You often hear people say "life is short" and consequently conclude you should make the best of the time you have left....yet by "best" they normally mean things like travel, sex, entertainment, and generally come across as Epicureans. Surely this is not what a Stoic means when such people counsel us to make the best of our time?
Jim, right, that's not what the Stoics mean by using well your time. Arguably one of the best explanations of the notion is in Seneca's On the Shortness of Life. But essentially it boils down to one thing only: work on making yourself the best person you can be. Which means practicing the four virtues (in the canonical version of Stoicism) or improving one's own faculty of judgment (in Epictetus's version).
Nice. Tomorrow I'm heading up with the family to our quaint, little village in the prefecture of Macedonia in northern Greece. Will be the perfect, quiet setting to indulge in Seneca's essay and other Stoic writings! 😀
Sorry--I'm too busy to comment; gotta review what all I have to do, decide who KH should pick for VP, choose complementary colors for my bathroom decor, and shop for the perfect bric-a-brac. Maybe later.
You often hear people say "life is short" and consequently conclude you should make the best of the time you have left....yet by "best" they normally mean things like travel, sex, entertainment, and generally come across as Epicureans. Surely this is not what a Stoic means when such people counsel us to make the best of our time?
Jim, right, that's not what the Stoics mean by using well your time. Arguably one of the best explanations of the notion is in Seneca's On the Shortness of Life. But essentially it boils down to one thing only: work on making yourself the best person you can be. Which means practicing the four virtues (in the canonical version of Stoicism) or improving one's own faculty of judgment (in Epictetus's version).
Nice. Tomorrow I'm heading up with the family to our quaint, little village in the prefecture of Macedonia in northern Greece. Will be the perfect, quiet setting to indulge in Seneca's essay and other Stoic writings! 😀
Lucky you!
Well, if I’ve cracked anything in life, it’s being non-busy! 😉
Excellent!
Sorry--I'm too busy to comment; gotta review what all I have to do, decide who KH should pick for VP, choose complementary colors for my bathroom decor, and shop for the perfect bric-a-brac. Maybe later.
😆