210525 What I learned in my studies this morning

No haiku today

Just random words in the mix. 

Blah blah blah blah blah. 😏

From The Daily Stoic: 

And yet people think Stoicism is an unfeeling, solitary worldview. This quote is from a man who, while not only being the emperor of the Western world and thus all but omnipotent in fulfilling his desires, but who also famously disliked other people. 

If he — who could have people executed on the spot should they displease him — can find serving others as "proper human work," who am I to think I should be above others or that they should be treated as means and not ends in themselves? 

Work to do. Work to do. 

From A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine 

Chapter 10: Social Relations — Dealing With Other People

Sex is a touchy subject. It's so integral to our psychology that any teaching about it is bound to stir up opposition in some. 

The Stoics generally tried to rein in sexual urges, exactly because it is so powerful a force in our lives. They reasoned that by doing our best to resist temptation, they were less likely to have their lives disrupted by the myriad misfortunes which so often accompanied such actions. 

It wasn't prudism or religiousity that prompted their suppression of sexual drives, but simple prudence. If we stop messing around with other people, life becomes less complicated and more satisfying.