무언가를 게으르고 마지못해 하는 것을 어리석다고 여길 것입니다. 몸은 한쪽으로 움직이지만 마음은 다른 방향으로 향하고, 서로 다른 충동에 의해 찢어지는 것은 미련한 짓이니까요." - 세네카, 《도덕 편지》, 31.b-32)    If you start something and right away feel yourself getting lazy and irritated, first ask yourself: Why am I doing this? If it really is a necessity, ask yourself: What's behind my reluctance? Fear? Spite? Fatigue? Don't forge ahead hoping that someone will come along and relieve you of this task you don't want to do. Or that someone else will suddenly explain why what you're doing matters. Don't be the person who says yes with their mouth but no with their actions. Steve Jobs told ...

"No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don't have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 123.3 ("어떤 사람도 그가 원하는 모든 것을 가질 수 있는 힘을 지니지 못하지만, 자신이 가지지 못한 것을 원하지 않는 것은 그의 힘 안에 있으며, 자신이 가지고 있는 것을 기꺼이 잘 활용할 수 있습니다." - 세네카, 도덕 서신, 123.3)   Is there a person so rich that there is literally nothing they can't afford? Surely there isn't. Even the richest people regularly fail in their attempts to buy elections, to purchase respect, class, love, and any number of other things that are not for sale.   If obscene wealth will never get you everything you want, is that the end of it? Or is there another way to solve for that equation? To the Stoics, there is: by changing what it is that you want. By changing how you think, you'll manage to get it. John D. Rockefeller, who was as rich ...

"The founder of the universe, who assigned to us the laws of life, provided that we should live well, but not in luxury. Everything needed for our well-being is right before us, whereas what luxury requires is gathered by many miseries and anxieties. Let us use this gift of nature and count it among the greatest things." -SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 119.15b ("우주를 창조하신 분, 우리에게 삶의 법칙을 부여하신 분은 우리가 잘 살도록 하셨으나, 사치스럽게 살도록 하지는 않으셨습니다. 우리 복지에 필요한 모든 것은 바로 우리 앞에 있으며, 사치가 요구하는 것은 많은 고난과 불안 속에서 모아집니다. 이 자연의 선물을 사용하고 그것을 가장 큰 것들 중 하나로 여기도록 합시다." - 세네카, 도덕적 편지, 119.15b)   Even in his own time, Seneca was criticized for preaching Stoic virtues while accumulating one of the largest fortunes in Rome. Seneca was so rich that some historians speculate that major loans he made to the inhabitants of what is now Britain caused what became a horrifically brutal uprising there. His critics' derisive nickname for him was "The Opulent Stoic."   Seneca's response to this criticism is pretty simple: he might have wealth, but he didn't need it. He wasn't dependent on it or addicted to it. Nor, despite his large bank account, was he considered to be anything close to Rome's most lavish spenders and pleasure hunters. Whether his rationalization was true or not (or whether he was a tad hypocritical), his is a decent ...