Simple Stoic Advice
The common good
On Benefits
The common good
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 11.4:
Quote
“Have I done something for the common good? Then I share in the benefits. To stay centered on that. Not to give up.”
Advice
The idea of cosmopolitanism originated, as far as we know, with Diogenes the Cynic when he expressed he was a a citizen of the world. Diogenes Laertius writes:
“when he was asked where he came from, he replied, ‘I am a citizen of the world.’”
Cosmopolitanism is the idea that we are, or can be part of, a single community rather than separate nations. Marcus summarizes this concept in Meditations when he writes:
“My city and state are Rome — as Antoninus. But as a human being? The world. So for me, “good” can only mean what’s good for both communities.”
The Stoics viewed themselves as part of a greater whole. Hierocles, the Stoic and teacher, left behind a series of writings which articulate the Stoic view of our place within society.
The key is to remember that we are all part of the larger whole. We are connected to our neighbor and they to us. It is our job to work towards mutual cooperation with each other to better the world we live in. We play an integral part in society and to those within it. While sometimes we may wish it, we are not a single island in the midst of an ocean but are instead a functioning part of a much bigger world.
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