Marcus T. Ryan

Avoiding conforming to paradigms that no one is truly certain of
So much of what we do on a daily basis and in all facets of waking life is done solely for the reason that everyone else around us is doing the same. While there usually is a certain degree of validity in upholding the status quo whatever we do not know enough to contradict it, it would be naive to assume that all of the practices put in place by our predecessors and practiced by our peers are always the right things for us to do ourselves. This is a viewpoint that not enough people today take towards a lot of issues, labor especially.

Marcus Aurelius pointed out one of the most illuminating facts convincing us in the west to avoid wasting energy worrying about what others perceive us to be. He famously pointed out that it is always strange that while every person in the world puts his or herself before all others, no person usually puts his or her own opinions of his or herself before the opinions of others. In fact, it is our own opinions of ourselves which all too often take on a subordinate role compared to what others see in us, which is an absurd way to live with oneself.

life is suffering, and the source of all suffering is wanting

He famously pointed out that it is always strange that while every person in the world puts his or herself before all others, no person usually puts his or her own opinions of his or herself before the opinions of others

He famously pointed out that it is always strange that while every person in the world puts his or herself before all others, no person usually puts his or her own opinions of his or herself before the opinions of others.

stoicism teaches us that it is through reason and reason alone that knowledge can be found.

The age-old adage “you reap what you sow” applies here as it does anywhere.

It is disappointing that philosophy often receives the reputation of a practice that is more theoretical than practical and that it is more often practiced by academics who do not consider its real-world applications so much as they busy themselves with impressing their colleagues.

The cost of existence itself is suffering

“Men are disturbed not by events, but by their opinions about events.”