Ancient Wisdom

We should not treat living creatures like shoes or pots and pans, casting them aside when they are bruised and worn out with service, but, if for no other reason, for the sake of practice in kindness to our fellow men, we should accustom ourselves to mildness and gentleness in our dealings with other creatures.

 From Plutarch’s  Life of Cato

Technorati Tags: Animal rights,Cato,Roman philosophy,ancient morality

Cicero and the Roman Art of Facing Death

Marcus Tullius Cicero January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC

Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary, distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher. An impressive orator and successful lawyer, Cicero probably thought his political career his most important achievement. Today, he is appreciated primarily for his humanism and philosophical and political writings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero

The quote below is an extract from an essay he wrote for his son, Marcus, while he was in enforced exile. The subject was the beauty of growing old and this particular excerpt deals with facing mortality without fear.

And yet, for goodness' sake, what in the whole human condition lasts for any length of time? Think of the longest of all possible lives; let us imagine we shall attain the age of that king of Tartesessus- I have been reading about Arganthonius of Gades who reigned for eighty years and lived for a hundred and twenty. Even so, I suggest that nothing can be called long if it has an end. For when the end comes, then all that has gone before has vanished. Only one thing remains- the credit you have gained by your good and right actions. Hours, days, months, and years go by: once they have passed they never come again. And what is to come in the future we cannot tell, So whatever life is allotted us, we ought to be content.

And actor need not remain on the stage until the very end of the play: if he wins applause in those acts in which he appears, he will have done well enough. In life, too a man can perform his part wisely without staying on the stage until the play is finished. However short your life may be, it will still be long enough to live honestly and decently. If, on the other hand, its duration is extended, there need be no more sorrow than a farmer feels when the pleasant springtime has passed and summer and autumn have arrived. For spring, the season of youth, gives promise of fruits to come, but the later seasons are those that reap the harvests and gather them in. And the particular harvest of old age, I repeat, is it abundant recollection of blessings acquired in earlier years.

Technorati Tags: Roman philosophy,Age,Death,Cicero

From What We Need to What We Want

I used to have this friend, Larry, who was a single parent raising a 4 year old son, Little Larry. The very notion of trying to bring up even an angel in this modern world is beyond my imagination. I could never do it. I have very limited patience and have decided that the best I could do in this world is to be an uncle or family friend.

Confirming the hardships of single parenthood, Larry one time told me how much he just hated taking his son to the mall because they could never pass before any toy section without his son having an emotional breakdown. “He screams and falls in the floor and bawls, ‘Daddy, Daddy, I want it!!’ and Larry would tell him, “But you don't need it.” And with that huge wall of logic, Little Larry would stare a second and then scream at the top of his little lungs, “But Daddy, I need it!!” ( A good example why you should never attempt to argue, reason or negotiate with a 4 year old.)

Hearing this story was something of a revelation for me at the time. Our whole society, this system of consumption and materialism, is driven by the intentional confusion and the blurring of the difference between what we need from what we want. I can’t tell you how many times I have got home after shopping and thought, “Now, why the hell did I buy THIS?” At the time, I had apparently been convinced that I needed it but it later seemed like I had been temporarily possessed by a consumer demon. Did I have some kind of seizure? Or maybe I grabbed the wrong bag on the way out?

But could any of us look around their homes or office and collect all the things in one side of the room and mark it, THINGS I NEEDED and on the other side, THINGS I ONLY WANTED? Is this really such a heresy? There is no guarantee that one day, very soon, all those luxuries could be snatched away. People survive it but it isn't something you like to dwell on for very long or very deeply.

Some of the ancient Romans, of all people, warned of the pernicious effects of luxuries and how they weakened the morals. Juvenal wrote, “Luxury, more deadly than any foe, has laid her hand upon us, and avenges a conquered world.” The great writers and philosophers of that age felt, not unlike American historians, that the true spirit of empire was based on its pioneering and austere origins. They also felt that this decline, caused by luxuries, was an effect of the very success of its domination of the known world. Perhaps they fooled themselves into believing that a love for the sumptuous luxuries of life was not a Roman trait at all.

But, alas, people by nature are easy to spoil and can become too attached to their comforts. This can lead them to selfishness and laziness. It is an addiction and over time corrodes our ability to resist. Also, and more importantly, the fear of the loss of those unnecessary comforts can affect our judgment in crucial matters even though we may not know it. We all slowly but surely become slaves to our possessions. Over time, we develop this idea that, for some reason, we deserve our luxuries- leading to a feeling of entitlement. After all, why am I so lucky to live in excess when so much of the world has very little? (And my living the way I do guarantees that they will continue living as they do.)


The mind plays tricks and it seems you can be convinced that life would be less worth living without, or your status in the world has been diminished by some pretty ridiculous and frivolous things. In the USA, it has gotten so commonplace and so widespread that people simply take the warped view for granted. Ostentatious consumption and flagrant display of wealth is all the rage, (as if it is something to be proud of)- even if all those trinkets and all that "bling" were bought on credit or from someone else's sweat.

Although I would freely confess that I am no better than the next person about my needs and my wants, but I did at one time try to make a list of things I absolutely needed, as opposed to the things I merely wanted. Mind you, I might not enjoy life as much but it is a surprisingly short list. You should try it sometime.

Here is my list:

1. a warm or sheltered private place to live

2. hot water for hygiene

3. A variety of healthy food and fresh clean water

4. some means of cooking food

5. clothes that fit me, cover my bits and look clean

6. a friend with whom I can share ideas and memories and emotions ( in a pinch, I could definitely survive with a pet)

7. some kind of hobby or access to information to stimulate my mind

Now I know I MUST be forgetting something, something obvious. Feel free to comment. I am not Little Larry and am quite willing to negotiate without any tantrums.