(독서) Daily Stoic-9월13일 PROTECTING OUR INNER FORTRESS FROM FEAR

"Zeno always said that nothing was more unbecoming than putting on airs, especially with the young."-DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF THE EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS, 7.1.22 ("제노는 항상 허세를 부리는 것이 특히 젊은이들 사이에서 가장 어울리지 않는다고 말했습니다." - 디오게네스 라에르티오스, <유명 철학자들의 생애>, 7.1.22) Isocrates’s famous letter to Demonicus (which later became the inspiration for Polonius's "To thine own self be true" speech) holds a similar warning to Zeno. Writing to the young man, Isocrates advises: "Be affable in your relations with those who approach you, and never haughty; for the pride of the arrogant even slaves can hardly endure."   One of the most common tropes in art—from ancient literature to popular movies is the brash and overconfident young man who has to be taken down a peg by an older, wiser man. It's a cliché because it's a fact of life: people tend to get ahead of themselves, thinking they've got it all figured out and are better than those that don't. It becomes so ...

"Let us get used to dining out without the crowds, to being a slave to fewer slaves, to getting clothes only for their real purpose, and to living in more modest quarters."-SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 9.3b ("우리에게 익숙해지게 합시다. 붐비지 않는 외식에, 더 적은 사람을 거느린 노예가 되는 것에, 옷을 그 본래 목적만을 위해 얻는 것에, 그리고 더 소박한 거처에서 사는 것에 말입니다." - 세네카, 《마음의 평정에 대하여》, 9.3b)   The writer Stefan Zweig-known for his Stoic-esque wisdom-was at one point one of the bestselling authors in the world, only to have his life destroyed by the rise of Hitler. It's a sad yet timeless rhythm of history: politicians are run out of office for taking a stand we later recognize as courageous. Countless hardworking and prosperous couples have their money stolen by financial crooks. Someone is accused of a crime but not vindicated until years later.   At any moment we may be toppled from our perch and made to do with less-less money, less recognition, less access, less resources. Even the "less-es" that come with age: less mobility, less energy, less freedom. But we can prepare for that, in some way, by ...

"Here's a lesson to test your mind's mettle: take part of a week in which you have only the most meager and cheap food, dress scantly in shabby clothes, and ask yourself if this is really the worst that you feared. It is when times are good that you should gird yourself for tougher times ahead, for when Fortune is kind the soul can build defenses against her ravages. So it is that soldiers practice maneuvers in peacetime, erecting bunkers with no enemies in sight and exhausting themselves under no attack so that when it comes they won't grow tired."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 18.5-6 ("여러분의 마음을 단련할 수 있는 교훈을 드리겠습니다. 가장 저렴하고 기본적인 음식을 먹으며, 낡고 허름한 옷을 입고, 이것이 정말로 여러분이 두려워했던 최악의 상황인지 스스로에게 물어보십시오. 상황이 좋을 때야말로 더 힘든 시기를 대비해야 하는 때입니다. 운이 좋을 때는 영혼이 그녀의 공격에 대비할 수 있도록 방어책을 세울 수 있습니다. 그래서 군인들은 평화 시에도 훈련을 하며, 적이 보이지 않을 때도 참호를 세우고, 공격이 없을 때도 지치지 않도록 스스로를 혹사시키며, 공격이 오면 지치지 않기 위해 미리 준비하는 것입니다."-세네카,도덕편지18.5-6)   What if you spent one day a month experiencing the effects of poverty, hunger, complete isolation, or any other thing you might fear? After the initial culture shock, it would start to feel normal and no longer quite so scary.   There are plenty of misfortunes one can practice, plenty of problems one can solve in advance. Pretend your hot water has been turned off. Pretend your wallet has been stolen. Pretend your cushy mattress was far away and that you have to sleep on the floor, or that your car was repossessed and you have to walk everywhere. Pretend you lost your job and need to find...

"But there is no reason to live and no limit to our miseries if we let our fears predominate."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 13.12b ("하지만 만약 우리가 두려움을 지배하게 내버려 둔다면, 살 이유는 없고 고통에는 한계가 없을 것입니다." - 세네카, 도덕 편지, 13.12b)   In the early days of what would become known as the Great Depression, a new president named Franklin Delano Roosevelt was sworn in and gave his first inaugural address. As the last president to hold office before the Twentieth Amendment was ratified, FDR wasn't able to take office until March-meaning that the country had been without strong leadership for months. Panic was in the air, banks were failing, and people were scared.   You've probably heard the "nothing to fear but fear itself" sound bite that FDR gave in that famous speech, but the full line is worth reading because it applies to many difficult things we face in life:   "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."   The Stoics knew that fear was to be feared because of the miseries it creates. The things we fear pale in comparison to the damage we do to ourselves and others when we unthinkingly scramble to avoid them. An economic depression is bad; a panic is worse. A tough situation isn't helped by terror-it only makes things harder. And that's why we must resist it and reject it if we wish to turn this situation around.  대공황 초기, 프랭클린 델라노 ...

"No one is crushed by Fortune, unless they are first deceived by her...those who aren't pompous in good times, don't have their bubbles burst with change. Against either circumstance, the stable person keeps their rational soul invincible, for it's precisely in the good times they prove their strength against adversity." -SENECA, ON CONSOLATION TO HELVIA, 5.4b, 5b-6 (" 운명에 먼저 속지 않는 한, 운명에 의해 무너지는 사람은 없습니다...호황일 때 자만하지 않는 사람들은, 변화로 인해 그들의 거품이 터지지 않습니다. 그 어느 상황에서도, 안정된 사람은 그들의 이성적인 영혼을 불굴의 것으로 유지합니다. 이는 바로 호황일 때 역경에 맞서 그들의 강인함을 증명하는 순간이기 때문입니다." - 세네카, 헬비아에게 위로의 편지에서, 5.4b, 5b-6)   In 41 AD, Seneca was exiled from Rome to Corsica-for what exactly, we are not sure, but the rumors were that he had an affair with the sister of the emperor. Shortly afterward, he sent a letter to his mother seeking to reassure her and comfort her in her grief. But in many ways, he must have been speaking to himself as well-scolding himself a little for this unexpected twist he was taking pretty hard. He'd managed to achieve some measure of political and social success. He might have chased some pleasures of the flesh. Now he and his family were dealing with the consequences-as we all must bear for our behavior and for the risks we take.   How would he respond? How would he deal with it? Well, at the very...