(독서) Daily Stoic-10월31일 YOU WERE BORN GOOD

"Aren't you ashamed to reserve for yourself only the remnants of your life and to dedicate to wisdom only that time can't be directed to business?"-SENECA, ON THE BREVITY OF LIFE, 3.5b ("자신의 인생에서 남은 찌꺼기만을 자기 자신에게 남겨두고, 오직 일에 사용할 수 없는 시간만을 지혜에 할애하는 것이 부끄럽지 않은가?" – 세네카, 「삶의 짧음에 관하여」 3.5b)   In one of his letters, Seneca tells a story about Alexander the Great. Apparently as Alexander was conquering the world, certain countries would offer him pieces of their territory in hopes that he'd leave them alone in exchange. Alexander would tell them, writes Seneca, that he hadn't come all the way to Asia to accept whatever they would give him, but instead they were going to have to accept whatever he chose to leave them.   According to Seneca, we should treat philosophy the same way in our lives. Philosophy shouldn't have to accept what time or energy is left over from other occupations but instead we should graciously make time for those other pursuits only once our study is finished.   If real self-improvement is what we're after, why do we leave our reading until those few minutes before we shut off the lights ...

"Each person acquires their own character, but their official roles are designated by chance. You should invite some to your table because they are deserving, others because they may come to deserve it."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 47.15b ("사람은 저마다 자신의 성격을 획득하지만, 그들의 공식적인 역할은 우연에 의해 정해집니다. 당신은 어떤 사람들은 그들이 자격이 있기 때문에 초대해야 하고, 다른 사람들은 앞으로 자격이 생길 수 있기 때문에 초대해야 합니다." - 세네카, 도덕 서한, 47.15b)   In the hiring process, most employers look at where someone went to school, what jobs they've held in the past. This is because past success can be an indicator of future successes. But is it always? There are plenty of people who were successful because of luck. Maybe they got into Oxford or Harvard because of their parents. And what about a young person who hasn't had time to build a track record? Are they worthless?   Of course not. This is why character is a far better measure of a man or woman. Not just for jobs, but for friendships, relationships, for everything. Heraclitus put it as a ...

"You'll more quickly find an earthly thing kept from the earth than you will a person cut off from other human beings." -MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.9.3 “땅에 속한 물건이 땅과 분리된 것을 찾는 것이, 다른 인간과 완전히 단절된 사람을 찾는 것보다 훨씬 더 쉬울 것이다." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 『명상록』 9.9.3)   Naturally, Marcus Aurelius and the rest of the Stoics were not familiar with Newtonian physics. But they knew that what went up must come down. That's the analogy he's using here: our mutual interdependence with our fellow human beings is stronger than the law of gravity.   Philosophy attracts introverts. The study of human nature can make you aware of other people's faults and can breed contempt for others. So do struggle and difficulty-they isolate us from the world.   But none of that changes that we are, as Aristotle put it, social animals. We need each other. We must be there for each other. We must take care of each other (and to allow others to care for us in return). To pretend otherwise is to violate our nature, to be more or less than what it means to be a human being. 당연히 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스와 나머지 스토아 철학자들은 뉴턴의 ...

"Crimes often return to their teacher."-SENECA, THYESTES, 311 ("범죄는 종종 그들의 교사에게 돌아간다."  - 세네카, 티에스테스, 311 )   It's ironic that Seneca would have one of his characters utter this line. As we know, for many years Seneca served as the tutor and mentor to the emperor Nero. There is a lot of evidence that Seneca was, in fact, a positive moral influence on the deranged young man, but even at the time, Seneca's contemporaries found it strange that a philosopher would serve as the right hand to such an evil person. They even used the Greek word tyrannodidaskalos-tyrant teacher-to describe him. And just as Shakespeare observed in Macbeth, "Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague th'inventor," Seneca's collaboration with Nero ultimately ended with the student murdering the teacher.   It's something to think about when you consider whom to work with and whom to do business with in life. If you show a client how to do something unethical or illegal, might they return the favor to an unsuspecting you later on? If you provide a bad example to your employees, to your associates, to your children, might ...

"The best and the greatest number of authors have asserted that philosophy consists of three parts: the moral, the natural, and the rational. The first puts the soul in order. The second thoroughly examines the natural order of things. The third inquires into the proper meaning of words, and their arrangements and proofs which keep falsehoods from creeping in to displace truth."-SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 89.9 (“철학은 도덕적, 자연적, 이성적 세 부분으로 구성되어 있다고 주장하는 저자들이 가장 많고 많습니다. 첫 번째는 영혼을 정리하는 것입니다. 두 번째는 사물의 자연적 질서를 철저하게 조사합니다. 세 번째는 단어의 올바른 의미와 거짓이 진리를 대체하지 못하도록 하는 단어의 배열과 증거를 탐구합니다."-세네카, 도덕적 편지, 89.9)   These three parts-the moral, the natural, and the ...