Head-dibs

" The Daily Stoic " by Ryan Holiday

Thank you for holding.

Please enjoy this interlude while I take a few days to get caught up on projects and prepare for the on-coming holiday season.

 This is a long and complicated letter , so I'll do my best to share what I think lies at the heart. Thank you in advance for thinking with me. "Hecato says : 'I can show you a philtre [potion], compounded without drugs, herbs, or any witch's incantation: 'If you be loved, love.' "  And what is love? Later in this letter, Seneca defines love as "friendship run mad."  He goes on:  "Now there is great pleasure, not only in maintaining old and established friendships, but also in beginning and acquiring new ones. There is the same difference between winning a new friend and having already won him, as there is between the farmer who sows and the farmer who reaps. The philosopher Attalus used to say: 'It is more pleasant to make than to keep a friend, as it is more pleasant to the artist to paint than to have finished painting.'"  What is the purpose of friendship? Is it to collect people for the purpose of support or...

Closing the last letter "On Crowds," the good Senator Seneca includes three quotes that provide the perfect segue into the topic of this letter. First, in contrast to "Mob Rules," consider "Democritus [who] says: 'One man means as much to me as a multitude, and a multitude only as much as one man.'" Second, Seneca refers to ol' whats-his-name, "someone or other" who was asked if he cared if his study reached only a few. "I am content with few, content with one, content with none at all."  Good ol' Stoic indifference! The final quote "by Epicurus, written to one of the partners of his studies: 'I write this not for the many, but for you; each of us is enough of an audience for the other.'"  And so he signs off: "Lay these words to heart, Lucilius, that you may scorn the pleasure which comes from the applause of the majority. Many men praise you; but have you any reason for being pleased wi...

This scene from "Gladiator" acts out with near perfection a section of Seneca's letter. Please watch this before moving ahead to my video: Thank you. Click here for the entirety of Seneca's 7th letter .

Read Seneca's letter on Shared Knowledge here.

Read The Fifth Letter  

Read Seneca's letter online After I made the above-video, I remembered the song Eric Clapton wrote after the death of his four-year-old son, Conor. It's an imaginative piece, a song of a father who not only wants to spend time with his son, but has also reconciled with death: "beyond the door, there's peace, I'm sure."

Read the entirety of this short letter here .

"  . . . restlessness is the sign of a disordered spirit. . . a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company." (Seneca, Letter 2)

Of all the screen shots in the world, YouTube had to pick that one. smh. Download all three of volumes of The Moral Letters from Tim's site free of charge . "[S]et yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you, or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself believe the truth of my words—that certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach. The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness. Furthermore, if you will pay close heed to the problem, you will find that the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose."  (Seneca, Letters 1) CORRECTIONS Two errors in the video: 1) I incorrectly stated the letter was written in Greek. After reading Epictetus in Greek last month, my mind di...

Epictetus ends the Enchiridion quoting poetry and the final lines communicate the final, and perhaps greatest lesson. Quoting Euripides (a writer of Greek drama and tragedy) Epictetus gives what sounds like a blessing, saying, "Whoe'er yields properly to Fate is deemed Wise among men, and knows the laws of Heaven.” Take a moment to ponder the consequence to the one who will not yield to wisdom. Listen to the voice of wisdom. "Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 'How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you!'" (Proverbs 1:20-23)

"Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don't talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought. For remember that in this manner Socrates also universally avoided all ostentation. And when persons came to him and desired to be recommended by him to philosophers, he took and- recommended them, so well did he bear being overlooked. So that if ever any talk should happen among the unlearned concerning philosophic theorems, be you, for the most part, silent. For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested. And, if anyone tells you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun your business. For sheep don't throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not sho...