How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
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.
We finally finished Epictetus.
Discourses and Selected Writings
Here are my favorite lessons from the third section of the book:
Of personal adornment
The importance of not trying to look good for the express purpose of impressing other people. I still enjoy having long hair at 54 years old, but I am a weirdo.
The fields of study in which the man who expects to make progress will have to go into training; and that we neglect what is most important
A reminder that just because you understand the basic principles of Stoicism, you still need to actively train your mind to follow them.
What is the subject-matter with which the good man has to deal; and what should he the chief object of our training?
How to remain tranquil in difficult situations by remembering the only true difficulty is controlling your own reactions.
How ought we to exercise ourselves to deal with the impressions of our senses?
How to deal with people that challenge our understanding of Stoicism.
To a certain rhetorician who was going to Rome for a lawsuit
Epictetus gives advice to a man heading to court for a lawsuit on how to deal with the fact he could lose. Also reminding him that as long as he holds to the guiding principles then all is well, regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.
How ought we to bear our illnesses?
How to deal with your body reminding you that you do not control it when you are sick or injured.
That we ought to approach each separate thing with circumspection
How to train your mind to deal with large problems by dealing with small pieces at a time.
That one should enter cautiously into social intercourse
A reminder to be careful who your friends are and who you spend time with because they can drag you to their level whether that is a positive or negative,
Of Providence
A reminder that just because somebody is a rich jerk, that does not mean there is no point in living well as a poor Stoic.
That we ought not to allow any news to disturb us
How to remain calm even when external forces are going poorly.
What is the position of the layman, and what that of the philosopher?
How the reactions of a Stoic differ from those of a “normal” person. Mainly the Stoic is more likely to understand they are the cause of their own misery while the average person would blame external forces.
That we ought not to yearn for the things which are not under our control
A reminder of one of the first principles of Stoicism, that there is a difference in external forces and internal ones. We can only control the internal ones and worrying about the external ones is counter productive.
To those who fear want
There is no guarantee that your life will be successful, even if you do everything right.
I haven’t been around much lately, work has been kind of crazy last couple weeks. I did have an excellent time last weekend, my wife and I went to Cherry Point in Havelock North Carolina for Saturday to celebrate our 32nd anniversary. I always enjoy getting to drive the Saab for 2 1/2 hours and she likes the ride. It was my last duty station in the Marines and has some restaurants we love.
For lunch we went to the Pita Plate in Morehead City. Still the best gyro I have ever had. Then we went to our hotel room on base at the Marine Lodge.
Later we went to dinner at the Bay Leaf in New Bern. I had spicy lamb roganjosh and my wife had the butter chicken. I have looked around where I live now, but the Indian places around here are disappointing.
Then we found out the bar I used to love going to, Beer Army, was shut down so we ended up drinking in our room. Thanks again to Nephilium, she loved the Aviator. I stuck with Old Fashioned with Uncle Nearest whiskey, simple syrup, and Angostura bitters.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the Baker’s Kitchen. Possibly the best breakfast spot on the East Coast. Last stop was Moore’s BBQ for some genuine North Carolina BBQ and fried chicken to take home for dinner that night. It’s funny, where I live now, I have a lot more options for where to eat then there are down there, but the quality isn’t as good here.
::ponders amount of time spent at glibertarians.com::
On balance, we are a mixed influence. We have bad habits (broad negativity) but open discussion on a wide variety of topics where we debate who has the more insane takes.
I slowed down on my posting when I realized that a lot of it was just bitching.
How are things with the fire?
They are holding the line across the river from our area. Safe so far. Forecast for today is for light winds and afternoon thundershowers, so we’ve got that going for us.
We’re still evacuated and no sign of lifting it soon.
Thanks for asking.
🤞
Best wishes Hobbit.
How long have you been in a hotel?
Hope it ends soon.
HEY!
I am nothing if not a good influence.
Don’t be so harsh on yourself.
I’m sorry you’re nothing.
Sometimes it’s positive, sometimes it’s negative.
The voltage potential across the two poles is shocking.
Shush GT.
We are the good people.
I find that when I take the effort to improve my appearance to better than my slovenly average, I tend to feel better about myself.
I don’t think I will ever impress other people with good looks.
<==
The difference is whether you try to look good for yourself or do you do it with hopes that other will notice and be impressed by your appearance?
I never think I look good, I just sick of looking awful and take mitigating action.
That’s about where I am, I hate being old.
Old ish.
I’m just tired of being broken.
You’re the same age I am. That’s not old.
Aint no such thing as looking good for yourself. This is the bullshit chicks pull i dress like this for myself not the male gaze.
If you look good for yourself it is because you know you look good for others. Looking good is social.
I feel older when my knee doesn’t want to work.
I lost weight and have been exercising for me (the whole “not dying early” thing) but a pretty girl hit on me last night while I was watching the game with a buddy (she didn’t see the wedding ring at first).
Not gonna lie, it was flattering.
Fantastic! It’s great to have someone validate your results. I am doing the same, fasting and calorie reduction so far. Exercise will come next. Nobody will hit on me regardless because I look like a Brussels Sprout.
That one should enter cautiously into social intercourse
Beware of infection.
Noted political scientist
Hunter Biden, the son of former President Biden, said the wins showed voters are more receptive to candidates with more definitive ideological positions as opposed to establishment Democrats.
“The middle is not a strategy,” the younger Biden said after Tuesday’s election night. “Voters reached past the establishment to grab someone who actually believes something.”
The lunatic fringe will carry them to victory.
It might be retarded, but they believe it.
Notoriously inclusive societies
Seattle’s World Cup Pride Match is moving forward despite objections from the soccer federations of Iran and Egypt.
The President of FIFA said the match itself is not officially tied to Seattle Pride, but rainbow flags symbolizing LGBTQ+ pride and inclusion will be permitted under the organization’s stadium policies. Additionally, drag performances and Pride-themed watch parties are set to take place across Seattle.
——-
Both coaches for Iran and Egypt’s World Cup teams were asked about playing in the World Cup’s Pride match during a pre-game news conference.
“We are here to play football, not for other things,” Iran’s head coach Amir Ghalenoei said at the conference. “As for things that are forbidden in our religion and do not exist, we do not want to talk about them. We only talk about the match, football, and the beauty of the game.”
Both the Iranian Football Federation and Egypt’s Football Association requested that their match include no pride-related symbols, ceremonies, or promotional activities, but these requests were denied.
You are only here as background to our display of moral superiority. Shut up, they explained.
Sure, Jan.
The entire point of “Pride” is to shove it in everyone’s face. They used to be honest about it.
My understanding is that the date was selected before the draw was done last December putting Egypt and Iran in that match.
Yes, those two at the match is just an amusing accident.
You can be sure not one European country would complain about it. Maybe an Asian or African non-Muslim country.
Speaking of, I’ve seen a crapton of videos of people enjoying DFW, KC, Boston, Miami and LA. Zero from Seattle.
Algorithm, the countries that play there not making videos that I’d see, or fent zombies?
I saw conflicting reports. Supposedly the mayor took out the trash before the WC matches but another source mentioned there are still shuffling zombies right near the stadium which is downtown IIRC.
I’ve seem some WC videos shitting on Canada, with a guy from Quito showing an unconscious bum in Toronto.
I believe it – that stadium is downtown too.
Of course, I have never been to Quito so I wonder if they have any valid excuse to complain.
The importance of not trying to look good for the express purpose of impressing other people
I kinda disagree. Aint nothing wrong with lookong good.
Most human beings are little better than hairless chimps with clothes. Vanity constituting like 80% of the average human interaction.
That’s what I always say!
How to remain tranquil in difficult situations – imagine everyone else naked? Or was that stage fright
Either stage fright or being a dirty old man, YMMV.
CLE Limitada 2025 is a decent cigar for the price. It is too hot to smoke but i decided to anyway. Probably a bad idea.
I did put some ice in my rye. Sacrilige i suppose.
Templeton 10 year old aint bad. I was skeptical of templeton cause apparently they put additives in the 4 and the 6. But the 10 is streight rye so no additives. And 10 year old 95 5 MGP is good. I bought it at great discount for about 55 bucks american.
I will say this it is easier to stoic with AC in the old appartment
I wouldn’t trust a cigar from Cleveland. We’re not well known for tobacco growing up here.
I put ice in bourbon. I don’t in rye, but I’m not going to ice-shame you for putting ice in any American or Canadian whiskey.
I’ll shame him for Canadian “whiskey”. But I frequently put ice is any cask strength whisk(e)y I’m drinking.
Bought some Pelligrino in order to return some to a competitor who gave me one on a hot day.
I don’t care for it overly much — I find it too salty. But it makes pleasing highballs with savory booze like akavit and vermouth.
Canadian whiskey…I likely wouldnt have knocked up a bar maid and made Tres Ver 2.0 if it wasn’t for Crown Royal
Mainly the Stoic is more likely to understand they are the cause of their own misery while the average person would blame external forces.
I am with the average person on this one 🙂
“How the reactions of a Stoic differ from those of a “normal” person. Mainly the Stoic is more likely to understand they are the cause of their own misery while the average person would blame external forces.”
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in life was that if every room you walk in smells like shit, then you probably stepped in shit. One of things I’ve tried to do better is looking inward and see where I can improve and what I could have done differently. It’s easier to blame everyone for your misfortunes but as I’ve learned it’s hard but liberating to take a good look at yourself.
Just blame Trump like normal people.
Or heteronormative patriarchical capitalism
I blame Trump for everything.
Knee hurts? Trump!
Didn’t sleep well last night? Trump!
My Husky is still a retard that drinks water too quickly and throws up on the carpet? Trump again!
Or to go with the classics you can alway blame the… You know who
Gypsy?
https://despair.com/products/dysfunction?_pos=23&_sid=747e17a3f&_ss=r
The only consistent feature of all of your dissatisfying relationships is you.
That’s a great poster.
Those guys are great, I need to make a calendar.
https://despair.com/products/failure?_pos=2&_sid=2e4d44bb7&_ss=r
Needs to be paired with:
https://despair.com/products/mistakes?_pos=1&_sid=0e0b2fb36&_ss=r&variant=2457302467
It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.
How to remain tranquil in difficult situations by remembering the only true difficulty is controlling your own reactions.
This morning I wasn’t very stoic. But after I got breakfast, I was.
I did have an excellent time last weekend, my wife and I went to Cherry Point in Havelock North Carolina for Saturday to celebrate our 32nd anniversary.
It sounds like it was a great trip. Congratulations to you two on your anniversary!
I need this shirt:
https://www.amazon.com/Hangry-T-shirt-Sorry-What-Said/dp/B07PH2DXCH
It was and thank you.
right now on the online right there is some backlash against stoicism because being stoic means being passive and not fighting back. was there a stoic Friday post addressing this? I do not remember.
That sounds like one or more elements – misinterpreting the philosophy – misidentifying that which is with their power to change – being *leep*ing idiots.
stoic means being passive and not fighting back.
A common misunderstanding. A friend, who posts on facebook about stocism, got yelled at for telling women they should accept their position and tolerate whatever abusive relationship they are in.
He very, very graciously tried to explain that stoicism meant accepting whatever responsibility that they had for being in that situation and then taking the appropriate action to correct the situation.
It didn’t matter. He was still vilified for promoting stoicism.
That is the same attitude that led the Daily Stoic guy to say we should just accept the mask mandates and other COVID restrictions.
I used to get his emails, but like most things I once enjoyed it got stupid.
I think it is up to each person if they want to fight back.
Stoicism doesn’t mean you do not try to change anything, but if you do, understand it might not go your way and deal with the consequences.
I would say that’s a pretty substantial misunderstanding of stoicism.
At some point within the past year, when it was on sale, I tried Doom 2016. The lesson learned was “listen to my insticts” with regards to whether I think I’d find a work fun.
With regards to shooters, I am a cautious, methodical player. I endeavor to prevent the enemy from getting close to my position. The game wants you to act like a mindless berzerker, charging forward and getting too close to the enemies. I never got the soundtrack to kick in, and simply lost motivation to find the route forward at some point and walked away.
I wish I’d gotten some of the soundtrack to play, but it’s tied to being a *bleep*ing idiot and charging into melee.
Yeah, Doom is for Meth heads and 13 year old cheaters.
Redneck Rampage needs a remake.
Cherry Point in Havelock North Carolina
Nice – we drove through there last year on our way to Beaufort for a brother’s weekend. Nice area.
Heading further south to Wrightsville Beach in a few weeks; hoping to make it an annual thing. I’ve met too many people recently who drifted apart from their siblings for no good reason.
because being stoic means being passive and not fighting back.
What would Marcus Aurelius do?
🤬
I left my phone in the office. I don’t want to go back through rush hour traffic twice to grab it.
Ouch, sorry.
If I leave my phone, I’m locked out of my building. So that doesn’t happen, knock on wood.
I have my badge, so I have 24/7 access to my office. It’s the going back and dealing with the tangle of traffic that’s making me sit here.
Sorry I should have clarified – I mean my home.
How does that work? Shouldn’t you have a real key?
Supposedly I could get one but they did not give one out by default. And I’m moving soon so I don’t care now.
Purged
A second Love Island USA contestant has been removed from the villa after historic social media posts emerged that appeared to show her using a racial slur.
Alannah Keyser was removed after a video showed her apparently lip synching to the n-word in a song, while other screenshots showed her appearing to use the same slur in an Instagram comment and Snap message.
The posts came from a private account and were not made public until after Keyser entered the villa, and were therefore not flagged during broadcaster Peacock’s vetting process, sources told US publications including Variety.
Doin’ right ain’t got no end.
OFFS.
Does the vetting process include ascertaining whether her hue gives her a pass to use the bad word or is it universally prohibited for all cast members?
I see “Mute” in Monocle, and that makes sense.
What’s “Nuke”?
‘Mute’ quiets down that commentator, but will show replies.
‘Nuke’ kills the commentator and any replies.
(I’m assuming you’re on 4.11.2 – the install page locally does need updating)
https://gitlab.com/glibertarians/forumProject/-/raw/master/monocle.user.js?ref_type=heads