“Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
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“Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
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Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#2I strongly recommend Seneca's On the Shortness of Life. It's one of the best books I've read, and at the very top on the subject of Carpe Diem.
https://www.amazon.com/Shortness-Life-Penguin-Great-Ideas/dp...
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#3Sam Harris recently had a podcast on the topic for those who are interested:
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#4The Stoics of ancient times had something profound to say about everything, it seems. The reason for that, of course, is because what they actually describe is a way of thinking, a way of life. As you can gather from the article, there is also some religious context which is really fairly optional. Or at least you could substitute your own religious beliefs in with all the talk about God. But you can apply Stoic principles to really any situation you could think of. No kidding, and as implausible as it sounds, I've thought of things I read from Marcus Aurelius in the heat of combat, just having sort of popped into my mind. Though I will say that I'd been through a really tough stretch of life around that time, and had been reading some of the Stoics (among others) as an escape. So it's just as likely chance as anything else that brought that dude's writing to mind. Marcus Aurelius is kind of held up among the other greats of Stoic philosophy, but Seneca is really IMO the best. Epictetus is a close second. But Marcus Aurelius is popular because of course he was the Emperor, and never intended on publishing his diaries (which we today call "Meditations"). You want a rabbit hole that will save your life, perhaps not only figuratively? Here it is!
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#5I strongly recommend Seneca's On the Shortness of Life . It's one of the best books I've read, and at the very top on the subject of Carpe Diem. https://www.amazon.com/Shortness-Life-Penguin-Great-Ideas/dp...
I just read it a few weeks back and was disappointed. His views on life seemed to boil down to something like "make as much wealth as possible, so you can retire as fast as you possibly can, so you can spend all of your time on whatever is meaningful in your life, and by no means ever have any fun." It seemed full of selfish anti-social advice for the extreme curmudgeon. But I also listened to it while on the road, so maybe I missed something.
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#6I strongly recommend Seneca's On the Shortness of Life . It's one of the best books I've read, and at the very top on the subject of Carpe Diem. https://www.amazon.com/Shortness-Life-Penguin-Great-Ideas/dp...
Another great work is "On a Happy Life". https://www.gutenberg.org/files/56075/56075-h/56075-h.htm
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#7Aurelius said that all you have is the present moment so when you die the only thing you can lose is the present moment. That one really stuck with me.
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#8Dare I say the Eastern religions which are philosophies in their own right have expressed this again and again in a much more beautiful way. That is why in spite of thousand of years of attempts by missionaries to erase them or the total near dominance of western values in the world today - these religions and their inherent philosophies thrives even today.
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#9Aurelius said that all you have is the present moment so when you die the only thing you can lose is the present moment. That one really stuck with me.
But you don't lose the moment... you go into a new body. (Anticipating down votes for this, though)
Re: “Study Death Always”: Seneca’s advice for living centered on dying
#10I strongly recommend Seneca's On the Shortness of Life . It's one of the best books I've read, and at the very top on the subject of Carpe Diem. https://www.amazon.com/Shortness-Life-Penguin-Great-Ideas/dp...
I just read it a few weeks back and was disappointed. His views on life seemed to boil down to something like "make as much wealth as possible, so you can retire as fast as you possibly can, so you can spend all of your time on whatever is meaningful in your life, and by no means ever have any fun." It seemed full of selfish anti-social advice for the extreme curmudgeon. But I also listened to it while on the road, s…
But this is a personal advice, not social ?