Stillness is the Key: An Ancient Strategy for Modern Life (The Way, the Enemy and the Key)
by Ryan Holiday
updated 4h ago
by Ryan Holiday
updated 4h ago
What is virtue? Seneca would ask. His answer: “True and steadfast judgment.” And from virtue comes good decisions and happiness and peace. It emanates from the soul and directs the mind and the body.
Mike Benchimol added 9mo ago
Churchill replied, “Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.”
Mike Benchimol added 9mo ago
Marcus Aurelius famously described a number of what he called “epithets for the self.” Among his were: Upright. Modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative. These were, then, the traits that served him well as emperor. There are many other traits that could be added to this list: Honest. Patient. Caring. Kind. Brave. Calm. Firm. Generous. Forgiving.
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Confucius wrote that the “gentleman is self-possessed and relaxed, while the petty man is perpetually full of worry.”
Mike Benchimol added 9mo ago
Sigmund Freud himself wrote about how common it is for deficiencies, big and small, at a young age to birth toxic, turbulent attitudes in adulthood. Because we weren’t born rich enough, pretty enough, naturally gifted enough, because we weren’t appreciated like other children in the classroom, or because we had to wear glasses or got sick a lot or
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The Buddhist word for it was upekkha. The Muslims spoke of aslama. The Hebrews, hishtavut. The second book of the Bhagavad Gita, the epic poem of the warrior Arjuna, speaks of samatvam, an “evenness of mind—a peace that is ever the same.” The Greeks, euthymia and hesychia. The Epicureans, ataraxia. The Christians, aequanimitas. In English: stillnes
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Epicurus once said that the wise will accomplish three things in their life: leave written works behind them, be financially prudent and provide for the future, and cherish country living.
Mike Benchimol added 9mo ago
the three words Aristotle used to describe the lives of slaves in his time: “Work, punishment, and food.”
Mike Benchimol added 9mo ago
This is, in fact, the first obligation of a leader and a decision maker. Our job is not to “go with our gut” or fixate on the first impression we form about an issue. No, we need to be strong enough to resist thinking that is too neat, too plausible, and therefore almost always wrong. Because if the leader can’t take the time to develop a clear sen
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