210221 What I learned in my studies this morning

Today's Tao:

If people are not afraid to die, 

It is of no avail to threaten them with death.

From The Daily Stoic: 

 

“Remember that it’s not only the desire for wealth and position that debases and subjugates us, but also the desire for peace, leisure, travel, and learning. It doesn’t matter what the external thing is, the value we place on it subjugates us to another . . . where our heart is set, there our impediment lies.”—Epictetus, Discourses, 4.4.1– 2;

Wanting something isn't a problem. Yearning for something is. 

What I want so desperately controls me. Want less. 

From Eric Hoffer, PART 4 Beginning and End:  

Men of Words 

The intellectuals prepare the way, criticizing and mocking the current system. Without their undermining the present, the Great Leader would never have had a platform from which to lead. He'd never have joined the Movement in the first place. 

(The True Believer, XV-107)