(독서) Daily Stoic-10월5일 WORDS CAN'T BE UNSAID

"That which isn't good for the hive, isn't good for the bee." -MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.54 (“벌집에 좋지 않은 것은 벌에게도 좋지 않다.” -마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 명상, 6.54)   Inherent in the Stoic concept of sympatheia is the notion of an interconnected cosmos in which everything in the universe is part of a larger whole. Marcus Aurelius was one of the first writers to articulate the notion of cosmopolitanism-saying that he was a citizen of the world, not just of Rome.   The idea that you're a bee in the hive is a reminder of this perspective. Marcus even states the reverse of that idea later in his Meditations, just so he doesn't forget: "That which doesn't harm the community can't harm the individual."   Just because something is bad for you doesn't mean it's bad for everyone. Just because something is good for you definitely doesn't mean it's good for everyone. Think of the hedge fund managers who bet massively against the economy-they profited by rooting for essentially everyone and everything else to fail. Is that who you want to be? A good Stoic understands that proper impulses, and the right actions that arise from them, naturally carry the good of the whole, which is the wise person's only good. Conversely, good and wise actions by the whole are what's good for the individual.  스토아 철학의 공감(sympathei)개념에는 우주의 모든 것이 더 큰 전체의 일부라는 상호 연결된 우주의 개념이 내재되어 있습니다. 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스는 자신이 로마뿐만 아니라 전 세계의 시민이라는 코스모폴리타니즘 개념을 처음으로 표현한 작가 중 한 명입니다.   여러분은 벌집 속의 벌이라는 생각은 이러한 관점을 상기시켜 줍니다. 마커스는 명상록 후반부에 “공동체에 해가 되지 않는 것은 개인에게도 해가 될 수없다”는 역발상을 언급하기도 합니다.   나에게 좋지 않은 일이라고 해서 모든 사람에게 나쁜 것은 아닙니다. 나에게 좋은 것이 모든 사람에게 좋은 것은 아닙니다. 경제하락에 대규모로 베팅한 헤지펀드 매니저를 생각해보세요. 그들은 본질적으로 모든 것과 모든 사람의 실패를 바람으로써 이익을 얻었습니다. 여러분도 그런 사람이 되고 싶으신가요? 훌륭한 스토아주의자는 올바른 충동과 그로부터 일어나는 올바른 행동이 자연스럽게 전체의 선을 가져온다는 것을 이해하며, 이것이 지혜로운 사람에게 유일한 선입니다. 반대로, 전체의 선하고 현명한 행동이 개인에게도 좋은 것입니다. 이번 10월 달의 주제가 Virtue and Kindness 라고 일전에 말씀드렸었는데요. 제가 이 주제에 대해서 살면서 생각이 부족한 것을 알고는 있었지만 , 10월 시작하고 해당 날짜의 글들을 읽어보면서 더욱 더 체감하고 있습니다. 글을 읽어도 "맞는 말이지~ "하는 정도의 가벼운 공감 정도에 그칠 뿐, 뭐랄까 다른 글들보다는 내게 직접적인 접점이 없는 느낌이랄까요? 전 세계적인 , 전 우주적인 관점을 나같은 작은 개인이 구체적으로 실천하는 것에 대해 생각해본 적이 없었던 것 같습니다. 지금까지 살아오면서 그만큼 따뜻한 마음을 가지지 못하고 그저 나와 내 주위의 ...

"Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe. For in a sense, all things are mutually woven together and therefore have an affinity for each other-for one thing follows after another according to their tension of movement, their sympathetic stirrings, and the unity of all substance."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.38 (“우주 만물의 상호 연결성과 상호 의존성에 대해 자주 명상하세요. 어떤 의미에서 모든 사물은 서로 엮여 있기 때문에 서로 친화력을 가지고 있으며, 움직임의 긴장, 동정적 동요, 모든 물질의 통일성에 따라 한 사물이 다른 사물을 뒤따르기 때문입니다."-마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 명상, 6.38)   Anne Lamott once observed that all writers "are little rivers running into one lake," all contributing to the same big project. The same is true in many industries-though sadly, even inside the same company, people selfishly forget they're working together. As human beings we all breathe the atoms that made up our ancestors and flow into the same earth when we die.   Over and over again, the Stoics reminded themselves of the inter- connectedness of life. ...

"But the wise person can lose nothing. Such a person has everything stored up for themselves, leaving nothing to Fortune, their own goods are held firm, bound in virtue, which requires nothing from chance, and therefore can't be either increased or diminished."-SENECA, ON THE FIRMNESS OF THE WISE, 5.4 (“그러나 현명한 사람은 아무것도 잃을 수 없다. 그는 모든 것을 자신 안에 간직하고, 운명에 의존하지 않으며, 그의 재산은 덕으로 단단히 묶여 있어 우연에 의해 늘어나거나 줄어들 수 없다.."-세네카, 현자의 굳건함에 관하여, 5.4)   Some people put their money in assets-stocks, bonds, property. Others invest in relationships or accomplishments, knowing that they can draw on these things just as easily as others can draw funds from a bank account. But a third type, Seneca says, invests in themselves— in being a good and wise person.   Which of these assets is most immune to market fluctuations and disasters? Which is most resilient in the face of trials and tribulations? Which will never abandon you? Seneca's own life is an interesting example. He became quite wealthy as a friend of the emperor, but as Nero became more and more deranged, Seneca realized ...

"Does the light of a lamp shine and keep its glow until its fuel is spent? Why shouldn't your truth, justice, and self-control shine until you are extinguished?"-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 12.15 ("등불의 빛이 그 연료가 다할 때까지 빛나고 계속해서 그 빛을 유지합니까? 그렇다면 왜 당신의 진리, 정의, 그리고 절제는 당신이 사라질 때까지 빛나지 말아야 합니까?"-마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 《명상록》, 12.15)   Seneca, repeating Heraclitus, writes that "we mortals are lighted and extinguished." The light of reason suffuses the universe. Whether the wick of your lamp is being lit for the first time, after a long period of darkness, or even right before the proverbial big sleep, it makes no difference.   Here is where you are right now, and it's as good a place as any to let virtue ...

"If you lay violent hands on me, you'll have my body, but my mind will remain with Stilpo."-ZENO, QUOTED IN DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF THE EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS, 7.1.24 ("당신이 내게 폭력을 휘두르면 내 몸은 가질 수 있지만, 내 마음은 여전히 스틸포와 함께 있을 것이다," -제노, 디오게네스 라에르티오스의 저서, <저명한 철학자들의 생애>, 7.1.24.)   Zeno is not claiming magic powers but simply that while his body can be victimized, philosophy prosects his mind-cultivated under his teacher, Stilpo-with an inner fortress whose gates can never be broken from the outside, only surrendered.   Look at Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, the boxer wrongly convicted of homicide who spent nearly twenty years in prison. He would say, "I don't acknowledge the existence of the prison. It doesn't exist for me." Of course, the prison literally existed, and he was physically inside it. But he refused to let his mind be contained by it.   That's a power that you have too. Hopefully you'll never have to use this power in a situation of violence or grave injustice; however, in the midst of any and every kind of adversity, it is there. No...