Keep in mind that it is not the one who has it in for you and takes swipe that harms you , but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger , know that it is really your own opinion fueling it. Instead, make it your first response not to be carried away by such impressions, for with time and distance self-mastery is more easily achieved
Epictetus, Enchiridion, 20
Of all things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent lie in between virtue and vice and include wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, and pain.
Epictetus, Discourses, 2.19.12.b-13
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Continue reading “Wear Sunscreen”Another argument much approved by philosophy is that nothing matters, because a hundred years hence, say, at the outside, we shall be dead. What we really want is a philosophy that will enable us to get along while we are still alive. I am not worrying about my centenary; I am worrying about next quarter-day. I feel that if other people would only go away, and leave me–income-tax collectors, critics, men who come round about the gas, all those sort of people–I could be a philosopher myself. I am willing enough to make believe that nothing matters, but they are not. They say it is going to be cut off, and talk about judgment summonses. I tell them it won’t trouble any of us a hundred years hence. They answer they are not talking of a hundred years hence, but of this thing that was due last April twelvemonth. They
Jerome, Jerome K., The Angel and the Author, chapter II
I learned two very important lessons from Carl Jung about “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” or “loving your neighbour as yourself”. The first lesson is that neither of these statements has anything to do with being nice. The second was that both are equations, rather than injunctions.
Continue reading “Treat Yourself Like Someone You Are Responsible for Helping”Because territory matters , and because the best locales are always at short supply, territory seeking among animals produces conflict.
Continue reading “Stand Up Straight With Your Shoulder Back”