How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness.
Today’s lesson comes from: Musonious Rufus’s Lectures
We don’t know much about Rufus’s life, he was born between 20-30 AD. By the rein of Nero he was a leading Stoic teacher. He was banished twice under different Emperors. His most famous student was Epictetus and like him, Rufus did not write any of his own lessons. The lessons and fragments that remain were written by his students. We do not now when he died, but in 101 AD Pliny mentions him as deceased.
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
That exile is not an evil Part III
7 Furthermore, it is not at all necessary for exiles to suffer ill-repute because of their banishment, since everyone knows that many trials are badly judged and many people are unjustly banished from their country, and that in the past there have been cases of good men who have been exiled by their countrymen, as for example from Athens Aristides the Just and from Ephesus Hermodorus, because of whose banishment Heraclitus bade the Ephesians, every grown man of them, go hang themselves. In fact some exiles even became very famous, as Diogenes of Sinope and Clearchus, the Lacedaemonian, who with Cyrus marched against Artaxerxes,[9] not to mention more. How, pray, could this condition in which some people have become more renowned than before be responsible for ill-repute?
What you do with what you have is more important than your starting position. I remember one time when I was a Corporal in the Marines, I had a fellow Cpl. whine to me that I would have an easier time getting promoted to Sergeant because I was a section chief and he was not. While this was kind of true, I pointed out to him that he did not learn how to be a gunner (the most important job for setting the gun up, usually held by the assistant section chief) he also was not as physically fit as a leader should be. So although he was in a deficit to start, he was not actively helping himself.
8 But, you insist, Euripides says that exiles lose their personal liberty when they are deprived of their freedom of speech. For he represents Jocasta asking Polynices her son what misfortunes an exile has to bear. He answers,
“One greatest of all, that he has not freedom of speech.”
She replies,
“You name the plight of a slave, not to be able to say what one thinks.”[10]
But I should say in rejoinder: “You are right, Euripides, when you say that it is the condition of a slave not to say what one thinks when one ought to speak, for it is not always, nor everywhere, nor before everyone that we should say what we think. But that one point, it seems to me, is not well-taken, that exiles do not have freedom of speech, if to you freedom of speech means not suppressing whatever one chances to think. For it is not as exiles that men fear to say what they think, but as men afraid lest from speaking pain or death or punishment or some such other thing shall befall them. Fear is the cause of this, not exile. For to many people, nay to most, even though dwelling safely in their native city, fear of what seem to them dire consequences of free speech is present. However, the courageous man, in exile no less than at home, is dauntless in the face of all such fears; for that reason also he has the courage to say what he thinks equally at home or in exile.” Such are the things one might reply to Euripides.
Exile could give a person more freedom. To quote Janis Joplin (actually Kris Kristofferson) “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” When you have a nice job and fine house it is harder to speak up then if you have nothing tying you down. Having the courage to say things that could cost me my job is difficult and i usually just ignore the co-workers comments.
I finally figured out who Letitia James reminds me of
LOL
But, you insist, Euripides says that exiles lose their personal liberty when they are deprived of their freedom of speech.
Were their tongues ripped out?
“Having the courage to say things….”
Right is hard to beat. Saying the right things diplomatically can often go a long way. Doing the right thing will always go a long way.
We used to say, “Right is hard to beat, rank is impossible to beat”
But, you insist, Euripides says that exiles lose their personal liberty when they are deprived of their freedom of speech.
What about Lord Haw Haw and Tokyo Rose?
Wrong quote (not that it matters very much)
But that one point, it seems to me, is not well-taken, that exiles do not have freedom of speech, if to you freedom of speech means not suppressing whatever one chances to think.
What about Lord Haw Haw and Tokyo Rose?
I think if the government was actually what they claim to be those two would either be mocked or ignored.
A new talking point has been issued
A decade after he began to remake the Republican Party in his image, President Donald Trump is facing the prospect of a voter rebellion Tuesday that could force conservatives to rethink their undying allegiance to the 80-year-old lame-duck leader and his “Make America Great Again” movement. Already, some Republican candidates have begun to distance themselves from him.
And Democrats, who remain unpopular despite midterm momentum, are speeding toward a tug-of-war between establishment leaders and emboldened progressives demanding nothing less than transformative change.
Whether either party wins or loses Tuesday, the end of the 2026 midterms marks the beginning of a high-stakes fight over the country’s political future in the twilight of the Trump era — a fight that will swiftly surge to the forefront of American politics as new members of Congress descend upon Washington and the 2028 presidential contest takes off.
“When President Trump leaves office, it’s going to create a tremendous vacuum. And I ask the question, where does the country go next?” said former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu, who is running for the New Hampshire Senate seat he lost in 2008.
Soon to be swept under the rug of history. And not a moment too soon. Let’s get to work rebuilding our lost post racial paradise.
Haven’t we suffered enough from the “transformative change” we got from The One and The Two?
But yes, we’re well aware that Establishment Republicans are itching to get back to establishing their token resistance to everything the Dems want to inflict on us.
It’s not 2002 anymore. The current version of MAGA that has been assimilated into the globalist, neocon collective is not going to garner votes the same way I could when W was in office. The only thing keeping the GOP afloat this time around is the fear of handing the Democrats power and getting Woke 2, the Revenge Tour.
That revenge tour is coming one day or another.
Already setting up the “2028 is the Mostest Importantest Election EVAR!” message.
I am going on a three day self imposed exile from spending three months on the couch post surgery.
Here is to hoping that I can handle climbing my ladder at work 40-50 times this weekend. I’ve gotten soft on the couch and can still hardly feel my leg. A guys gotta eat.
Qapla’!
Honor to the Glibs!
I should be set up and running by 7pm correct time zone and I’ll hop over to the zooms.
Good luck, I went through that 12 years ago, not fun.
I’ve had so many surgeries now it’s just not funny anymore. And it’s been four or five years since my last. This one kicked my ass.
In that story from this morning on the crazy white girl suing to get the embassy moved away from her wealthy family’s apartment, they had a picture of the US embassy in London.
I need someone to explain what sort of architecture this is supposed to be and why the US would think it’s a good idea in London.
“It might not look good, but it looks interesting!”
-Architect sipping on latte with pinky up
Brittania rules the waves, duh. That means they must like sails!
Perhaps it’s providing habitat for some endangered animal?
Eco-friendly wind power?
Oooh! Anti-suicide nets for the people forced to work there!
I thought Katrina ruled the waves.
I just glanced at the photo this morning and thought that was scaffolding.
It’s ugly as all get out.
And it’s probable lit up with spotlights all night.
Good advise for the Bolsonaro family.