What is bad luck? Opinion. What are conflict, dispute, blame, accusation, irreverence, and frivolity? they are all opinions, and more than that, they are opinions that lie outside of our own reasoned choice, presented as if they were good or evil. Let a person shift their opinions only to what belongs in the field of their own choice, and I guarantee that person will have peace of mind, whatever is happening around them. —Epictetus, Discourses, 3.3.18b-19 (resource), Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic
February 27th: Cultivating indifference where other grow passion
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Of all the things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent lie in between virtue and vice and include wealth, health, life, death, pleasure and pain. — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.19.12b-13
I will keep constant watch over myself and- most usefully- will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil- that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Everything turns on your assumptions about it, and that's on you. You can pluck out the hasty judgment at will, and like steering a ship around the point, you will find calm seas, fair weather and a safe port. — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 12.22 (resource) Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
"This is your wake-up call! You may not have even realized you were sleep-walking. Most of us are most of the time. Awareness is an eye-opener. It's Anthony de Mello telling you gently but firmly, 'It's time to get up now.'" --Charles Osgood of "CBS Sunday Morning" and "The Osgood File"
"Awareness will be the critical test of American business in the next decade. I call it the 'business of awareness.'" --F.X. Maguire, Hearth Communications Group
