Wakefield

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  “In some old magazine or newspaper I recollect a story, told as truth, of a man—let us call him Wakefield—who absented himself for a long time from his wife. The fact, thus abstractedly stated, is not very uncommon, nor, without a proper distinction of circumstances, to be condemned either as naughty or nonsensical. Howbeit, this, though far from the most aggravated, is perhaps the strangest instance on record of marital delinquency, and, moreover, as remarkable a freak as may be found in the whole list of human oddities. The wedded couple lived in London. The man, under pretense of going a journey, took lodgings in the next street to his own house, and there, unheard of by his wife or friends and without the shadow of a reason for such self-banishment, dwelt upward of twenty years. During that period he beheld his home every day, and frequently the forlorn Mrs. Wakefield. And after so great a gap in his matrimonial felicity—when his death was reckoned certain, his estate settled...

The Student of Philosophy

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"For, as a student of philosophy he will certainly be most eager to treat his father with the greatest possible consideration and will be most well-behaved and gentle; in his relations with his father he will never be contentious or self-willed, nor hasty or prone to anger; furthermore he will control his tongue and his appetite whether for food or for sexual temptations, and he will stand fast in the face of danger and hardships; and finally with competence in recognizing the true good, he will not let the apparent good pass without examination. As a result he will willingly give up all pleasures for his father's sake, and for him he will accept all manner of hardships willingly."  Musonius Rufus, Lectures 16.8

The one who sits at the feet of instruction as a lover of Wisdom is known by the fruit of his learning. 

1) The student, as a lover of wisdom, honors his father as a son--with consideration towards him. The son is obedient and gentle, doing what he is told without argument. The wise son does is not controversial against his father nor does he "fly off the handle" with outbursts of anger. 

2) The one who will learn from wisdom controls his tongue, not only by what his tongue delivers in word or tone but also in what crosses his tongue in accordance with his appetites. He does not overindulge himself with food or other pleasures. He is strong and prepared for tough times, focused and not distracted. He knows hardship and is ready. 

3) The lover of wisdom has learned and is able to recognize what is good. He is discerning and lets nothing slip by his inner Sentinel. 

4) For his father, teacher, mentor he will abandon the vices which hold him back and seeming virtues, accepting hardship willfully knowing that wisdom is more profitable, outlasting every treasure gained by man. 

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