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.
1 Hearing an exile lament because he was living in banishment, Musonius consoled him in somewhat the following way. Why, he asked, should anyone who was not devoid of understanding be oppressed by exile?[2] It does not in any way deprive us of water, earth, air, or the sun and the other planets, or indeed, even of the society of men, for everywhere and in every way there is opportunity for association with them. What if we are kept from a certain part of the earth and from association with certain men, what is so dreadful about that? Why, when we were at home, we did not enjoy the whole earth, nor did we have contact with all men; but even now in exile we may associate with our friends, that is to say the true ones and those deserving of the name, for they would never betray or abandon us; but if some prove to be sham and not true friends, we are better off separated from them than being with them.
People will complain about any punishment, no matter how well deserved it is. Exile is not a threat to us, but it would probably feel like an open air prison. Being cut off from all that you are familiar with could be difficult with out the proper mindset. In the Marines, I was deployed many times and that was like being exiled from my wife and kids. The peacetime deployments were easier for me because I had all of my drinking buddies with me in the same situation. The combat ones were like a sentence of hard labor, but they were both only 7 months.
2 Tell me, is not the universe the common fatherland of all men, as Socrates held?[3] Well, then, you must not consider it really being banished from your fatherland if you go from where you were born and reared, but only being exiled from a certain city, that is if you claim to be a reasonable person. For such a man does not value or despise any place as the cause of his happiness or unhappiness, but he makes the whole matter depend upon himself and considers himself a citizen of the city of God which is made up of men and gods. Euripides speaks in harmony with this thought when he says,
“As all the heavens are open to the eagle’s flight
So all the earth is for a noble man his fatherland.”[4]
It doesn’t matter where I am if I decide to be unhappy. The same applies if I decide to be happy regardless of the external circumstances. Currently I like where I live and my wife and I are still glad to spend time together. If I had to move, it would be easier to deal with if she was with me, compared to being on my own. Either way, it would be up to me to make the best out of a situation I had no control over.
3 Therefore, just as a man who was living in his own country but in a different house from the one where he was born would be thought silly and an object of laughter if he should weep and wail because of this, so whoever considers it a misfortune because he is living in another city and not the one where he happens to have been born would rightly be considered foolish and stupid. Furthermore, how should exile be an obstacle to the cultivation of the things that are one’s own and to the acquisition of virtue, when no one was ever hindered from the knowledge and practice of what is needful because of exile? May it not even be true that exile contributes to that end, since it furnishes men leisure and a greater opportunity for learning the good and practicing it than formerly, in that they are not forced by what only seems to be their fatherland into performing political duties, and they are not annoyed by their kinsmen nor by men who only seem to be their friends, who are skillful in fettering them and dragging them away from the pursuit of better things?
When I travel for work, my wife usually comes with me, but the ones she doesn’t feel a little longer. I still enjoy myself by finding good restaurants and keeping the discipline to go to bed early enough for the gym in the morning. When I am by myself it is tempting to stay up later reading and telling myself I will go to the gym after I finish on the ship (spoiler alert: I usually don’t). It is always my fault when I don’t do the things I claim I want to do.
4 In fact, there have been cases where exile was an absolute blessing as it was to Diogenes, who by his exile was transformed from an ordinary citizen into a philosopher, and instead of sitting idly in Sinope, he busied himself in Greece, and in the pursuit of virtue came to surpass the philosophers. To others who were in poor health as the result of overindulgence and high living, exile has been a source of strength because they were forced to live a more manly life. We even know of some who were cured of chronic ailments in exile, as for instance, in our day Spartiacus,[5] the Lacedaemonian, who suffered long from a weak chest and for this reason was often ill from high living, but when he stopped living a life of luxury, he ceased to be ill. They say that others addicted to high living have got rid of gout, although they were previously completely bed-ridden by the disease—people whom exile compelled to become accustomed to living more simply and by this very thing were brought back to health. Thus it appears that by treating them better than they treat themselves, exile helps rather than hinders health both of body and of spirit.
It is up to me to find the good in any adverse circumstances. I hate when people say “Everything happens for a reason.” That is unequivocally not true. I look at it as in this “bad” circumstance, what can I find that is positive? Once I have that answer, then I strive towards that. Sometimes, the only positive is the ability to improve my self control and keep my Stoicism working for me.
I’m hoping the worst thing that pops up on my inspection tomorrow is “you need new windshield wipers”
I absolutely do not want to have to replace rotting rotors or the hyperexpsensive emissions widget that robs your horsepower.
Live in a state that still requires inspections?
Remain stoic.
I hate when people say “Everything happens for a reason.”
Me too. Too often people use this phrase to excuse someone’s bad behavior and wave off any responsibility they might have.
Everything does happen for a reason, but it’s the absolute pinnacle of hubris to expect to know or understand what those reasons are.
Everything happens because the other guy is an asshole.
Usually it is laziness and disregard of consequences.
ZWAK gets it. Sometimes random things happen, but I have heard “Everything happens for a reason” to glaze over a shitty decision.
TOC, you’re right.
Sloth is no guard against entropy.
Magic dirt.
Sayonara, baby
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised “real leaders” Friday after a summit in Belgium as tension simmers between the United States and Ukraine following recent developments.
“I am so thankful that we have such huge support from EU Council, Commission and leaders, real leaders so that they stay with us from the very beginning of this war,” Zelensky told reporters in Brussels, in a clip CNN posted Friday.
Best of luck in your future endeavors.
I’m having trouble keeping up. Are Russia (Putin) and China (Xi) our good buddies now? Iran is still on the shit list though, right?
It doesn’t matter where I am if I decide to be unhappy. The same applies if I decide to be happy regardless of the external circumstances. Currently I like where I live and my wife and I are still glad to spend time together. If I had to move, it would be easier to deal with if she was with me, compared to being on my own. Either way, it would be up to me to make the best out of a situation I had no control over.
This rings so true. I moved from NH to TX when I couldn’t find work I liked there. It helped that my sister and her family live in the area I’m at now, and that my BiL and I go back to high school and he and I work at the same place. But even if I had to move to an entirely different area for a well-paying job it’s what would have been necessary. I still keep in touch with friends and family in NH and have every intention of retiring back up there, so for now I enjoy what time I have with my sister and her kids and grandkid. Then when I return to NH I’ll merely resume what I was doing before then, which was spend my vacation time in TX with them. Being miserable is a waste of time and energy.
Grumbles, I was gone from here for 35 years, making a living, raising a family. When I did decide to retire it was back to my roots. I’ve lived in a lot
of different places over the years.
My kids were raised in TX, my daughter raised her family in MN. Now my kids live in TX, two grandkids live in MN.
Seems like “home” is where a person spends their youth and returning there is like looking for that Fountain of Magic Water.
Senator Sorority Girl weighs in
But as debates about campus culture and law enforcement lapses permeated the public conscience, Congress made clear that it had a very different priority: debating regulations for college sports. Not a second was spent on campus safety at a time that one in four undergraduate women report being sexually assaulted at school. At Cornell, that figure is more than one in three.
There is no question: the system has failed Jane Doe.
This is not just a problem with one case, one fraternity, or one university. Jane Doe’s story echoes a heartbreaking reality on campuses across the country. Time and time again, victims experience the same story: they report, then watch their perpetrators get by with a slap on the wrist.
——-
A system that fails survivors repeatedly is fundamentally broken. The price of a college education shouldn’t include a greater than 25 percent chance of being sexually assaulted.
Congress must do more to protect students. We must pass the Campus Accountability and Safety Act.
CASA is commonsense, bipartisan legislation. It would hold institutions accountable, uphold a fair process for students, and give sexual assault survivors a trauma-informed advocate to help them through the adjudication process.
More of the same. Deeper harder faster.
These schools just need more money and another layer or six of administrators and advocates, which will teach those rapey boys a thing or two.
More advocates and case workers. That will for sure fix the problem.
Congress must do more to protect students. We must pass the Campus Accountability and Safety Act.
How about we pass the Congress Accountability and Safety Act, and get rid of the slush fund that lets them pay off accusers with our tax money?
How about the Congressional Accounting Sanity Act which requires them to personally fund any programs not explicitly constitutional, while keeping spending no more than 90% of revenue.
You don’t get what you deserve. You just get what you get.
Regarding exile: I had to explain the exile of Dante from Florence to my daughter. Times never change, people react the same.
This car is ugly. I am trying to be stoic about it.
https://www.theautopian.com/toyota-is-bringing-its-version-of-rolls-royce-to-the-united-states/
That color isn’t doing it any favors.
It highlights the awkward proportions. That’s a color best for a small car.
It’s like they saw the headlights on the newer GM pickups and thought they were a good idea.
Reminds me of the Family Truckster from National Lampoon’s Family Vacation.
If you want to test your stoicism, note that the top article on the sidebar is “What Does It Say That Elon Musk Finds It Easier To Build A Flying Car Than A Cheap EV?”
Battaries. How do they work?
You can get cheap EVs from China, idiots.
They do tend to explode, though.
Magnetism?
For example, Doe’s lawyer alleges that the Tompkins County District Attorney never contacted her after she made her initial statement to Cornell police. A New York Times investigation later showed that a key statement from Doe’s testimony — “I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped” — was left out of the six-page statement that was sent to the district attorney.
Better-trained investigators are far less likely to make that mistake.
We need to establish a concrete policy of presumption of guilt, so the DA won’t pass on a case because he doesn’t think he can win it.
She said that after a long stream-of-consciousness ramble that demonstrated no such thing. It’s no wonder the statement was left out.
And the 1 in 4 nonsense was debunked a long time ago IIRC so sure let’s bump it up to 1 in 3.
Ridiculous.
I thought it was 5 out of 4.
It even housed Toyota’s only passenger-car V12 engine.
Wait, what? 2 2JZs grafted together?
No, they got a whole shedload of Geo Metro 3-cylinder engines and welded four of them to an overly complex gearbox.
I’m getting the strangest erection right now…
Sweet drunken Enkidu…
https://www.drifted.com/1gz-fe/
That can’t be right. A V12 for $3500?
Joining the military was like that for me too.
And I’m cheep and my station was a hell of a long ways from home. I wasent going to spend a months pay flying back. I went home three times while I was in. After basic/AIT on mid tour and to go get my wife’s and I household goods.
Being away in a different culture and far from the people you grew up with was a great growth opportunity for me. A change of perspective on the things I thought I knew and the people I was around.
Thanks a lot, T’ed
As I often have to do when Elon Musk appears, let me start by saying that there’s never been more of a gap between how interesting or impressive it is to write about a product and how annoying it is to write about its ostensible creator. It’s clear based on comments yesterday that many of you have strong feelings about Musk; in the interest of full disclosure, I have plenty of reasons to dislike him as well. (DOGE destroyed the work of good people I know, I was a big Twitter fan, his good buddy is the reason why my kid’s first college fund went to Hulk Hogan, blah blah blah).
Musk is the richest man in the world and can use that money to impact politics in a way that should be unconstitutional. That definitely gives him power, though — as much as anger towards Musk can be cathartic — part of me thinks there’s a danger in acting like anyone is some all-powerful being, because the illusion itself is where much of that power actually resides. Personally, I think he’s someone with little shame and bizarre ideas of how the world works, which sometimes allows him to create products others might not see the value in (like the initial, actually roadster-like Tesla Roadster and Model S). Maybe you view him as some sort of amazing anti-hero; I don’t really care either way.
Stick it up your ass, you fucking pathetic wanker. Go write for Jezebel.
If you have friends the lost their cushy jobs due to Doge offs are you are a very poor judge of character.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better demonstration of that old truism – “When people tell you who they are, believe them.”
I would love to see just how this guys kids college fund went to Hulk Hogan. With evidence.
Pretending to have the moral high ground over anyone when you were associated with Gawker when they got sued into oblivion for posting his intimate conversations from his bedroom is something.
Complaining because the Twatters now allows conservatives to speak freely along with everyone else and not just degenerate leftists is also something. Like you could post hardcore porn on the old Twitter, but don’t you dare voice wrong think!
And yea, they outed Thiel because he was gay and dared to support Republicans. Because how can the gay marriage not take precedence over EVERY OTHER FUCKING THING he believes?
On top of that, the Democratic party at the time was openly opposed to gay marriage. It was like the only real battle that the gays were still fighting and the “good guys” were the Democrats who also said that it should remain between a man and a woman. You were supposed to just take their wink and nod to you seriously if you are gay. Yea they’re going to totally say they oppose it, but secretly they’re all for it and they’ll totally make it happen one day (once polling data shows most Americans are ambivalent or support it).
It was comical back in the day to here people put the Dems up against the GOP as some sort of pro-gay rights party. Obama in particular. Dude needed a Joe Biden gaffe to even come out for you fucks.
Twix didn’t think too kindly about what I had to say under Elon.
Hell. I rarely ever swore on the platformed and got perma banned.
If you on you are blue checkmarked ask Grok why IdahoBaldwin got permanently suspended because it refused to tell me or give me as much as a warning I had violated an unnamed rule.
Xey invested xer kid’s college fund in Gawker Media?
Oh I forgot about Gawker.
Or he was working for Gawker and taking some pay in stock. I’ll refrain from commenting on the wisdom of that bit of financial planning, my snark meter is running low.
And really.
The Tesla Roadster has a roof. That’s not a roadster.
I think piping the roof glass in the Y and replacing it with a targa top would be pretty cool.
And they all boil down to “I am an ignorant leftist twunt.”
If we extrapolate that a little further, though, there are two kinds of people in this future. If you’re not extremely wealthy, you don’t really get to enjoy driving. Instead, you’re getting driven around from place-to-place. If you want something super cool and fun the only way that works is if you’re extremely rich.
This is contrast to an automaker like Toyota or Ford, which offers a variety of fun to drive vehicles at various price points.
Everything not mandatory is prohibited.
Luxury brands should make some of their cars cheaper.
https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars-for-sale/rolls_royce-silver_spur-for-sale
There’s an app out there for porn addiction based on Christian theology. If you feel like you just have to crank it, there’s a “panic” button you press and it hits you with Gregorian chants of peace.
Pray the boner away. What are your thoughts?
Are the nuns hot?
Yes, and No. They keep arguing over what the thermostat should be set to.
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/762/616/d60.gif
It diverts your energy to fighting the Covenant. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p5tkIZbUCcA&ra=m
Gregorian chants aren’t mood music?!?
Obviously someone was an altar boy.
Warning, TMI:
I literally lost my virginity with MCMXC a.D playing in the background. So yes, Gregorian chants can put some of use in the mood.
Chin up, America, help is on the way
Shuter’s sources said that Jeff Bezos’s wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, “loves the idea of President Bezos.” After attending the White House state dinner for China’s President Xi Jinping, “Lauren has become increasingly fascinated by Washington.” According to the source, “Lauren looks at Jeff and sees someone who conquered business, built a space company and became one of the most powerful men alive.” That leaves Mrs. Bezos asking, “What’s left?” because “in her mind the presidency is the ultimate final act.”
I would warn against underestimating Lauren Bezos’s drive and influence. In record time, she transformed her once-geeky-looking boyfriend, now husband, into an A-list celebrity. With hundreds of billions of dollars, nothing is impossible.
Behind every great man is an avaricious narcissistic woman.
She’s certainly ‘transformed’ herself.
Into Joan Rivers.
“Amplified by Drudge’s well trafficked site”
Huh?
She is a shameless social climber who latched onto a billionaire despite looking freakish (gives really good head and takes it in all holes on command?) and still refused to take his last name.
How embarrassing is that for Bezos? No one would elect his ass on that alone. We will never have a man in the White House whose wife didn’t take his last name. That’s a red line.
Jeff could have done a million times better.
Several billion times better.
The consolation prize for rejecting a presidential run is that Bezos remains very powerful from outside the White House since money equals power. And his new corollary, “success is not villainy,” sums up the billionaire tech-bro era.
Who doesn’t despise rich and successful people? Especially the ones who started from scratch?
America was founded by a No Kings movement comprised of losers and parasites.
Is he one of the goodthinkful billionaires? I can’t keep up.
The biggest, and stupidest, myth in European politics, particularly popular in France, is that Europe suffers the consequences of “austerity” and “neoliberalism”. In the biggest 5 countries in Europe, more than half of the population makes its income from the state, less than half from the private sector. This is what makes the problem of reducing the welfare state so impossible: more than half of the voters are net recipients. No surprise that Italy’s budget has not been balanced in 100 years, France’s in 50 years (ooh la la, l’austérité!!):
-France: 30 million from the state versus 21m private sector workers. State spending is 57% of GDP, taxes more than half the economy. The budget hasn’t been balanced in the lifetime of most French (since 1974).
– Germany: 35 million adults from the state, versus 34 million from the private sector. 10% of the population is registered as severely disabled. Public spending is over half of GDP. Germany has had a continuous budget deficit since 2019.
-Italy: 23 million from the state, versus 20.5 million private-sector workers. Public spending is 51% of GDP. Italy has had a budget deficit every year since 1925, for 100 years.
– Spain more people get their income from the state since 2024: 18.21 million from the public sector versus 17.9 million people working in the private sector. Since 2025, Spain also had more government employees than self-employed workers (autónomos) for the first time in history. State spending is at 45%, budget has not been balanced since 2007.
– UK: 54% of households now receive more in state benefits than they pay in taxes. State spending is 44.5% of GDP, taxes (40%) are at their highest since 1950, the budget hasn’t been balanced since 2001, and 1 in 5 new cars is paid by the government through a bizarre state disability scheme (Motability).
https://x.com/lugaricano/status/2111060338925817891
Superficial similarities
The remains of a man who was shot in the head and stuffed into a rusted barrel found on the shore of Lake Mead after the water level dropped were identified Thursday as an Arkansas man whose decades-old killing remains unsolved.
Edward Lelburian Jackson was in his mid- to late 50s when he died, Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse said. Authorities are looking for people to come forward to help solve Jackson’s killing.
There was no evidence directly linking the killing to organized crime in nearby Las Vegas despite longstanding speculation, although a connection hasn’t been ruled out, police said. An expert on mob activity in the city said the case bears the “earmarks” of a mob hit and that questions still linger.
It coulda been anybody what dunnit. Lots of people stuff their victims into 55 gallon drums and dump them overboard.
Trump shitcans new press secretary:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/after-brutal-hannity-interview-katie-zacharia-sets-record-fastest-fired-trump-official
Damn, that was quick.