You Must Carve Out Time For Quiet
The Daily Stoic9 Loka 2019

You Must Carve Out Time For Quiet

According to the philosopher Blaise Pascal, at the root of most human activity is a desire to escape boredom and self-awareness. We go to elaborate measures, he said, to avoid even a few minutes of quiet. It was true even of the people you think had all the reasons to be happy and content.

"A king is surrounded by people,” Pascal wrote, “whose only thought is to divert him and stop him thinking about himself, because, king though he is, he becomes unhappy as soon as he thinks about himself."

It’s an observation that puts Marcus Aurelius in an even more impressive light. Think about it: Marcus Aurelius was surrounded by servants and sycophants, people who wanted favors and people who feared him. He had unlimited wealth but endless responsibility. And what did he do with this? Did he throw himself endlessly into the diversion and distraction these blessings and curses offered?

No. Instead, he made sure to carve out time to sit quietly by himself with his journals. He probed his own mind on a regular basis. He thought of himself--not egotistically--but with an eye towards noticing his own failings. He questioned himself. He questioned the world around him. He refused to be distracted. He refused to give into temptation.

People in his own time probably thought he was a bit dour. They wondered why he did not enjoy all the trappings of wealth and power like his predecessors. What they missed, what’s so easy to miss today in our own blessed lives, is that the true path to happiness is not through externals. It’s found within. It’s found in the stillness. In the quiet. With yourself.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jaksot(2904)

How Are You Still Not Doing This?

How Are You Still Not Doing This?

Saint Athanasius of Alexandria wrote in Vita Antonii that the reason he did his journaling--his confessing, as the genre was called by the Christians--was that it was a safeguard against sinning. By o...

5 Syys 20183min

This Message Is Waiting For You

This Message Is Waiting For You

On April 24th 1924, the pioneer writer Laura Ingalls Wilder got a note that he mother, aged 84, had died. It was a sad day, particularly since it had been so many years since she had been able to see ...

4 Syys 20182min

In This Way You Are Unstoppable

In This Way You Are Unstoppable

Acceptance? Resignation? That’s not me, we say, when we hear the Stoics preach those concepts. I never give up. I’m a fighter. Ok. If you say so. But there’s a difference between being a fighter and a...

3 Syys 20182min

Your Heart Shouldn’t Be Getting Harder As You Go

Your Heart Shouldn’t Be Getting Harder As You Go

The old joke--which dates back to the 1870s--is that if you’re not a liberal when you’re young you have no heart, but if you’re still a liberal when you’re older, you have no brain. Now we can put any...

31 Elo 20183min

This Is The Only Thing That Matters in Life

This Is The Only Thing That Matters in Life

In 1940, while he was struggling as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Walker Percy wrote to his uncle and adopted father, William Alexander Percy, to give him the ba...

30 Elo 20182min

Why You Do This Work

Why You Do This Work

There is an element of this philosophy that is a lot of work. You do all this reading. You do your morning and evening journaling. Maybe you attend meetup groups or even have pursued an advanced degre...

29 Elo 20182min

There Is Always Something To Be Grateful For

There Is Always Something To Be Grateful For

One of the most stunning things about Anne Frank’s diary is how indefatigably happy it is. One might expect that her journal, which she kept from 1942 to 1944, as her family hid from the Nazis in an A...

28 Elo 20183min

Why You’re The Luckiest Person In The World

Why You’re The Luckiest Person In The World

“It’s unfortunate that this happened,” Marcus says in one of his imaginary dialogs. Then he corrects himself: “No. It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it--not shattered...

27 Elo 20182min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
mimmit-sijoittaa
rss-rahapodi
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-rahamania
rss-sisalto-kuntoon
ostan-asuntoja-podcast
rss-lahtijat
taloudellinen-mielenrauha
pomojen-suusta
rss-seuraava-potilas
rss-h-asselmoilanen
rss-startup-ministerio
rss-20-30-40-podcast
rss-siksi-viestinta
rahapuhetta
rss-bisnesta-bebeja
rss-inspiroivat-naiset
rss-karon-grilli
rss-vaikuttavan-opettajan-vierella