(독서) Daily Stoic-9월15일 A GARDEN IS NOT FOR SHOW

"Try praying differently, and see what happens: Instead of asking for 'a way to sleep with her,' try asking for 'a way to stop desiring to sleep with her.' Instead of 'a way to get rid of him,' try asking for 'a way to not crave his demise.' Instead of 'a way to not lose my child,' try asking for 'a way to lose my fear of it." -MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.40.(6) ("기도를 다르게 시도해 보세요. 그리고 무슨 일이 일어나는지 지켜보세요. 예를 들어, '그녀와 잠잘 방법'을 찾는 대신 '그녀와 잠자고 싶은 욕망을 없애는 방법'을 기도해 보세요. '그를 없앨 방법'을 찾는 대신 '그의 멸망을 갈망하지 않는 방법'을 기도해 보세요. '아이를 잃지 않을 방법'을 찾는 대신 '아이를 잃는 것에 대한 두려움을 없앨 방법'을 기도해 보세요." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, <명상록> 9.40(6))   Prayer has a religious connotation, but in life we all find ourselves hoping and asking for things. In a tough situation, we might silently ask for help; or, after a tough break, for a second chance from above; during a sports game, we might sit on the edge of our seat wishing for some outcome. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," we say. "Please..." Even if it is to no one in ...

"No, it is events that give rise to fear-when another has power over them or can prevent them, that person becomes able to inspire fear. How is the fortress destroyed? Not by iron or fire, but by judgments... here is where we must begin, and it is from this front that we must seize the fortress and throw out the tyrants." -EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.85-86; 87a ("아니요, 두려움은 사건들로부터 생겨납니다—다른 사람이 그 사건들에 대해 권력을 가지거나 그것들을 막을 수 있을 때, 그 사람은 두려움을 불러일으킬 수 있습니다. 요새는 어떻게 파괴됩니까? 철이나 불로가 아니라 판단으로... 우리가 시작해야 할 곳이 바로 여기이며, 이 전선에서 요새를 점령하고 폭군들을 몰아내야 합니다." -에픽테토스, 《담화록》 4.1.85-86; 87a)   The Stoics give us a marvelous concept: the Inner Citadel. It is this fortress, they believed, that protects our soul. Though we might be physically vulnerable, though we might be at the mercy of fate in many ways, our inner domain is impenetrable. As Marcus Aurelius put it (repeatedly, in fact), "stuff cannot touch the soul."   But history teaches us that ...

"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...