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 italicized in bold, my replies are in normal text.
To those who are vexed at being pitied Part III
O miserable man, will you not see what you are saying about yourself? What sort of a person are you in your own eyes? What sort of a person in thinking, in desiring, in avoiding; what sort of a person in choice, preparation, design, and the other activities of men? Yet you are concerned whether the rest of mankind pity you?—Yes, but I do not deserve to be pitied.—And so you are pained at that? And is the man who is pained worthy of pity?—Yes.—How, then, do you fail to deserve pity after all? By the very emotion which you feel concerning pity you make yourself worthy of pity. 20What, then, says Antisthenes? Have you never heard? “It is the lot of a king, O Cyrus, to do well, but to be ill spoken of.”[1] My head is perfectly sound and yet everybody thinks I have a headache. What do I care? I have no fever, and yet everybody sympathizes with me as though I had: “Poor fellow, you have had a fever for ever so long.” I draw a long face too, and say, “Yes, it truly is a long time that I have been in a bad way.” “What is going to happen, then?” As God will, I reply, and at the same time I smile quietly to myself at those who are pitying me.
I can accept when other people feel bad for me. Even when they feel bad about the things that are outside of my control and their feeling bad does nothing to improve the situation. If I went to them in these moments and explained they were wasting their breath and not really offering any real help, then I would be an asshole. I do try to deflect, when my mom died and my coworkers were telling me how sorry they were, I would say thank you, but it’s a part of life once you get to this age.
What, then, prevents me from doing the same thing in my moral life also? I am poor, but I have a correct judgement about poverty. Why, then, am I concerned, if men pity me for my poverty? I do not hold office, while others do. But I have the right opinion about holding office and not holding it. Let those who pity me look to it,[2] but as for myself, I am neither hungry, nor thirsty, nor cold, but from their own hunger and thirst they think I too am hungry and thirsty. What, then, am I to do for them? Shall I go about and make proclamation, and say, “Men, be not deceived, it is well with me. I take heed neither of poverty, nor lack of office, nor, in a word, anything else, but only correct judgements; these I possess free from hindrance, I have taken thought of nothing further”? And yet, what foolish talk is this? How do I any longer hold correct judgements when I am not satisfied with being the man that I am, but am excited about what other people think of me?
Trying to show off that things don’t bother me as much as most people seem to when I am in the right frame of mind, would be me being an asshole again. Saying “I don’t need your pity, I am in control of my reactions” would be an inappropriate reaction. It would be worse if I did it with the goal of impressing them with how strong I am. I can accept pity in the spirit it was offered and be gracious about it.
25But others will get more than I do, and will be preferred in honor above me.—Well, and what is more reasonable than for those who have devoted themselves to something to have the advantage in that to which they have devoted themselves? They have devoted themselves to office, you to judgements; and they to wealth, you to dealing with your sense-impressions. See whether they have the advantage over you in what you have devoted yourself to, but they neglect; whether their assent is more in accord with natural standards, whether their desire is less likely to achieve its aim than is yours, whether their aversion is less likely to fall into what it would avoid, whether in design, purpose, and choice they hit the mark better, whether they observe what becomes them as men, as sons, as parents, and then, in order, through all the other terms for the social relations. But if they hold office, will you not tell yourself the truth, which is. that you do nothing in order to get office, while they do everything, and that it is most unreasonable for the man who pays attention to something to come off with less than the man who neglects it?
I try not to compare my progress in life with others. The things that are important to other people are not so important to me. In my office, I am not as well off as most of the others. Most of them have spouses that work full time and drive new cars. They have separate bank accounts, I don’t understand how that works if it is a true partnership. My wife hasn’t worked in 30 years and I have a 25 year old truck, a 15 year old Camry, and a 24 year old Saab. However, when I come home, the house is clean and I know dinner will be ready at 6:30. While it would be nice to have even half of my paycheck added to our income, I like my life so much better this way.
I have been able to continue going to the gym and can currently do 2 pull ups. Not a lot for a man that used to do 20, but more than the 0 I could do 4 weeks ago. I am also starting to lose a little weight, but it is a slow process, especially since in the 18 months or so I was not working out, I did not change my diet except to quit drinking protein powder with milk. I don’t eat a lot of junk food, but I am not especially diligent about avoiding it either. I have to remind myself that it took a long time to get this fat, so it will take a long time to lose it. On the bright side, after not being able to work out for so long, I am enjoying it and am finally starting to feel stronger,
It’s hard to remain stoic in the face of National Pie Day.
I thought that was March 14.
I love pie more than cake.
No one tell PieInTheSky!
Undead pie is different.
Thanks Ron,
At a certain stage in life it’s difficult to have those emotions that we had at a younger age. Too many funerals, a little sympathy for the bereaved family but then it’s time to go eat, enjoy the camaraderie of the friends that are still with us.
We can’t undue the past but we can try to enjoy the present.
That’s all we can do.
Don’t be pitiful
Minneapolis has quickly become the center of massive political unrest after Renee Macklin Good was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer more than two weeks ago. Legal battles and protests have sprung up around a surge in federal law enforcement on the streets.
Good’s death may have ignited the crisis in the city, but it also exposed a slew of colliding political factors that all came to light at the same time.
——-
In the days leading up to the shooting, Minnesota Democrats were consumed by a different political fight.
The Trump administration zeroed in on allegations of fraud within the state, pausing federal funds for Minnesota day care centers, citing an unsubstantiated claim that Minneapolis-based organizations, run by Somali Americans, were pocketing millions in public funds.
Longwinded NPR story about Trump’s murderous goon squads and their unjust and unfounded persecution of the noble and generous Minnesotans.
I would be fascinated to find out just how “widespread” this political upheaval really is. Something tells me it’s like an oil slick on a mud puddle.
unsubstantiated claim
Never change, NPR.
Well, we wouldn’t want to go out and check the veracity of claim, because then we might have to report it as substantiated.
Haven’t people been convicted? Haven’t other plead guilty? Sounds pretty substantiated.
Nice try shitheads but you were already stirring the shit long before that lunatic got herself shot.
I skimmed it over, but I didn’t see them mention that this all started when Minnesota decided to stop cooperating with ICE like all states did in the past, and most states still do.
in December, the issue garnered additional attention after the administration amplified an unfounded allegation that had largely spread by right-wing social media influencers online.
Walz decried the move, saying in a statement on X that while cracking down on fraud was a serious issue in the state, the decision was part of “Trump’s long game,” adding he was politicizing the topic.
Slanderous poppycock. Yellow journalism of the basest and most cowardly sort. Low political mudslinging.
I missed the link to the NPR story where they took a deep dive into those allegations, instead of just taking Walz’s word for it.
I’m getting mentally prepared to listen to my wife complain while trapped in a house without power for days.
While being stoic of course.
I recommend making sure there’s an ample supply of her favorite drinks on hand.
I did refresh the brandy supply. I will be prepared to make Brandy Alexanders.
Low on stuff. I can make a reasonable Old Fashioned, or just enjoy bourbon on the rocks. Cigars are rehydrating from a terrible dry spell I failed to catch last week.
Special K filed paperwork to run for governor of Minnesoda.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democratic-sen-amy-klobuchar-files-paperwork-run-minnesota/story?id=129466492
The liberal hive mind at https://www.reddit.com/r/duluth/comments/1qkc0sh/democratic_sen_amy_klobuchar_files_paperwork_to/ are PISSED!
When you’ve lost the liberals from Duloot…
On the Stupid Party side we’ve got a re-habbed pillow salesman running. MN is fucked.
First comment in that reddit thing:
It’s not about liking the Dem candidate, it’s about who can win and keep the crazies out.
You’re a little behind the curve, bub.
Direct hit
On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent likened Newsom to notable pop culture figures like “American Psycho” character Patrick Bateman and a Ken doll.
“Gov. Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris,” the secretary said in remarks at the forum.
Needs a “Who dropped that anvil on me?” meme.
Holy Crap.
A previously unreleased Paul Harrell video!
https://youtu.be/Tb9QeoPdLCY?si=Jtv6LRsmUC-J2Ell
Strictly voluntary
The House is expected to advance a funding bill today that omits language that would allow consumers across the country to access fuels with a 15% corn ethanol blend, often referred to as E15.
People are clamoring for it. They can’t get enough. Those poor corn farmers just want to do what’s right.
“O miserable man, will you not see what you are saying about yourself? What sort of a person are you in your own eyes? ”
This is the big one for me. Good writeup.