At the start of this entertaining conversation between @DonJRobertson & @ScottFlear, DR talks about his method of teaching philosophy through ancient anecdotes.
• Critobulus asks Socrates to help him make friends
• S asks C to list the qualities in an ideal friend
• C obliges
• S asks, “How many of these qualities do you have?”
• C - “....”
☝️Work on your own character first and you will attract the same.
[The Reserve Clause]
• The Stoics didn’t discourage the pursuit of external goals
• They should be pursued with the acceptance that they might not be achieved
• “Neurosis is caused by inflexible demands.” - Albert Ellis
☝️Having strong preferences > having inflexible demands
When was the last time you helped someone without them knowing it was you?
Like a dog after a hunt, said Marcus Aurelius, we shouldn’t make a fuss when we help someone. We should just go on to the next thing.
Here’s why (with examples) you should do anonymous acts of kindness👇
Research suggests that altruism can improve your attitude and make you healthier, happier, and less stressed – otherwise known as the “helper’s high.”
Doing an act of kindness is gratifying, but there’s an added layer of satisfaction that comes with doing it anonymously.
In his song Nickels and Dimes, Jay-Z said the “purest form of giving is anonymous to anonymous.”
“The person on the receiving end doesn’t have to feel some kind of obligation to the giver,” he later explained. “And the person giving isn’t doing it with an ulterior motive.”
Hupomnema (Greek. ὑπόμνημα, plural ὑπομνήματα, hupomnemata) is a Greek word meaning note.
Michel Foucault used it when talking about Seneca's discipline of self-knowledge.👇
Foucault said: "There was a culture of personal writing: taking notes on the reading, conversations, and reflections that one hears or engages in; keeping notebooks ('hupomnemata') on important subjects, which must be reread from time to time so as to reactualize their contents."
It's safe to assume Seneca used his notebooks as raw material for the works attributed to him, which include a dozen philosophical essays, one hundred and twenty-four letters dealing with moral issues, nine tragedies, and a satire.