How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
This week’s book:
Discourses and Selected Writings
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Epictetus was born a slave around 50 ad. His owner was Epaphroditus, a rich freedman who was once a slave of Nero. Though he was a slave Epictetus was sent to study philosophy under Musonius Rufus.
Epictetus was lame and there are some stories it was caused by his master and others that it was caused by disease.
He was a freedman when all philosophers were banished from Rome in 89 by the Emperor Domitian. He then started his school in Greece, and had many students. He did not leave any writings from his lessons, but one of his students, Flavius Arrian, took notes and wrote the Discourses.
Epictetus did not marry, had no children, and lived to be around 80-85. In retirement, he adopted a child that would have been abandoned and raised him with a woman.
He died sometime around AD 135.
He is my favorite Stoic teacher. I love his bare bones and very straight forward approach.
Following is a paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of one of his lessons. Epictetus’s text appears in bold, my replies are in normal text.
To those who fear want Part II
15Ought you not, first, to have acquired something from reason, and then to have made that something secure? Why, did you ever see anyone building a cornice all around without first having a wall about which to build it?[3][† 1] And what kind of doorkeeper is placed on guard where there isn’t any door?
Having a solid foundation for my philosophy makes it easier to make decisions consistent with it. When I am centered things that used to bother me don’t faze me. Sometimes I still slip and feel anger at things I can’t control. When I am able to realize what I am doing these issues don’t tend to linger. When I get upset and don’t stop to think about why then I can ruin my day for myself. This is funny and true: “Don’t let anyone ruin your day. Be a man. Ruin it yourself.”
But you practice to get the power to demonstrate; demonstrate what? You practice to avoid being shaken by sophism; shaken from what? Show me first what you are maintaining, what you are measuring, or what you are weighing: and after that, and under those conditions, show me your scales or your bushel-measure. Or how long will you keep measuring ashes? Are not these what you ought to be demonstrating, the things, namely, that make men happy, that make their affairs prosper for them as they desire, that make it unnecessary for them to blame anybody, and to find fault with anybody, but to acquiesce in the government of the universe? Show me these. “See, I do show you,” a man says; “I will analyze syllogisms for you.” Slave, this is a mere measuring instrument, it is not the thing measured.
Being able to say the right things is not the same as actually doing the right things. Just because I have read and memorized many Stoic writings will do me no good if I live in a way that contradicts all of them.
20That is why you are now being punished for what you neglected; you tremble, lie awake, take counsel with everyone, and, if your plans are not likely to win the approval of all men, you think that your deliberations have been faulty. And then you fear hunger, as you fancy. Yet it is not hunger that you fear, but you are afraid that you will not have a professional cook, you will not have another servant to buy the delicacies, another to put on your shoes for you, another to dress you, others to give you your massage, others to follow at your heels, in order that when you have undressed in a bath, and stretched yourself out like men who have been crucified, you may be massaged on this side and on that; and that then the masseur may stand over you and say, “Move over, give me his side, you take his head, hand me his shoulder”; and then, when you have left the bath and gone home, that you may shout out, “Is no one bringing me something to eat?” and after that, “Clear away the tables; wipe them off with a sponge.” What you are afraid of is this—that you may not be able to live the life of an invalid, since, I tell you, you have only to learn the life of healthy men—how the slaves live, the workmen, the genuine philosophers, how Socrates lived—he too with a wife and children—how Diogenes lived, how Cleanthes, who combined going to school and pumping water.[4]
Being worried about starvation is a natural worry in desperate situations. Being worried about being less prosperous is a waste of time and energy. I have bee really poor for long stretches of my life. Now that I am mildly prosperous, I would prefer to remain that way, but being poor again holds no fear for me.
If this is what you want, you will have it everywhere, and will live with full confidence. Confidence in what? In the only thing in which one can have confidence—in what is faithful, free from hindrance, cannot be taken away, that is, in your own moral purpose. 25And why have you made yourself so useless and unprofitable, that no one is willing to take you into his house, no one willing to take care of you? But when a whole and useful implement has been thrown out, anyone who finds it will pick it up and count it gain; yet not when he picks up you, but everyone will count you a loss. You are so unable to serve the purpose of even a dog or a cock. Why, then, do you care to keep on living, if that is the sort of person you are?
I try to be certain of my own moral purpose and not let the opinions of others sway me in the wrong way. If I was a useless person that lived for satisfying my desires above all else, my life would be much worse for me and anyone that attempted to care for me. Luckily I have always had too much internal pride and got married at a young enough age that I didn’t have a lot of really bad habits to fight myself over.
Is CIX pronounced Chicks, Kicks, or Six?
It’s pronounced CEE-EYE-EX.
No, that would be absurd. It sounds like you’ve gone blind in one eye.
I believe its pronounced “one hundred nine”.
Dunno. I don’t speak trans.
It would be centum novem.
Can’t be – too Latin.
I’d have thought your conservatism would welcome Latin?
I’m a Barbarian Protestant.
Latin is Civilized and Catholic.
If anybody is interested, I’m getting a 1964 International Farmall Cub to do my yardwork with.
Imgur is blocked from the office, so I’ll just ask – does it work, or is it a project tractor?
Yes and yes.
It runs, but I need to rebuild the carburetor.
My brother is giving it to me.
He put a cheap Amazon carb on it and it ran OK for a few times, but it started running like crap again.
We think rebuilding the original carb would be the best option.
Can you see this one?
Mines not that pretty, but its the same color and style.
Given my limited knowledge of carburators, I’m going to agree with you. Probably the safest bet.
Yes I can.
My mental image was red. (Probably because a lot of their stuff is red)
Actually mine is about that pretty, I thought I had linked to a restored one.
Also almost always – yes – if compared to a random Chinese carb on Amazon / eBay.
I love the slapfight in the comments on the correct color scheme.
I’m pretty sure Fourscore has a Farmall as well, though his is red.
I love that steering linkage.
My wife thinks it looks goofy being off set, but I think it’s neat.
My wife thinks it looks goofy being off set
Peyronie’s?
We’ll be expecting a Glib’s logo stenciled on it.
Killdozer: The Beginning
Be careful. As you get older, that battery placement may create some issues with dangling. But as long as don’t mow naked, you should be OK. And who would do such a thing anyway? No one, that’s who. That would be silly…
What you do in your own yard is your business.
But that sounds terrifying, the battery actually needs replaced with a smaller one that fits under the seat.
What you do in your own yard is your business.
When I was younger, I was a big John Denver fan (still am I suppose). I have this vague memory of coming across a short little book, maybe 10-20 pages, big print, about him in the library. He was talking about dropping acid and mowing his lawn naked. I do remember being shocked that he dropped acid – it was out there for a sheltered 10 year old in the midwest. I assume that’s why it stuck with me, not the naked part. I hope I didn’t imagine the whole thing, as that would be even more weird than simply remembering it for this long.
Nice!
noyce!
One of the great things about that tractor is it’s simplicity. My father had a Ford 8n, normally dead simple, but it was the diesel version, and was thus a raging pain in the ass.
This is a 4 cylinder gas engine.
Makes an incredible 10 horsepower.
Looks good. Must have been restored, or at least painted. I’m guessing the paint on the rims more shows the actual age. Are the rear tires loaded? Looks like a little rim cancer around the valve stem from leaking calcium.
His son in law rattle canned it.
The tires are loaded.
Visiting my cousin, who has a homestead. I walked in and the first thing I saw was a loom and just keeled over in joy.
Hand loom? Water Frame? Jacquard?
Hand loom, not jacquard.
Er, floor loom. https://ibb.co/rRbWWhqN
Can’t see the photo.
My wife has five or six floor looms (that I know about). There could be others at the studio that I have never seen.
Does she collect looms, or make textiles?
She collects hobbies.
Multiple drop spindle and spinning wheels
Multiple table-top and floor looms
Multiple circular knitting machines (I am wearing 100% wool machine-knitted socks right now)
Multiple sewing machines
Multiple quilting frames and quilting machines
10-15 totes of unprocessed wool
Multiple totes of hand spun yarn
At least a dozen completed quilt top ready to be turned into finished quilts
Did it loom over your visit?
This is family I like and/or don’t know all that well. Another one of my aunts (Mom has 5 sisters), my cousin, her husband, and a couple of her kids.
The Loom of the Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjQZ_RHafY4
I know you said loom, but until I saw the picture, I was thinking a spinning wheel with a spindle.
Dumb question, but what do they make with that?
Fabric.
Di your cousin then loom over you?
Sorry Ted, should have scrolled before commenting
I’ve always tried to keep it clearly in mind – civilization is a thin and fragile veneer, and it can disappear at any time, for any length of time, for any reason or none at all. Probably a good idea to be prepared for that kind of a breakdown, and I’m not talking about having a basement full of MREs and ammo (not that there’s anything wrong with that…)
Poverty is mankind’s natural state.
Being here at my cousin’s homestead, I feel terribly unprepared.
You’ve read Little House, you’ll be fine.
As I have reminded myself (and Mrs. Dean) from time to time “We’re not going to miss any meals. We’re not going to sleep on the ground.” I figure after that, it’s mostly gravy.
Da Fuq?
Amazon driver just called to tell me he had to leave the weedwacker box on my porch just now.
I got the weedwacker yesterday.
I am confused.
The large print giveth, while the small print taketh away.
I just want to know if there’s a duplicate Craftsman weedwacker (Made in Vietnam) on my doorstep that was actually sent to be by mistake and, more importantly, whether Amazon is going to ask for it back.
I know I got the one I paid for yesterday – I cut the grass with it.
You can dual weed
“You can dual weed”
But they both have to “Light” to dual wield and I don’t think weed-wackers qualify.
I’m afraid the weed wackers are two-handed
This is why you go Barbarian, so you can dual weed two-handers
It’s TIME TRAVEL.
o.O
🤔📮
I couldn’t find a blue police box, so blue mailbox will have to do.
Whatever happened to John Titor, anyway?
Hey, free weedwacker!
Got back to the house and there was indeed another weedwacker addressed to me there.
🤷♂️
*Plays Doctor Who music
I think my home phone voicemail transcription needs some fine tuning.
As of yesterday, my main retirement account is back above its End of October close.
Keep Trump from being an idiot on tariffs for another month, and I might type my End of January all time high (month end, I don’t track daily).
top, not type.
And to relate it all…Buy and Hold is a kind of stoic investing.
Dollar cost averaging is about as stoic as you can get when it comes to investing.
“Dollar cost averaging is about as stoic as you can get when it comes to investing.”
My main retirement account is mostly rollovers from 401Ks from previous jobs. So no DCA in it.
But I am still DCAing into my current 401K.
I’m seeing China suspended tariffs on some things today, so perhaps there will be some negotiations happening before things get too out of hand.
Of course they will.
Some face saving for both.
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/beijing-weighs-fentanyl-offer-to-u-s-to-start-trade-talks-287cf233?st=dtDrWo&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
I’m guessing OMWC’s friend invented this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfest
***
Superfest, also called CV-Glas[1] or Ceverit[2] until 1980, was a brand of drinking glasses in the GDR. Due to being made of chemically strengthened glass, they were notably strong. The Superfest glasses were produced between 1980 and 1990 in what was then state-owned Sachsenglas Schwepnitz.[2]
The GDR regarded the product as a key potential export and gave it priority for development. However, foreign sales were not secured, as potential buyers regarded the idea of long-life glassware as detrimental to their ability to sell replacements. As state employees in a state owned industry, the inventors did not receive significant financial rewards or royalties, but were honoured for their achievements.
***
[head desk] at the unprofitability of durable glass.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Kistler
***
Samuel Stephens Kistler (March 26, 1900 – November 6, 1975) was an American scientist and chemical engineer, best known as the inventor of aerogels, one of the lightest known solid materials.
***
***
With Coca Cola, for example, they said: Why should we use a glass that doesn’t break? We make money with our glasses. […] The dealers said understandably: Who would saw off the branch he was sitting on?[1]
— Eberhard Pook
***
[anguished Zoidberg groan]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9JW6JPD9wI
I’d say I’m quite stoic about my situation, wrt financial, housing and future forecasts, all attached with the big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ asterisk of my medical shuffle. I could say a lot about that but I’d rather not dive my mind into it at the moment. The future is the most concerning. As of now, I have my full-time ‘factory’ job and feelers into the (no idea how useful) Vocational Rehab program, expecting to connect with my Official Guy in a few weeks.
Being busy is certainly the best. I’m excited yet wary of getting my own place say.. by the end of the year. I haven’t had my own place since the Incident, besides during contracts in Korea, one of which was successful for a full year. (The first? Not so much. Gotta say, from Sept, 2019 and was back in Korea by March 2020. Oooh. Bold. Not necessarily *smart.* But bold. (See also: Phlebotomy.)
Stoicism can seem to meld into meek Acceptance if it becomes too dominant. As in, ‘accepting’ many things are unchangeable, when perhaps they aren’t. The line between things one Can and Cannot Act on has interesting shading ’round it, often a blur.
The difference between stoicism and apathy is fuzzy. Stoic people can care and experience joy but strive to be more durable against negative feelings. They can also get by with more pain and less pleasure than the average.
It’s like how courage isn’t the absence of fear but acting in spite of it.
*fist bump to Derp*
Soon I will go to my happy place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYsCQYxADyA
I haven’t scuba dived there yet, or since I got certified in 2007. That was my favorite college class.
West Virginia Shark Feeding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HllDzQEI_jE
Under the sea, under the sea! There’ll be no accusations, just friendly crustaceans under the seaaaaa!
Turns out that House Of Lies, um, lied to us and you don’t just get to bang the bejezus out of your consulting clients.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2025/05/01/chandra-holt-romantic-partner-of-ex-kohls-ceo-fired-as-consultant/83394918007/
I’ve been enjoying this. CEOs almost never get fired for cause like this. The complete clawback is also very rare.