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January 13 - January 18, 2020
He enjoyed a profound sense of inner satisfaction knowing that he was fulfilling his destiny and expressing his true nature. His life had something far more satisfying than pleasure: it had purpose.
when I would do so, for instance, when you entered public gatherings with a more gloomy expression than was fitting, or pored over a book at the theatre or during a banquet (I am speaking of a time when I myself did not yet keep away from theatres and banquets). On such occasions,
those of his social class. His friends’ company wasn’t always fun—sometimes they spoke plainly
Bhagavad Gita!
years of persecution under previous regimes; for some, at least, shaving it off implied abandoning one’s most cherished beliefs and values. A few generations earlier, presumably speaking of Emperor Domitian’s persecution
brothels late at night disguised as a commoner, it’s said, getting drunk, ending up in fights, and coming home black and blue. When he was out drinking he liked to smash the cups in the cookshops by throwing coins at them, which presumably started
When doing what feels pleasurable becomes more important than doing what’s actually good
Katha Upanishad
As we’ll see, though, it was within this crucible that The Meditations took shape. HOW TO CONQUER
The Stoics tended to view joy not as the goal of life, which is wisdom, but as a by-product of it,
Marcus therefore says that it’s not in feelings but in actions that your supreme good
The wise man’s sense of delight comes from one thing alone: acting consistently in accord with
Friedrich Nietzsche: amor fati, or love of one’s fate.
from things like food and drink than those who indulge in them to excess. Hunger is the best relish, he said,
whereas if we overeat we spoil our appetites. Hedonists might accuse Stoics of missing out on life’s pleasures, but
you may want to do a “substitute behavior” that’s high on your list of personal values but that might take a little effort to get done, such as phoning a loved one or reading a book.
The same principle, that self-awareness disrupts the automatic quality of the behavior, can be very helpful when you actually want to break a bad habit.
There are many different ways of gaining cognitive distance. One is to imagine how a role model might perceive the same situation differently.
the Stoics particularly emphasized suspending value judgments about external things. They did this by using language to describe events as objectively as possible. As we’ve seen, they called this firm grip on reality phantasia kataleptike, or the “objective representation” of events.
People often talk about the things they crave in language that’s bound to excite their own desire, even when they realize they’re fostering unhealthy habits: “I’m dying for some chocolate. Why is it so good? It tastes like heaven! This is better than sex.” (It’s mainly vegetable fat, some cacao, and a load of refined sugar.)
The Meditations Marcus says that, looking back, he’s grateful he chose to preserve his sexual innocence for a few years into his adulthood.21 He’s also thankful that when he was later troubled by strong sexual
One of the techniques Marcus employs most frequently in The Meditations is to ask himself what virtue or resource Nature has given him to cope with a particular situation.
accordance with your values—that is, virtues. In relation to desires, consider what you did well, what
Katha Upanishad
Marcus Aurelius was known for his physical frailty, due to chronic health problems, but he was also known for his exceptional resilience.
never allowing any setback to knock him off course, always remaining committed to his life’s goal of acquiring wisdom and sharing it with others.7 However, Claudius Maximus, another one
unwavering in his resolve and cheerful in the face of any predicament.8 It seems likely that
Marcus appears to compare Maximus to the Emperor Antoninus. Both men showed impeccable strength of character,
Antoninus was always contented, always cheerful. It’s said that even as he lay dying, with his last breath he whispered the word equanimity to his guard, which was emblematic both of his character and of his reign.
pain and discomfort. He simply carried on doing what he loved: discussing
Marcus quotes this letter and then exhorts himself always to act as Epicurus did: remain focused on the pursuit of wisdom even in the face of illness, pain, or any other hardship.
Marcus paraphrased the same quote from Epicurus as follows: “On pain: if it is unbearable, it carries us off, if it persists, it can be
Lameness, he says, is an impediment to the leg but not to the
pain. If this story is true, Marcus would certainly have heard about it. HOW TO TOLERATE PAIN It may seem natural to assume that pain is intrinsically bad, but the Stoics employ a barrage of arguments to persuade
foolish person may squander the advantages good health provides by indulging in his vices. A wise and good person, by contrast, may use both health and illness
our very character. Pain, by contrast, is harmless if you learn to accept it with an attitude of indifference. Epictetus stated this very
objectify pain in this way by attributing an arbitrary shape or color to it, such as a black circle. This technique, called “physicalizing” the feeling,
of illness through a glass window, separating the body from the mind, or imagining the pain as temporarily outside of the body on the other side of the room. In addition to viewing unpleasant sensations as limited spatially to the affected part of the body, Marcus frequently reminds himself to consider their duration
but particularly with painful sensations and symptoms of illness. It resembles advice given by Epicurus, to focus on the fact that acute pain is temporary. You might be familiar with the Persian saying “This too shall pass,” quoted by Abraham Lincoln, which makes a similar point. We can also remind ourselves how many unpleasant sensations have already come and gone in the
The Cynics and Stoics were thousands of years ahead of their time in proposing voluntary acceptance as a way of coping with pain and other unpleasant feelings.
just as in any other part of life, there are relevant virtues, which are always within our power to exercise. If you bear a fever well, you have all that belongs to a man in a fever.
When we have a reason to endure something, it becomes easier. As Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any
“One is only unfortunate in proportion as one believes one’s self so.”
from behind their wall of shields. The ice was soon awash with blood as bodies piled up. The remaining barbarians found themselves struggling to keep
Epictetus taught his students to think of Stoic philosophy as being like the caduceus, the magic wand of Hermes: every misfortune is transformed into something good by its
Indeed, envisaging feared catastrophes as if they were really happening can be viewed as a kind of emotional battle drill, a way of preparing for worst-case scenarios.
“this is not a misfortune, but rather to bear it nobly is good fortune.”
Marcus actually learned how to perform every action cautiously and with a “reserve clause” from reading Epictetus’s Discourses.3 In essence, it means undertaking any action while calmly accepting that the outcome isn’t entirely under your control.
“Do what you must, let happen what may,”
ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”4 Marcus Aurelius could easily have said those words in reference to the
Stoics treat their own judgments and actions as the only thing truly good or bad.
The worried mind is always getting too far ahead of itself; it is always in suspense over the future. The Stoic Sage, by contrast, is grounded in the here and now.
His equanimity remained intact as long as he never desired what was beyond his grasp, which constitutes one of the foundations of the Stoic remedy for worry and
