I am a hedonist which includes epicurean with a an oversized dose of curiosity..... Oh we are talking about shaving gear???? This is has lead to allot of joy but some occasional issues.
I'll just throw this one out there: "This is the mark of perfection of character--to spend each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, laziness, or any pretending."-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.69
Reminds me of The Serenity Prayer. One of the facets of Stoicism that make so much sense to me - accepting the world as it is. Not wishful thinking. The next step is deciding how you feel about the reality of the world. Then taking action. It's straight forward, linear, logical.
"You know what wine and liquor tastes like. It makes no difference whether a hundred or a thousand bottles pass through your bladder--you are nothing more than a filter."-Seneca, Moral Letters, 77.16 Know any wine snobs or hoity-toity foodies? You can spring this on 'em.
If you're interested, check out the book "swerve" by Stephen Greenblatt - it's about the discovery in the Middle Ages of Lucretius's Roman-Empire-era book "on the Nature of Things" - Lucretius was an epicurean poet/ philosopher and his book was a sort of scientific book that laid the foundations for the scientific non-religious way of looking at the world. What's fascinating is that St. Paul, in Acts 17.22 may have spoken directly to Lucretius and other first century stoics and epicureans at the Areopagus. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As I stated previously here, I'm reading "The Daily Stoic" by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman. I started at the back of the book in the December chapter 'cause that was when I bought it. Now that the new year has started I'm at the beginning. I thought I'd share the entry for January 2nd because that's my birthday: "What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated-tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free."- Epictetus, Discourses, 2.1.21-23a
"Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing. We don't control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing. Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own."- Epictetus, Enchiridion, 1.1-2
To put in fewer words, if I may - There are only two things in life we are in control of - our attitude and our actions.
“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on it’s own wings. Always believe in yourself” – Unknown Stuff happens, You pick yourself up and move on. If a lesson was learned, then wisdom was gained.
It all depends on the situation. In my graduate courses, I am stoic until I find myself running short on pages for a term paper. In life, I tend to be a balance between the two when possible, meaning when the budget allows. Sent via mobile - Chris
They aren't mutually exclusive in my mind. The goal of Stoicism might be stated; "Sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy." Epictetus It's about your chosen actions in the face of life's trials. The goal of life is to achieve internal happiness through acceptance of reality, followed by correct action to improve one's life. Epicurianism defined as " hedonism (pleasure as the highest good), but of a restrained kind: mental pleasure was regarded more highly than physical, and the ultimate pleasure was held to be freedom from anxiety and mental pain, especially that arising from needless fear of death and of the gods." Current definition seems bent to mean eating unhealthily. The classic meaning isn't far from Stoic philosophy. But then "being stoic" today means emotionlessness rather that controlled emotions. Either way I've found blind panic and being emotionally reckless are weaknesses to be reigned in. Easy come, easy go. Any way the wind blows?
Which one of the following persons would you not expect to see at a party attended by the other three? Keith Richards, Lindsay Lohan, Seneca, Charlie Sheen.
