(no subject)
"According to the great Stoic philosopher Epictetus (AD 50-120) one of life's greatest values is contentment, a life of tranquility, serenity, and composure. There is nothing worth becomng disturbed about...Peace of soul is gained through self-mastery, which is the ability to harness one's desires, commanding them instead of allowing them to rule. To permit another person to disturb your mental equilibrium is to offer yourself in slavery to him, or even worse, because a slave is one in body only, whereas you have made your soul servile to him. Any person capable of angering you becomes your master...In order to become free it is necessary to...extinguish your desire for all things...Stoic philosophy emphasizes...that an individuals' will must be kept inviolable and autonomous; it must be his own, never subjected ot control by others. No one has power over a person's will unless he consents, which he should never do but rather should remain an independent and thus invincible spirit."
--From Ideas of the Great Philosophers (William S. and Mabel Lewis Sahakian, Barnes and Noble Books, 1966).
Hmmm...I must admit that most of my life I have tried to live by this philosophy, tried to embody the Stoic ideal. I'm not sure doing so has brought me "serenity," however. That's probably my own fault, though. Not demonstrating that a person has disrupted my "equilibrium" is one thing; genuinely not allowing them to do so in the first place is quite another. So this whole time I was attempting to be strong by HIDING my emotions, I was in actuality embodying servility because I allowed my feelings to be altered in the first place. Great.
--From Ideas of the Great Philosophers (William S. and Mabel Lewis Sahakian, Barnes and Noble Books, 1966).
Hmmm...I must admit that most of my life I have tried to live by this philosophy, tried to embody the Stoic ideal. I'm not sure doing so has brought me "serenity," however. That's probably my own fault, though. Not demonstrating that a person has disrupted my "equilibrium" is one thing; genuinely not allowing them to do so in the first place is quite another. So this whole time I was attempting to be strong by HIDING my emotions, I was in actuality embodying servility because I allowed my feelings to be altered in the first place. Great.