32 Quotes by Donald J. Robertson

For instance, the majority of people are terrified of dying, but, as Epictetus points out, Socrates wasn’t afraid of death. Although he may have preferred to live, he was relatively indifferent to dying as long as he met his death with wisdom and virtue. This used to be known as the ideal of a “good death,” from which our word “euthanasia” derives.

For instance, acting in accord with justice means preferring to achieve, Fate willing, an external outcome that is both fair and beneficial for humankind.

Aristo rejected the study of logic and metaphysics, arguing that the primary concern of philosophers should be the study of ethics, an attitude we can find echoed in The Meditations.

Pleasures, as we’ve seen, can blind us to their consequences if we’re not careful. Lucius’s overindulgence would increasingly lead him to neglect both his own welfare and that of the empire.

Nevertheless, philosophy has taught him to be grateful for life and yet unafraid of dying – like a ripened olive falling from its branch, thanking both the tree for giving it life and the earth below for receiving its seed as it falls.

Freemasonry also celebrates the four cardinal virtues of Greek philosophy, which correspond symbolically with the four corners of the lodge: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.

What’s required first is a more general openness to criticism: we should give everyone we meet permission to tell us what our faults are, according to Galen, and resolve not to be angry with any of them. Indeed, Marcus tells himself both to enter into every man’s mind, to study their judgments and values, and to let every man enter into his.

According to Stoic philosophy, when we assign intrinsic values like “good” or “bad” to external events, we’re behaving irrationally and even exhibiting a form of self-deception. When we call something a “catastrophe,” for instance, we go beyond the bare facts and start distorting events and deceiving ourselves. Moreover, the Stoics consider lying a form of impiety – when a man lies, he alienates himself from Nature.

The wise man is grateful for the gifts life has given him, but he also reminds himself that they are merely on loan – everything changes and nothing lasts forever.