Gheorghemas: Day Two

On the second day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me:

Two dudes bested by Kazansky

And two beers with Marcus Aerelius, an OBX Dave Joint

Ancient Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius probably isn’t anyone’s first choice for a pub crawl. He kept his desires in check. He rarely overindulged. He often listened and observed, and he wasn’t one to simply pull rank. However, he would have been an interesting cat to sit with and have a beer and pick his brain – provided your high school Latin teacher could tag along.

Aurelius’ book, “Meditations,” is considered a classic of Stoic philosophy. It’s a work of reflection and intelligence that’s been discussed and has influenced people since it first came to light in the 16th century. Lofty stuff for what’s essentially a personal diary.

“Meditations” is part of the Stoic canon, but it reads more like a journal, the late night and early morning musings of a guy talking to himself, trying to figure it out in real time and mindful of his principles and the lives of others. Though Marcus was Roman, he wrote it in Greek, since Greek was the language of philosophy for educated Romans at the time and part of his own tutelage as a young man. That his writings lasted almost 1,400 years before they were first printed is a damn miracle.

Stoicism is no one’s idea of a good time. Stoic raves are a yawn. Ascetic amusement parks never caught on (no rides, just stand in line for 40 minutes and then move to the next line; precursor to the modern DMV). That said, the current interpretation of stoicism differs from its origins. Only in the past several centuries has it come to mean repressing feelings and being indifferent to pain and pleasure and joy and grief. The classic Stoics leaned on logic and rational thought and living an ethical life in accordance with nature as a path to fulfillment. They taught self-control as a means of overcoming impulses and passions. 

“Meditations” is divided into 12 “books,” which are more accurately chapters and are likely the construct of the earliest translators, as most scholars conclude that Marcus Aurelius scribbled for himself and never intended for his thoughts to be distributed or published. Entries are as brief as a single sentence, and as lengthy as several paragraphs expounding on a topic. It’s fewer than 125 pages; the introduction and footnotes and index in my edition are longer than his writings. It’s broader, more personal and more nuanced and in some passages, more poetic, than a typical scholarly philosophical work, which may be why it resonates.

Among the book’s many recurring themes and reminders are: 

Be a good person

“No, you do not have thousands of years to live. Urgency is on you. While you live, while you can, become good.”

Don’t sweat things out of our control

“Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break. It stands firm, and round it the seething waters are laid to rest. ‘It is my bad luck that this has happened to me.’ No, you should rather say, ‘It is my good luck that, although this has happened to me, I can bear it without pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearful of the future.’ Because such a thing could have happened to any man, but not every man could have borne it without pain. So why see more misfortune in the event than good fortune in your ability to bear it?”

Chasing fame, wealth and sensory pleasures isn’t the wisest use of our limited time on Earth

“Take care not to be Caesarified, or dyed in purple: it happens. So keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, unpretentious, a friend of justice, god-fearing, kind, full of affection, strong for your proper work. Strive hard to remain the same man that philosophy wished to make you. Revere the gods, look after men. Life is short. The one harvest of existence on earth is a godly habit of mind and social action.”

Leadership is a bear

“A king’s lot: to do good and be damned.”

Adapt

“If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone; the harm is to persist in one’s own self-deception and ignorance.”

A directed, rational mind is a source of strength

“Remember that your directing mind becomes invincible when it withdraws into its own self-sufficiency, not doing anything it does not wish to do, even if its position is unreasonable. How much more, then, when the judgment it forms is reasoned and deliberate? That is why a mind free from passions is a fortress: people have no stronger place of retreat, and someone taking refuge here is then impregnable. Anyone who has not seen this is short of wisdom. Anyone who has seen it and does not take refuge is short of fortune.”

We’re all works in progress

“All that you pray to reach at some point in the circuit of your life can be yours now – if you are generous to yourself. That is, if you leave the past behind, entrust the future to Providence, and direct the present solely to reverence and justice. To reverence, so that you come to love your given lot: it was Nature that brought it to you and you to it. To justice, so that you are direct in word and action, speaking the truth, observing law and proportion in all you do. You should let nothing stand in your way – not the iniquity of others, not what anyone else thinks or says, still less any sensation of this poor flesh that has accreted round you: the afflicted part must see to its own concern.”

Granted, the man wouldn’t be the life of a holiday party, but whether you agree with him or not he might be at least worth a listen the other 364 days of the year.