senecaCan’t sleep. Been rereading Seneca’s essays (as ya’ do). Thought I’d share the last bit of On Anger (book 3). Philosophy like this is great for taking a moment to step back (especially in the midst of all the madness that gets stirred up in politics) and simply say ” yeah, that’s the idea we seem to have lost.” Here he is, my dude, Seneca:

Soon we shall spit out this little spirit. In the meantime, while we have breath, while we are among our fellow men, let us behave as men should; let us not be a cause of fear or danger to anyone; let us despise losses, wrongs, insult and criticism, and let us tolerate with a great mind our short-lived misfortunes: while we look back, as the saying goes, and turn round, that moment death will be on us.

Ok, it may sound morbid, but the rhetorical trick of using death, the moment of death, as a measure, has recently, been useful to me. I’m finding myself a bit overwhelmed some days, and in the chaos of contemplating “do I do X or do I do Y?” it’s very helpful if you can make the statement “hmmm, you know, when I’m dying somewhere someday, I’m not going to look back and think ‘I wish I had taught more people to speak English’” It’s a refreshing clarifier. (Ok I realize it’s only tengentially related to the above quote, but I thought it pertinent).