(독서) Daily Stoic-11월13일 NEVER COMPLAIN, NEVER EXPLAIN

"If we judge as good and evil only the things in the power of our own choice, then there is no room left for blaming gods or being hostile to others."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.41 (“만약 우리가 오직 우리 자신의 선택에 있는 것들만을 선악으로 판단한다면, 신을 비난하거나 다른 사람에게 적대감을 가질 여지는 남지 않게 됩니다.” - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 《명상록》 6.41)    A sign on President Harry Truman's desk read, THE BUCK STOPS HERE. As president, with more power and control than pretty much anyone else, he knew that, good or bad, there wasn't anyone he could blame for stuff other than himself. There was no one to pass the buck to. The chain ended there, in the Oval Office.   As the president of our own lives-and knowing that our powers begin and end with our reasoned choice-we would do well to internalize this same attitude. We don't control things outside that sphere, but we do control our attitudes and our responses to those events-and that's plenty. It's enough that we go into each and every day knowing that there is no ...

"When you are distressed by an external thing, it's not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moment's notice."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.47 ("당신이 외부의 일로 인해 괴로워한다면, 당신을 괴롭히는 것은 그 일이 아니라, 오직 그 일에 대한 당신의 판단 때문입니다. 그리고 당신은 이를 즉시 지워버릴 수 있습니다." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, <명상록>, 8.47)   Imagine you've dreamed of a life in politics. You're young, you're vigorous, and you've held increasingly powerful positions over the course of your career. Then at thirty-nine, you start to feel run down. Your doctors tell you that you have polio and your life will never be the same. Your career is over-right?   This is the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now widely regarded as one of America's greatest political leaders. He was, at middle age, diagnosed with polio after spending years preparing for and dreaming about the presidency.   It's impossible to understand FDR without understanding this disability. The "external thing" was that he was crippled-this was a literal fact-but his judgment of it was that it did not cripple his career or his personhood. Though he was certainly the victim of a then incurable disease, he wiped away-almost ...

"Think by way of example on the times of Vespasian, and you'll see all these things: marrying, raising children, falling ill, dying, wars, holiday feasts, commerce, farming, flattering, pretending, suspecting, scheming, praying that others die, grumbling over one's lot, falling in love, amassing fortunes, lusting after office and power. Now that life of theirs is dead and gone. . . the times of Trajan, again the same...-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.32 ("베스파시아누스 시대를 생각해 보십시오. 그러면 결혼하고, 자식을 키우고, 병에 걸리고, 죽고, 전쟁을 벌이고, 축제를 즐기고, 상업을 하고, 농사를짓고, 아첨하고, 위선하며, 의심하고, 음모를 꾸미고, 남이 죽기를 기도하며, 자신의 처지를 불평하고, 사랑에 빠지고, 부를 쌓고, 직위와 권력을 탐내는모든 일들을 보게 될 것입니다. 그러나 그들의 삶은 이제 죽어 없어졌습니다. 트라야누스 시대도 마찬가지입니다." – 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 『명상록』4.32)   Ernest Hemingway opens his book The Sun Also Rises with a Bible verse: “One generation passeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever. The sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and resteth to the place where he arose." It was this passage, his editor would say, that "contained all the wisdom of the ancient world."   And what wisdom is that? One of the most striking things about history is just how long human beings have been doing what they do. Though certain attitudes and practices have come and ...

"The universe is change. Life is opinion."-MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.3.4b ("우주는 변화입니다. 삶은 의견입니다." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 《명상록》 4.3.4b)   In Plutarch's Life of Theseus, he describes how the ship of Theseus, an Athenian hero, was preserved by the people of Athens in battle-ready condition for many centuries. Each time a board decayed, it would be replaced until eventually every stick of wood in it had been replaced. Plutarch asks: Is it still the ship of Theseus, or is it a new one?   In Japan, a famous Shinto shrine is rebuilt every twenty-three years. It's gone through more than sixty of those cycles. Is it one shrine, 1,400 years old? Or sixty consecutive shrines? Even the U.S. Senate, given its staggered elections, could be said to have never been fully turned over. Is it the same body formed in the days of George Washington?   Our understanding of what something is is just a snapshot-an ephemeral opinion. The ...

"Remember that you are an actor in a play, playing a character according to the will of the playwright-if a short play, then it's short; if long, long. If he wishes you to play the beggar, play even that role well, just as you would if it were a cripple, a honcho, or an everyday person. For this is your duty, to perform well the character assigned you. That selection belongs to another."-EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 17 (“당신은 연극에서 한 인물을 연기하는 배우임을 기억하십시오. 작가의 뜻에 따라 짧은 연극이면 짧게, 길다면 길게 합니다. 작가가 당신에게 거지 역할을 맡기면, 그 역할을 잘 수행해야 합니다. 그 역할이 불구자이건, 중요한 인물이건, 평범한 사람이건 상관없습니다. 왜냐하면 당신의 의무는 맡겨진 배역을 잘 연기하는 것이기 때문입니다. 역할을 정하는 것은 당신이 아닌 다른 이의 몫입니다.” -에픽테토스, 《엥케이리디온》, 17장)   Marcus Aurelius didn't want to be emperor. He wasn't a politician as we can tell from his letters and from history, what he really wanted was to be a philosopher. But the powerful elite in Rome, including the emperor Hadrian, saw something in him. Groomed for power, Marcus was adopted and put in line for the throne because they knew he could handle it. Meanwhile, Epictetus lived much of his life as a slave and was persecuted for his philosophical teachings. Both did quite a lot with the roles they were assigned.   Our station in life can be as random as a roll of the dice. Some of us are born into privilege, others into adversity. Sometimes we're given exactly the opportunities we want. ...