How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
This week’s book:
Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Picking up where I left off with Seneca’s letters to his friend and student, Lucilius Junior, an official in Sicily.
Following is a paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the letter. Seneca’s text appears in bold, my replies are in normal text.
ON THE TRIALS OF TRAVEL
When it was time for me to return to Naples from Baiae, I easily persuaded myself that a storm was raging, that I might avoid another trip by sea; and yet the road was so deep in mud, all the way, that I may be thought none the less to have made a voyage. On that day I had to endure the full fate of an athlete; the anointing[1] with which we began was followed by the sand-sprinkle in the Naples tunnel.[2]
2. No place could be longer than that prison; nothing could be dimmer than those torches, which enabled us, not to see amid the darkness, but to see the darkness. But, even supposing that there was light in the place, the dust, which is an oppressive and disagreeable thing even in the open air, would destroy the light; how much worse the dust is there, where it rolls back upon itself, and, being shut in without ventilation, blows back in the faces of those who set it going! So we endured two inconveniences at the same time, and they were diametrically different: we struggled both with mud and with dust on the same road and on the same day.Â
After the ordeal of seasickness on the original trip, Seneca had no desire to get back on a ship. He seems to realize he made the wrong choice too late.
3.The gloom, however, furnished me with some food for thought; I felt a certain mental thrill, and a transformation unaccompanied by fear, due to the novelty and the unpleasantness of an unusual occurrence. Of course I am not speaking to you of myself at this point, because I am far from being a perfect person, or even a man of middling qualities; I refer to one over whom fortune has lost her control. Even such a man’s mind will be smitten with a thrill and he will change color.
When a person is not scared, it is easy to be brave. Seneca seemed to enjoy the fear and then was able to endure it while seeing the newness of dust and mud in the dark. When something is scary, it is natural to feel an immediate reaction which can not be controlled.
4. For there are certain emotions, my dear Lucilius, which no courage can avoid; nature reminds courage how perishable a thing it is. And so he will contract his brow when the prospect is forbidding, will shudder at sudden apparitions, and will become dizzy when he stands at the edge of a high precipice and looks down. This is not fear; it is a natural feeling which reason cannot rout.
When a close lightning strike is accompanied by an immediate and loud thunderclap, it makes me jump. I still have a hard time watching fireworks, but can endure them at baseball games because my wife likes them. It’s become more rare now, but when I first came home from Iraq, I had a few mild freakouts when loud noises or bright lights would startle me. None of these things really terrified me, but the initial reaction was never in my control.
5. That is why certain brave men, most willing to shed their own blood, cannot bear to see the blood of others. Some persons collapse and faint at the sight of a freshly inflicted wound; others are affected similarly on handling or viewing an old wound which is festering. And others meet the sword-stroke more readily than they see it dealt.Â
My blood doesn’t bother me, but seeing my wife or one of my kids bleeding would always get me concerned. I have cut many splinters out of my own hand without flinching, but when I had to do it for my wife, I was extremely nervous and timid.
6.Accordingly, as I said, I experienced a certain transformation, though it could not be called confusion. Then at the first glimpse of restored daylight my good spirits returned without forethought or command. And I began to muse and think how foolish we are to fear certain objects to a greater or less degree, since all of them end in the same way. For what difference does it make whether a watchtower or a mountain crashes down upon us? No difference at all, you will find. Nevertheless, there will be some men who fear the latter mishap to a greater degree, though both accidents are equally deadly; so true it is that fear looks not to the effect, but to the cause of the effect.Â
I am more scared of dying in a plane crash then a car crash. Statistically, I know the car crash is more likely. Either one would have the same end result, but somehow the plane seems scarier.
7. Do you suppose that I am now referring to the Stoics,[3] who hold that the soul of a man crushed by a great weight cannot abide, and is scattered forthwith, because it has not had a free opportunity to depart? That is not what I am doing; those who think thus are, in my opinion, wrong.
8. Just as fire cannot be crushed out, since it will escape round the edges of the body which overwhelms it; just as the air cannot be damaged by lashes and blows, or even cut into, but flows back about the object to which it gives place; similarly the soul, which consists of the subtlest particles, cannot be arrested or destroyed inside the body, but, by virtue of its delicate substance, it will rather escape through the very object by which it is being crushed. Just as lightning, no matter how widely it strikes and flashes, makes its return through a narrow opening,[4] so the soul, which is still subtler than fire, has a way of escape through any part of the body.
Some believed that being crushed by a mountain would destroy the soul and deprive it of the afterlife, but that is not what was bothering Seneca in the tunnel. It’s fascinating to me how beliefs have changed over the centuries.
9. We therefore come to this question, – whether the soul can be immortal. But be sure of this: if the soul survives the body after the body is crushed, the soul can in no wise be crushed out, precisely because it does not perish; for the rule of immortality never admits of exceptions, and nothing can harm that which is everlasting. Farewell.Â
It doesn’t matter how you die, your soul will go wherever it is destined to go. As long as that is true, the manner of death doesn’t matter. When I was younger, I never thought about death because I thought I was invincible. Seeing combat and a few other close calls have shown me how easy it is to die as well as how suddenly it can happen. While that has made me more careful about somethings, it has not made me fearful of death, only respectful of it.
Music this week is from my favorite Queensryche album, Rage For Order.
There are so many great songs and it is one of the great progressive metal albums ever.
When I was in high school, I did not like this one a whole lot, but sometime in my 30’s I realized that if I was going to listen to them, this was usually the one I would pick.
It starts really strong.
Unfortunately, they only made one video.
His voice is on a different level here.
It was really hard to decide which 3 to post, many other songs are just as good as these ones.
Here’s the tunnel he refers to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypta_Neapolitana
Jeez, give me a boat anytime. No wonder he got creeped out.
Nope.
Reminds me of something out of Lord of the Rings. I don’t blame him either.
We therefore come to this question, – whether the soul can be immortal. But be sure of this: if the soul survives the body after the body is crushed, the soul can in no wise be crushed out, precisely because it does not perish; for the rule of immortality never admits of exceptions, and nothing can harm that which is everlasting. Farewell.
I was listening to a podcast in which one of the participants posited that the Stoics prepared the battlespace for Christianity. The more I read of both, I’m starting to see it.
Unfortunately, they only made one video.
What’s also unfortunate is that album is closing in on 40 years old! How the hell did that happen?!?
The soul is almost entirely a Greek concept, grafted onto Judaic roots to yield Christian doctrine.
Sorry for OT. I keep forgetting to post when I’m logged in – for Mojeaux if you’re still thinking about headlight cleaning….I bought a kit a while ago but some of my coworkers were warning me about degrading lights with the drill head fitting…so the last couple of years I’ve actually been using the toothpaste and water “life hack”. In particular doing it right before my state inspection to make sure there were no issues – my lights look pretty shitty from the front most of the time, but the light seems to be pretty good overall (definitely look cleaner/clearer after the water/toothpaste cleaning too).
See, what I do is keep posting on the dead thread because I am not paying attention.
đź‘Ť đź’«
I noticed that topic; useful info.
I used one of the kits with the drill fitting and it worked a treat. Followed it up with a plastic film cover for the headlight (which are a stone bitch to get on so they look decent BTW). This was probably at least five years ago, and the headlights still look really good.
Firsters come and take the lion’s share, and leave the seconders with fighting and fucking one another for the rump. And we are proud of it.
Don’t like it? Learn to First.
Old lions die, got left behind Cut your teeth, lose your meat And man, it’s just a matter time.
Dove hates fun.
great rant
“I fucking hate Hollywood”
https://twitter.com/philthatremains/status/1659177759296348162
Me too, Phil.
SpaceX: Raptor test firing into a water cooled steel plate.
Neat?
Aw, hell yeah. And they put 33 of those things under their superheavy lifter.
“when engineering gets invited to a sales call”
Not really a diverse crowd.
They should all retire and let some BIPOCS take their jobs. It’s only fair.
This is the party of “we have too many old white men in charge.”
See that party classes up government, unlike Trump who’s basically trailer trash.
Dude on the far right could use some adult shoes. I can’t believe his wife lets him go to work like that.
What about Captain Wrinklepants? Has he been having interns sit on his lap all day?
https://www.theblaze.com/news/cnn-sterilize-celebration-roe
Democrats sterilizing themselves. Perfect.
Go ahead. You’re a stupid narcissistic bint, but go ahead.
The cats won’t care.
For most of those concerned sterilization is unnecessary, as long as sex is required to get pregnant. Turkey basters with out some outside help just won’t do the trick
Finally committing to reversing climate change.
Yes! If most of the commies self-sterilize, we will finally be free! They chose to practice Eugenics on themselves!
The only catch is that the dead-enders still want to propagate by proselytizing everyone else’s children.
The Shakers proved that doesn’t work very well.
Indeed. This too, will die out.
“This is, like, totally reversible if I change my mind, right? Just like gender-affirming surgery?”/prog chick
When the rest of us refuse to pay for a reversal, it will yet again be the fault of the patriarchy.
You will be denying them life-affirming reproductive care.
No, no, you don’t understand – you did your part for the species. You wouldn’t want to reneg on that.
I wonder how many of these women live in solid blue states where abortion will never be banned.
,em>Democrats sterilizing themselves.
Practicing what they preach? There’s a plot twist I never saw coming.
This will test your stoicism.
The dipshits are thick on the ground.
Mask, under chin…
🙄
Mask below the chin to do a face to face selfie. These people are geniuses.
Clintonesque sex requires the mask below the chin.
That so many who couldn’t have cared less about Neely while he was alive showed up for his funeral so they could preen for the cameras and make the event about them reflects our current culture quite well.
The destruction of shame by the Left is perhaps their single greatest achievement.
Yes. They don’t even pretend anymore, but anyone who dares to call them out is spreading disinformation and a racist.
Racist!
Ron Paul on Jesse Kelly’s show.
He’s still amazing.
He’s still putting out videos every day and writing every week. We’re lucky we have him.
Agreed.
I do like it when he goes on righty shows where most of the audience won’t normally see him.
Only a California Democrat could make Fetterman look smart.
https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1659208059984703489
When did you stop beating your wife?
We didn’t need them anyway.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/19/fighter-jets-ukraine-biden-00097846
I bet they’ll be parked in Red Square by Christmas.
Be sure to give Kiev all of our AMRAAMs too.
LOL. The company I worked for back in the 90’s made a lot of moulah on AMRAAM components.
Not everyone is playing along.
Follow-up to somebody else’s link this morning.
Only the government could take a fully retarded decision and make it even dumber.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/whoops-state-department-says-it-unintentionally-added-mandatory-pronouns-all-staff-emails
“The twist: pronouns were assigned at random”
Alright, I’m thinking somebody who isn’t on board with transism monkeywrenched their email system.
Hilariously.
The dipshits are thick on the ground.
AOC, in the armored Suburban, with the FEELZ.
AOC, a hardcore Net Zero greenista, in an armored Suburban.
To be fair, nobody at the funeral actually knew the deceased, so they have no reason not to be smiling and laughing.
It was an Escalade (tall vertical taillights give it away towards the end of the clip. Only pleabs drive Chevys.
Also interesting to note, they no longer offer it in hybrid since the take rate was so low on those. Just full pollution mode.
The “conspiracy theorists” were right. ///Fedsurrection
https://twitter.com/DC_Draino/status/1659218584780849152
Where’s the video that was given to Carlson?
It was given to Fox, not Carlson. And Fox toed the line and has buried it.
Better question: Why hasn’t McCarthy released it to anybody else now that Fox has buried it?
He’s got a family, too.
I’d like to hear him give his reasons.
I suspect you are exactly right, though.
I wonder if the initial release and the freeing of shaman-man wasn’t just a ploy to say “See? We’re transparent!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed9x-gFz16o
I wonder what Little Miss Morally Superior thinks the guy chauffering her around in that Suburban would do if some aggressive nutjob came within 10 feet of her.
I wish I loved anything as much as Chris Hayes loves child mutilation.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/05/19/msnbcs-hayes-to-desantis-sex-change-treatment-for-minors-is-none-of-your-goddamn-business/
I suspect the list of things that Hayes wants the government to control would generate a very long list of “none of your damned business”, indeed. Let’s start with kitchen appliances, Chris, and work our way out from there.
Hayes is a stupid cunt.
That is all.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/former-new-jersey-governor-chris-christie-announce-2024/
Honk honk.
Delusional.
🙂
Fat chance.
He’s just looking for a PayDay.
He’d make better money snuffling for truffles.
The next Jared?