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michaelbranch · 3 years

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A Brief Summary of Ideas: Lives of the Stoics

*These summaries are kept intentionally very brief, just hitting what I consider some of the important/interesting takeaways, most word-for-word or paraphrased. My goal is also to stick to ideas/principals that might guide others (or my future self) in deciding the value of a read (or re-reading). T = takeaway, Q = Question

Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius

Author(s): Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

The only reason to study philosophy is to become a better person.

Stoics were most concerned with how one lived. The choices you made, the causes you served, the principles you adhered to in the face of adversity.

4 virtues:

Courage: the knowledge of what is terrible and what isn’t and what is neither.

Justice: knowledge of apportioning each person and situation what is due.

Wisdom: knowledge of what things must be done and what must not be done and what is neither.

Temperance/self-control: knowledge of what things are worth choosing and what are worth avoiding and what is neither.

Philosophy is nothing else than to search out by reason what is right and proper and by deeds put it into practice.-Musonius Rufus

Books are a way to gain wisdom from those separated by time/space.

Man was given two ears and one mouth.-Zeno

Well-being is realized by small steps but is truly no small thing.-Zeno

Anything you do well is noble, no matter how humble.

T=freedom of the humble life vs. the slavery of extravagance.

Fate guides the man who’s willing, drags the unwilling.-Cleanthes

Virtue is the path to happiness and from virtue comes a better flow of life.

Preferred indifferents: It’s not morally better to have these things, but probably nicer to have.

You can lean towards virtue and still desire tools to employ in the building of an even more virtuous life.

It is not wrong to seek after the things useful in life; but to do so while depriving someone else is not just.-Chrysippus

To have but not want. To enjoy without needing.

Let no one think that ideas that change the world do so on their own. They must be shoved down peoples throats. Or at least defended and fought for.

Steel manning: Don’t “cheat” in arguments by assuming the worst about the ideas you’re arguing against. Engage with them seriously and earnestly.

Sympatheia: We all belong to one common community. Interconnectedness of all persons.

It is your duty to consider the interests of your fellow men and to serve society.

History is cyclical.

If you don’t choose whom to marry wisely, your wisdom-and your happiness-will surely be tested.

A good marriage is one where a couple strives to outdo each other in devotion.

Ethical behavior itself is a kind of craft. One that requires work and effort.

Learn. Apply. That is the stoic way.

To live an ethical life and choose appropriate actions we must find a way to balance:

—The roles and duties common to us all as human beings; The roles and duties unique to our individual calling; The roles and duties assigned to us by the chance of our social station; The roles and duties that arise from decisions and commitments we have made. -Panaetius

Philosophizing doesn’t exist in a silo, it is interconnected with other important things.

Doing the right thing can cost a person everything.

In an unpredictable world, the only thing we can really manage is ourselves- and the space between our ears is the only territory we can conquer in any kind of certain and enduring way.

The more you experience, the more you learn, the more humbled you are by the endless amounts of knowledge that remains in front of you.

Excellence in the areas that you control: your thoughts, your actions, your choices.

At the core of stoicism is the acceptance of what we cannot change.

The greatest empire is to be emperor of oneself.-Seneca

He who indulges empty fears earns himself real fears.-Seneca

It’s not things that upset us, it’s our judgement of things.-Epictetus

If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.-Epictetus

When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstance, revert at once to yourself, and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a better grasp of harmony if you keep on going back to it.-Marcus Aurelius

The good we do in life is easily forgotten, but the evil we do lives on and on.-Shakespeare

When we are angry, it’s almost always better to wait and do nothing.

We should ask of all self-preserving compromises: At what cost?

I’ll begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid.-Cato

Soon enough we forget about the hard labor. The results of doing well, though, will not disappear as long as you live. Even though taking a shortcut or doing something bad may bring a few seconds of relief the pleasure will quickly disappear, but the wicked thing will stay with you forever.-Cato

In order to support more easily and cheerfully those hardships which we may expect to suffer in behalf of virtue and goodness it is useful to recall what hardships people will endure for unworthy ends.-Musonius Rufus

Suffer and endure TOWARDS virtue.

A stoic does the job that needs to be done. They don’t care about credit.

Sometimes mercy to the undeserving is a grave injustice to everyone else.

Stoics must always keep their head. You must be in charge-no excuses.

(On grief/death)…to despair, to tear ourselves apart in bereavement is not only an affront to the memory of the person we loved, but a betrayal of the living who still need us.

Cherish them while we have them, but accept that they belong to us only in trust, that they can depart at any moment. Because they can. And so can we.

This is our big mistake, to think we look forward to death. Whatever time has passed is owned by death.-Seneca

Stoics feel that engaging with society is a duty.

The duty of a man is to be useful to his fellow men. If possible, to be useful to many of them; failing this, to be useful to a few; failing this, to be useful to his neighbors, and, failing them, to himself for when he helps others, he advances the general interests of mankind. -Seneca

You owe it to yourself and the world to actively engage with the brief moment you have on this planet.

A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.-Jackie Robinson

It’s hard to get someone to see what their salary depends on them not seeing.

What is the proper limit to wealth? It is first to have what is necessary, and second, to have what is enough.-Seneca

Moral luck: how the time we were born and the situations we find ourselves in determine how heroic we’ll turn out to be.

One who by living is of use to many has not the right to choose to die unless by dying he may be of use to more.-Musonius Rufus

Find opportunities to do good. They are always there, even in the worst of circumstances.

Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will.-Epictetus

If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious, yet we so easily hand our mind over to other people, letting them inside our heads or making us feel a certain way.-Epictetus

It’s impossible to begin to learn that which one things they already know.-Epictetus

Do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter.-Marcus Aurelius

You must build up your life action by action, and be content if each one achieves its goal as far as possible-and no one can keep you from this. But there will be some external obstacle! Perhaps, but no obstacle to acting with justice, self-control, and wisdom. But what if some other area of my action is thwarted? Well, gladly accept the obstacle for what it is and shift your attention to what is given, and another action will immediately take its place, one that better fits the life you are building.-Marcus Aurelius

Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.-Marcus Aurelius

Too many of us die before our time, living the kind of life hardly being different than death.

Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person stretching to avoid error.-Epictetus

#book summary #books #musings

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upshotre · 5 years

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Ekweremadu: Governors, senators, others knock IPOB

GOVERNORS, senators and ethnic groups rose in unison on Sunday against weekend’s assault on Senator Ike Ekweremadu by members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in Nuremberg, Germany. Former Deputy Senate President Ekweremadu was in the German city to speak at the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organized by Ndi-Igbo Germany when he was attacked by people who claimed to be sympathisers of IPOB, claiming that he did not represent the southeast appropriately. They also threatened to mete out the same treatment to governors and other leaders from the region on visitation to Europe. The outlawed group listed other leaders on its watch list to include Governor Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu); Willie Obiano (Anambra); Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General Nnia Nwodo. The 64-seconds video of the attack on Ekweremadu, which went viral, showed how the protesters physically assaulted the senator and tore his traditional jumper (Isi Agu) to shreds before he was spirited away by the organisers from the venue of the event before the police were called in. South East Governors, speaking under the auspices of the Southeast Governors Forum (SGF), described the order given by IPOB to its members to attack governors and other Igbo leaders as “empty threat”. They argued that attacking them would not solve the problem of IPOB’s agitation for the state of Biafra. SGF Chairman and Ebonyi State David Umahi in a statement by his media aide Emmanuel Uzo, said: “They have no such spread and powers to track down South-East governors for attack anywhere in the world. They are too small. I don’t want to say they sound so cowardly, but they can’t see the governors to attack.” Umahi said the governors had no problem IPOB members to warrant such an order. According to him, the insecurity in the Southeast was a national challenge that was under the Federal Government’s command and control. He said: “If there is any issue IPOB holds against the governors, they should come home to settle it in Igboland instead of a foreign land. “What happened was a security issue which was within the purview of the Federal Government. Attacking governors in a foreign land is a wild goose chase. We love them because they are our children. “IPOB cannot achieve Biafra alone, except with the collaboration of all stakeholders including the governors. They don’t need to attack the governors to achieve Biafra.” The governor warned them not to allow political opportunists to use them to destroy the Southeast. “They should come together and work with the governors and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo to achieve the Igbo presidency in 2023 instead of fighting the governors. We want them to be close to us instead of taking the struggle to the international arena,” Umahi said. Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa also condemned the attack on Ekweremadu. His Chief Press Secretary Olisa Ifeajika said the incident was pathetic, shameful and an embarrassment to Nigeria. He said Ekweremadu had been a great patriot and defender of his people as well as the down trodden, and did not deserve the kind of ill-treatment meted to him by Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members in Germany. “I join men of goodwill in condemning the attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who has been a great patriot and leader of exemplary behaviour. “It is pathetic and shameful that an event organised to chart the way forward for the Igbo race and Nigeria in general ended up in such a disgraceful and embarrassing manner to the country. “As Nigerians, we are trained to respect our elders and leaders as well as people in authority. “I am particularly happy that some of the culprits have been arrested and I urge the German authorities to take necessary action on the perpetrators of the heinous act. “I urge all Nigerians, home and abroad, to be of good behaviour wherever they find themselves as such acts of lawlessness do not bring glory to the nation,” he said The Senate leadership rose in solidarity with Ekweremadu. Senate President Ahmad Lawan; Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege; Minority Leader Eyinnaya Abaribe and Chief Whip Orji Uzor Kalu condemned the attack in separate statements. Lawan said: “It’s incredibly absurd for any group to blame Ekweremadu for the spate of insecurity in the Southeast. The attackers had fingered Ekweremadu alone of the Igbo leaders ‘conspiring’ with outsiders to terrorise the zone. “It is incredibly absurd for anybody to blame the distinguished senator for the violent criminal activities in his home base, the purported reason cited by the mob for the bewildering attack. “Senator Ekweremadu, like all his distinguished colleagues in the Ninth Assembly of the Senate, is concerned about the insecurity and other challenges in that area and other parts of Nigeria. Senator Ekweremadu has also been at the forefront of the patriotic efforts to find lasting solutions to the challenges. “The barbaric attack on Senator Ekweremadu at a forum to which he was invited to contribute to charting a course for the progress and happiness of Ndigbo debase our values as civilised people. It is most reprehensible and should be condemned by all right-thinking Nigerians.” The Senate President urged the German authorities to identify those involved in the despicable act so that the law can take its course against them. Omo-Agege said the attack was not only a dastardly exportation of irrationality, but also an aggressive international affront against the image of Igbo and Nigeria. Speaking through his media aide, Yomi Odunuga, the Deputy President of the Senate expressed shock over the undeserved assault and called on law enforcement agencies in Germany to investigate and bring to book all those involved in the vicious attack. Omo-Agege said: “The aggressively discourteous IPOB elements that carried out the disgraceful assault have shown themselves as enemies of democratic norms and values. “What they did is not only a violent assault against the good image of the Igbo race across the world, but also an aggressive attack against the traditional norms of a people known to be hardworking and respectful of meaningful contributions by leaders such as Senator Ekweremadu. “Such disappointing physical abuse also grossly disregards Senator Ekweremadu’s democratic antecedents and his long-standing commitment to the cause of his people. But, as he has said out of the usual largeness of his forgiving heart, these people know not what they do. Read the full article

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