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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Didn't enjoy as much as Marcus Aurelius, but I did still enjoy it. Some seriously awesome brain droppings in here.
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
There are perhaps a dozen golden fragments in this collection of nearly 200 "golden sayings" - it's heavy going and the best stuff is near the end!
Unlike William Penn's Fruits of Solitude (Penn also gets one star but wouldn't even get that if there was an option to give half a star, it was so dull), you do at least get to learn something you might not already know about the philosophical attitudes of Cynicism and Stoicism.
Unlike William Penn's Fruits of Solitude (Penn also gets one star but wouldn't even get that if there was an option to give half a star, it was so dull), you do at least get to learn something you might not already know about the philosophical attitudes of Cynicism and Stoicism.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
In theory, I appreciate the bite-size introduction to many meditations on Stoicism. In this particular case, I fear that the translation is, at best, heavily biased toward turn of the 20th century Christianity. I would like to find a quality translation of Epictetus’s thoughts on equality and read them separately.
Well gold is not supposed to tarnish yet i fear the translation has. The satings of the stoics are difficult and mind you there are a few gems. The reminding of the purpose of thought was welcome
reflective
slow-paced
"Remind thyself that he whom thou lovest is mortal - that what thou lovest is not thine own; it is given thee for the present, not irrevocably nor for ever, but even as a fig or a bunch of grapes at the appointed season of the year."
There are some straight bangers in here, although tautological often, and too many calls to God for my liking. If you want to check out stoic philosophy I would just go straight for Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. He does naught but spit straight fire. Although the benefit of this is that you can download free and it's pretty short. Plus he likes to throw some shade philosophically:
"He that hath no musical instruction is a child in Music; he that hath no letters is a child in Learning; he that is untaught is a child in Life."
Although that made me laugh, he then goes on to tell me not to laugh as often. "Laughter should not be much, nor frequent, nor unrestrained." So points deducted for being a killjoy. One more quote that seems appropriate:
"Or what reason hast thou (tell me) for desiring to read? For if thou aim at nothing beyond the mere delight of it, or gaining some scrap of knowledge, thou art but a poor, spiritless knave. But if thou desirest to study to its proper end, what else is this than a life that flows on tranquil and serene? And if thy reading secures thee not serenity, what profits it?"
Very insightful. I liked this one a lot.
Epictetus is one of my favorite philosophers!
4/5
Epictetus is one of my favorite philosophers!
4/5