(독서) Daily Stoic-11월27일 THE PLEASURE OF TUNING OUT THE NEGATIVE




"How satisfying it is to dismiss and block out any upsetting or foreign impression, and immediately to have peace in all things." -MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 5.2
("어떤 마음을 불편하게 하거나 외부로부터 영향을 주는 인상을 차단하고 무시해버릴 수 있다면, 얼마나 만족스러울까요? 그리고 즉시 모든 것에 평화를 얻을 수 있습니다." - 마르쿠스 아우렐리우스, 《명상록》 5.2)
The Stoics were mercifully spared the information overload endemic to today’s society. They had no social media, no newspapers, no television chatter to rile them up. But even back then, an undisciplined person would have found plenty to be distracted and upset by.
Part of the Stoic mindset then was a sort of a cultivated ignorance. Publilius Syrus's epigram expresses it well: "Always shun that which makes you angry." Meaning: turn your mind away from the things that provoke it. If you find that discussing politics at the dinner table leads to fighting, why do you keep bringing it up? If your sibling's life choices bother you, why don't you stop picking at them and making them your concern? The same goes for so many other sources ...