Simple Stoic Advice
Keep Your Philosophy Ready
Keep Your Philosophy Ready
The beautiful thing about Stoic philosophy is the advice contained within it is just as applicable today as it was when it was first written all those many years ago. We can learn a great deal from interpreting the advice provided and using it to our advantage as we go throughout our own lives.
Today’s quote comes to us courtesy of Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.13:
Quote
“Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too… In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them.”
Advice
The metaphor of the doctor runs deep throughout philosophy and the Stoics were no different. Just as a doctor is there to help cure sickness and disease, philosophy is there to help us cure ourselves of pain and discomfort from life. It is there to help us better understand and frame the world around us so that we can live our best lives. John Sellars, author of Lessons in Stoicism, Stoicism, and The Art of Living states:
“The condition of our soul ultimately determines the quality of our lives.”
In Marcus Aurelius’s quote above, he reflects upon the fact that everything in life is connected in some way. As things occur, we must remember that they never occur on their own, there are multiple underlying principles to the elements before us. We must lean into our philosophy through our actions and always being prepared for whatever scenario life throws at us.
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