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| isbn | author | title |
|---|---|---|
| 9781101488201 | Epictetus | Discourses and Selected Writings |
- "Tell us your secrets."
- "I refuse, as this up to me."
- "I will put you in chains."
- "What's that you say, friend? It's only my leg you will chain, not even God can conquer my will."
- "I will throw you into prison."
- "Correction - it is my body you will throw there."
- "I will behead you."
- "Well, when did I ever claim that mine was the only neck that couldn't be severed?"
- That's the kind of attitude you need to cultivate if you would be a philosopher, the sort of sentiments you should write down every day and put in practice.
Conclusiones que saco del fragmento anterior:
- Epicteto es un chulo.
- Alan Moore pudo perfectamente haberse leído esto para inspirarse en la penitencia de Evey en la falsa prisión. Aunque queda claro que V no es de ninguna forma un estoico. Teniendo en cuenta la voluntad que ponen los estoicos en limitar su rango de acción reconociendo que no controlan casi nada, un estoico jamás hubiese organizado tamaño pifostio como el que montó V.
Man, the rational animal, can put up with anything except what seems to him irrational; whatever is rational is tolerable. Physical hardships are not intolerable by nature. The Spartans, for instance, gladly submit to being whipped because they are taught that it is done for good reason. But what about being hanged - isn't that intolerable? Well, people frequently go and hang themselves, whenever they judge that it is a reasonable course of action.
Me recuerda a cuando Reverte explicaba cómo educaba a sus hijas para entender el mundo, argumentando que entenderlo no iba a hacer que fuese mejor, pero iba a ayudarles a lidiar con él.
[...] education has no goal more important than bringing our preconception of what is reasonable and unreasonable in alignment with nature.
What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar - and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules. And even if he had, what good would it have done him? What would have been the use of those arms, that physique, and that noble soul, without crises or conditions to stir him into action?
It's the struggle that makes life worth, and not the reward.
"But I want my whishes realized, never mind the reason behind them." Now, that's madness, that's insanity. Freedom is something good and valuable; to arbitrarily wish for things tohappen that arbitrarily seem to you best is not good, it's disgraceful.
If all this is true, then what grounds do we have for being angry with anyone? We labels like 'thief' and 'robber' in connection with them, but what do these words mean? They merely signify that people are confused about what is good and what is bad. So should we be angry with them, or should we pity them instead? Show them where they go wrong and you will find that they'll reform. But unless they see it, they are stuck with nothing better than their usual opinion as their practical guide.
Aquí veo donde se inspiro Marco Aurelio. La ignorancia como origen de todos los males. Como se dice en inglés, "he doesn't know any better".