Stoic Sunday V

[Barrett Dorko]

It is impossible to live the pleasant life without also living sensibly, nobly and justly, and it is impossible to live sensibly, nobly and justly without living pleasantly.

Epicurus

Do not seek to have to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.

Epictetus

I’ve been following the stoics for a while. Actually, since first read A Man in Full ten years ago.

What I want to do for a while on Sunday is look at this philosophy and see if we can’t relate it to practice. Check out the Wiki entry here.

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.

Marcus Aurelius - My favorite Stoic

Marcus did not preach Stocism. He did not lecture his fellow Romans on the benefits of practicing it nor did he expose them to his philosophical writings. Though many followed his interest and self-identified as Stoics, it did not trigger a widespread interest in the philosophy.

In a sense then, Marcus represents the high-water mark of Stoicism.

The Stoic’s goal was not to change the world, but to do their best they could to bring about certain changes. Even if their efforts proved to be ineffectual, they could rest easy knowing that they had done what they could do.

From A Guide To The Good Life

[Barrett Dorko]

This site examines the way stoicism has been portrayed in the media.

I especially liked this page describing The Spock.

A character who will always think before acting, The Spock is an archetype that can be loosely summed up as the tendency to apply rules, reason and the greater good to all of his/her decisions. This character can exist by themselves, but more often, they will have a more emotional and humanistic counterpart to contrast his/her decisions.

The main difference between the two archetypes is that while The McCoy will leap before looking, The Spock's solution to problems will have a balanced and well-thought out approach.