tonytan4ever · March 19, 2021 13:03 · tonytan4ever · Mar 19, 2021
diff --git a/Dictation 2018.10.25 b/Dictation 2018.10.25
 Stoicism is a philosophical school that began in ancient Greece, and was later dominant in ancient Rome, and which continues 
 to have hugely urgent and importan things to teach us about calm, resilience, and emotional stability. Its ideas should be at
 the heart of any attempt to remain serene, in face of a turbulant, unpredictable, often mean minded world. 

 Arguably, the greatest and certainly the most prolific stoic philosopher was the Roman author and statesment Seneca, who was 
 born in 4 B.C in Spain and died in 65 A.D in Rome. A lot of Senaca's thought is known to us from the letter he wrote to his 
 friends, giving them counsel at times of trouble. 

 Seneca had a friend called Lucilius, a civil servant working in Sicily. One day Lucilius learned of a lawsuit against him, wh-
 ich threanted end his career and disgraces his good name. He wrote to Seneca in a panic: "You may expect that I'm going to
 advise you to picture a happy outcome, and to rest in the allurements of hope," replied the philosopher, "but I'm going to 
 conduct you to peace of mind through another route, which culminated in the advice, if you wish to put off all worry, assume 
 that what you fear may happen is certainly going to happen."

 This is an essential stoic idea. We must always try to picture the worst that could happen and then remind ourselves that the
 worst is survivable. The goal is not to imagine that bad things don't unfold; it's to see tha we are far more capable of en-
 during them than we currently think. 

 To calm Lucilius down, Seneca advised him to make himself entirely at home with the idea of humiliation, poverty, and ongoing
 unemployment. But to learn to see that these were, from the right perspective not the end of everything. "If you lose this 
 case, can anything more severe happen to you than being sent to exile, or left to prison?" Asked the philospher who had him-
 self survived banckrupcy and eight years of exiles in Corsica. Hope for that, which is utterly just, and prepare yourself for
 that which is utterly unjust. 

 Seneca gave Lucilius a meditation to maul over in the luxury of his home that now he was now in danger of losing. "I may be-
 come a poor man, I shall then be one among many. I may be exiled, I shall then regard myself as born in the place to which I 
 shall be sent. They may put me in chains. What then? Am I free from bonds now? Behold this clogging burden of a body to which
 nature has feted me."

 Seneca tells us that we must grow familiar with and hold before us at all times, not just the sort of events we like to plan
 for that are recored in living memory or are common in our age group and class, but the entire range of possibilities, a long-
 er and inevitably far less agreeable list which finds space for cataclysmic fires, sackings, and untimely death. 

 He wrote, "Nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Let us place before our eyes in its entirety the nature of man's lot, not the
 kind of evil that often happens, but the very greatest evil that can possibly happen. We must reflect upon fortune fully and 
 completely."

 At one point, A friend of Seneca's lost a son, and the consoling thoughts ran in the similar direction. Marcia, a lady of Sen-
 atorial family was devastated by the death of her son Metilius, not yet 25. She fell into a period of mourning that seem to 
 have no end. Three years after the death her sorrow had not abated one bit, indeed was growing stronger everyday. So Seneca 
 sent her an essay, in which he express the hope that given the length of time that had elapsed since Metilius' death, she wou-
 ld forgive him for going beyond the usual condolenses to deliver something darker but perhaps more effective. To lose a son 
 was surely the greatest grief that could befall a mother, but given the vulnerability of the human frame, Metilius' early dea-
 th had its place in a merciless natural order, which daily offered examples of its handy work. 

 He wrote, "We never anticipate evils before they actually arrive. So many funerals pass our doors, yet we never dwell on dea-
 th. So many deaths are untimely, yet we make plans for our own infants, had they will done the toga, serve in the army, and 
 succeed to their father's property. They might end up doing such things, but how mad to love them without remembering that no
 one had offerred us a guarantee that they would grow to maturity, let alone make it to dinner time."

 If Metilius' death had been unexpected for Marcia, it was only on the basis of wishful assessment of probabilities. "You say,
 I didn't think that it would happen; Do you think there is anything that will not happen when you know that it is possible to
 happen; when you see that it has already happened to many?"

 Seneca imagined meeting Marcia before her birth and inviting on a tour of the troubled Earth, so she could weight up the terms
 of life, then choose whether or not to accept them. On the one hand, Marcia would see a planet of all inspiring beauty and 
 occasional goodness, on the other, a pl. ace of intermittent, unspeakable horror. Would Marcia choose to step into such a 
 world? Her existence suggested her answer. 

 Importantly, the stoics Seneca did add that if things were truely unendurable, we had no obligation to continue forever. Here-
 's another letter from Seneca: 
 "The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can. He always reflects concerning the quality, and not the 
 quantity of his life. As soon as there're numerous events in his life that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind, he
 sets himself free. And this priviledge is his, not only when the crisis is upon him, but as soon as fortune seems to be mal-
 treating him. Then he looks about carefully and sees whether he ought or ought not to end his life on that account. He holds
 that it makes no difference to him whether his taking-off be natural or self-inflicted. He does not regard it with fear, as 
 if it were a great loss, for no man can lose very much when but a dirblet remains. It's not a question of dying earlier or 
 later, but if dying well or ill. And dying well means escape from the danger of living ill."

 Seneca was not advocating random or thoughtless exits. He was attempting to give us more courage in the face of anxiety by 
 reminding us that it is always within our remit when we've genuinely tried everything, and rationally had enough to chose a 
 noble path out of our troubles. 

 When we're furious, paranoid, depleted, or sad, the philosophy of stoicism is on hand, as it has been for 2000 years to nurse
 us with its hugely fortifying, distinctive, and unusual wisdom and friendship. 

 Please comment, like, and subscribe, and take a look at our shop for more from the School of Life. Our western philosophy 
 cards feature 20 of the best ideas from western philosophy.
	Stoicism is a philosophical school that began in ancient Greece, and was later dominant in ancient Rome, and which continues
	to have hugely urgent and importan things to teach us about calm, resilience, and emotional stability. Its ideas should be at
	the heart of any attempt to remain serene, in face of a turbulant, unpredictable, often mean minded world.

	Arguably, the greatest and certainly the most prolific stoic philosopher was the Roman author and statesment Seneca, who was
	born in 4 B.C in Spain and died in 65 A.D in Rome. A lot of Senaca's thought is known to us from the letter he wrote to his
	friends, giving them counsel at times of trouble.

	Seneca had a friend called Lucilius, a civil servant working in Sicily. One day Lucilius learned of a lawsuit against him, wh-
	ich threanted end his career and disgraces his good name. He wrote to Seneca in a panic: "You may expect that I'm going to
	advise you to picture a happy outcome, and to rest in the allurements of hope," replied the philosopher, "but I'm going to
	conduct you to peace of mind through another route, which culminated in the advice, if you wish to put off all worry, assume
	that what you fear may happen is certainly going to happen."

	This is an essential stoic idea. We must always try to picture the worst that could happen and then remind ourselves that the
	worst is survivable. The goal is not to imagine that bad things don't unfold; it's to see tha we are far more capable of en-
	during them than we currently think.

	To calm Lucilius down, Seneca advised him to make himself entirely at home with the idea of humiliation, poverty, and ongoing
	unemployment. But to learn to see that these were, from the right perspective not the end of everything. "If you lose this
	case, can anything more severe happen to you than being sent to exile, or left to prison?" Asked the philospher who had him-
	self survived banckrupcy and eight years of exiles in Corsica. Hope for that, which is utterly just, and prepare yourself for
	that which is utterly unjust.

	Seneca gave Lucilius a meditation to maul over in the luxury of his home that now he was now in danger of losing. "I may be-
	come a poor man, I shall then be one among many. I may be exiled, I shall then regard myself as born in the place to which I
	shall be sent. They may put me in chains. What then? Am I free from bonds now? Behold this clogging burden of a body to which
	nature has feted me."

	Seneca tells us that we must grow familiar with and hold before us at all times, not just the sort of events we like to plan
	for that are recored in living memory or are common in our age group and class, but the entire range of possibilities, a long-
	er and inevitably far less agreeable list which finds space for cataclysmic fires, sackings, and untimely death.

	He wrote, "Nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Let us place before our eyes in its entirety the nature of man's lot, not the
	kind of evil that often happens, but the very greatest evil that can possibly happen. We must reflect upon fortune fully and
	completely."

	At one point, A friend of Seneca's lost a son, and the consoling thoughts ran in the similar direction. Marcia, a lady of Sen-
	atorial family was devastated by the death of her son Metilius, not yet 25. She fell into a period of mourning that seem to
	have no end. Three years after the death her sorrow had not abated one bit, indeed was growing stronger everyday. So Seneca
	sent her an essay, in which he express the hope that given the length of time that had elapsed since Metilius' death, she wou-
	ld forgive him for going beyond the usual condolenses to deliver something darker but perhaps more effective. To lose a son
	was surely the greatest grief that could befall a mother, but given the vulnerability of the human frame, Metilius' early dea-
	th had its place in a merciless natural order, which daily offered examples of its handy work.

	He wrote, "We never anticipate evils before they actually arrive. So many funerals pass our doors, yet we never dwell on dea-
	th. So many deaths are untimely, yet we make plans for our own infants, had they will done the toga, serve in the army, and
	succeed to their father's property. They might end up doing such things, but how mad to love them without remembering that no
	one had offerred us a guarantee that they would grow to maturity, let alone make it to dinner time."

	If Metilius' death had been unexpected for Marcia, it was only on the basis of wishful assessment of probabilities. "You say,
	I didn't think that it would happen; Do you think there is anything that will not happen when you know that it is possible to
	happen; when you see that it has already happened to many?"

	Seneca imagined meeting Marcia before her birth and inviting on a tour of the troubled Earth, so she could weight up the terms
	of life, then choose whether or not to accept them. On the one hand, Marcia would see a planet of all inspiring beauty and
	occasional goodness, on the other, a pl. ace of intermittent, unspeakable horror. Would Marcia choose to step into such a
	world? Her existence suggested her answer.

	Importantly, the stoics Seneca did add that if things were truely unendurable, we had no obligation to continue forever. Here-
	's another letter from Seneca:
	"The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can. He always reflects concerning the quality, and not the
	quantity of his life. As soon as there're numerous events in his life that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind, he
	sets himself free. And this priviledge is his, not only when the crisis is upon him, but as soon as fortune seems to be mal-
	treating him. Then he looks about carefully and sees whether he ought or ought not to end his life on that account. He holds
	that it makes no difference to him whether his taking-off be natural or self-inflicted. He does not regard it with fear, as
	if it were a great loss, for no man can lose very much when but a dirblet remains. It's not a question of dying earlier or
	later, but if dying well or ill. And dying well means escape from the danger of living ill."

	Seneca was not advocating random or thoughtless exits. He was attempting to give us more courage in the face of anxiety by
	reminding us that it is always within our remit when we've genuinely tried everything, and rationally had enough to chose a
	noble path out of our troubles.

	When we're furious, paranoid, depleted, or sad, the philosophy of stoicism is on hand, as it has been for 2000 years to nurse
	us with its hugely fortifying, distinctive, and unusual wisdom and friendship.

	Please comment, like, and subscribe, and take a look at our shop for more from the School of Life. Our western philosophy
	cards feature 20 of the best ideas from western philosophy.