I was dealing with anxiety, stress, depression, overthinking and honestly, your videos were not the first thing that I bumped into, but as soon as I discovered them, I have completely changed my perspective towards other people and life in general. They have motivated me to upgrade my library collection, so I picked up some books too, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and I am really enjoying them. High quality post, as always. Thank you! I only wish that more people were familiar with your channel, or at least with the wisdom of the stoics through the books. The world would have been a much better place.
Hey, i glad you are doing well, i expierence a lot of stress and anxiety i had metal break down as i call it few months ago its really hard to keep my self from collapsing again, i am struggling from a lot of thing right now, one of them can be called identity crisis, i dont know who i am, what should i be, or how should i act, i am completely lost, but i refound stoics and it fits me, yesterday i made clear list of things, habits, dreams, feelings, possible future outcome, things i want to learn, things i need to learn etc. Badiclly list of who i am right now, And you know it helps me, literally i dont know what is happening to me, i dont know myself, but now i know my path and i know what i want, i want to find peace in myself, i want lose chaos in myself, and stoics helps me, sry for talking about myself i just dont get a lot of atention from people around me :) stay strong guys i wish you happiness and joy, takr care
Savakio’s “pill of wisdom” amounts to this: “don’t try to change” the outrageous social events we are living in, you are a good for nothing in that respect; instead, care about your individual petty property, and let the “outsiders” grapple with the circumstances by themselves; retreat, be complicit with the evil doers. Have “peace” of mind: that is so good and wise…
Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. If there is something you want to do, just make a start. This is what caused me to start my channel.
Which one? 48 BCE when Julius Caesar lit fire to an enemy flotilla and accidentally burnt down half of the city? Or was it in 391 CE when Theophilus accidentally triggered an ethno-religious riot in the city that destroyed a tenth of the Library's collection? Or was it the burning of the books within the library by Caliph Omar in 640 CE? Or are you referring to the fleeing of scholars and academics from the Library that reestablished all of the Library's knowledge after the assassination of Ptolemy VII before any fire touched it? Just as well, you should know that the Library of Alexandria not only copied EVERY scroll that they came across, but they would disseminate those copies. The Library was dead and it's knowledge far spread way before any fire touched it's books
It's good to know the roots of stoicism & to appreciate that Zeno's efforts were not in vain. Those of us who have benefited from this ancient well of wisdom are grateful to him & all the other stoic pioneers that came before us.
I always knew I was a reasonable person thinking along virtuous lines, now confirmed after listening to this. Pity there are no relics of his writings. Heresay is not the same. Great little video. Thankyou.
Probably stuck in the Vatican library!? Here say is ok by me, as long as it means something profound. We all stand on the shoulders of great men. So, they too. ☮️❤️🙏🏻
@@vectorequilibrium4493 "something profound...."...so long as you don't get bogged down. But as you are standing on someone else's shoulders, it won't matter, will it? I like to do my own thinking. 🙂 🤔 🤕.
A video on Heraclitus would be great. He is my favorite pre-Socratic, and though little survives of him but fragments, you could write much of how his thought bears similarities to Eastern ontology and epistemology.
As someone who has practiced stoicism seriously for the past 5 years. The greatest lesson I learned, is that stoicism, although effective, is not necessary. Once you swallow the red pill of free will and realize you cannot derive an “ought” from an “is”. You come to peace with human limitations. You can achieve the same results without the effort. Stoicism is simply the most effective way, to mentally acrobat, our own mental shortcomings. I now love and respect it even more than I originally did. It’s an excellent remedy for the human condition. But I also argue that once you realize you have no free will, you also realize you are not actually making an effort to practice stoicism. It is but a single part of your journey to enlightenment.
Your perspective is intriguing, but I see a fundamental contradiction between the deterministic idea that free will doesn't exist and the Stoic philosophy, which is grounded in the notion of self-control and choice. Stoicism teaches us to differentiate between what we can control and what we can't, urging us to exert our will over our own actions and emotional responses. If we take a deterministic viewpoint that denies free will, then the cornerstone of Stoic practice-choosing how we react to external events-crumbles. How can one actively practice Stoicism, which places a premium on individual choice and responsibility, while also holding a deterministic view that negates the very concept of free will?
@@JunkyardDnD one remedy is practiced with the idea that one has will. While the other doesn’t need to practice what already happens on its own. For those that believe free will, stoicism is a useful practice. For those that don’t, it’s nothing but an enjoyable exercise. It’s more of an antidote to religion then a necessary tool for determinists.
@MrJesseBell Your point about Stoicism serving as an antidote to religion for determinists is thought-provoking. However, if one truly subscribes to determinism and believes free will to be an illusion, wouldn't the practice of Stoicism also be an illusion of effort? In such a scenario, the Stoic exercises designed to foster self-control and rational decision-making would lose their utility. They'd become not tools for improvement, but rather, elaborate rituals signifying nothing-essentially a "pleasant exercise," as you've put it. If the deterministic view is to be fully embraced, it seems to nullify the cornerstone of Stoic philosophy, which advocates for making choices to improve one's mental fortitude and emotional well-being. Therefore, it's challenging to see how Stoicism could be simultaneously viewed as both effective and unnecessary depending on one's stance on free will. It either offers a path to personal growth through deliberate choice, or it doesn't.
"That which exercises reason is more excellent than that which does not exercise reason; there is nothing more excellent than the universe, therefore the universe exercises reason." ~Zeno, as quoted by Cicero
I’ve been watching Einzel for over a year now, and his videos about Stoicism have really helped guide me through life. I am able to apply Stoic lessons to every part of my life, so while I am sometimes unhappy, I am never lost.
... Thank you for making this video. The pictures are beautiful.... I was surprised and happy to learn that stoicism and Taoism have things in common, such as living in accordance with nature.
This video was absolute perfection. Such easy explanation of difficult concepts. The one about logos! I think I actually understand what it is now haha thank you.
The universe isn't God. There r both destructive things and creative things that happen in the universe.. Claiming that universe is all about love, is total ignorance. It is not all about love. To create a new world, the old world must be destroyed.
Funny how I found this word in a bookor movie a couple years ago. Kept crossing my mind these past few weeks. Just so happened to perfectly align with my outlook on life and how things work. I don't think this would have been possible without experiencing some heroic trips a few years back. I still have some bad habits to break before I can truly say I'm living the life I want. Perhaps having this philosophy as guidance will help with my uncertainty
If we live our life with virtue... We will end up as the positive force... No matter how unsettling others are... They generally end up dead or misersble... Fate takes over...
Adoro os estóicos: zenão, sêneca e epiteto; e todos os influenciados pelo estoicismo: Montaigne, Pascal, Espinosa e Nietzsche. É sem dúvida a escola filosófica ocidental mais útil para a vida
Thank you OP for shining light on Zeno... The opening quote is something i have been practicing for some time and this change in my behaviour(not talking and listening) has led to my colleagues believing that i am depressed but are not sure... haha its funny..
Nice short video. It should be helpful to state all of this (i.e. Zeno of Citium, etc.) took place in ancient Greece and the Greeks were the ones who created the concepts of philosophy, reasoning, etc.
I believe he's Syrian. Of course back then there wasn't a thing called Syria but he originated from the coastal area of Syria. A very old Town called Mashta Al-Helo.
Religion has overshadowed the teachings of philosophy and science. 😬😬 I hope we bring these teachings back for people like me who can’t rely on church teachings for taming our destructive nature.
I have been into Stoicism for a few years now and the deeper I dive into it the more I realize there ARE holes. Possibly due to much of Zeno and the Older Stoic works having been lost, along with modern discoveries that contradict SOME views... But the core remains intact despite all this. No, the universe is not simply made of matter. Yes, things seem organized by way of reason and pretty much everything seems to serve a purpose which, for me, means that there is no accident and there IS an underlying Logos to everything. The more we look into esoteric things the more it seems certain physical things ARE under the control of mental faculties/intentions and focus. Directed emotions DO serve a purpose, including anger, but that is directed by a reasoning and rational mind. These are not separate, however, one and the same. We cannot actually say what the original Stoics taught and practiced, other than that they were extremely level headed, yet very emotionally directed, they did not stand for BS either and at least one fought in a Rebellion. So we can say for certain they were NOT pacifists. It seems many place emphasis on pacifism today as if it walked hand in hand with Stoicism. It doesn’t.
Thanks for debunking the misconceptions! I just recently commented someone on what stoicism is really about. Hope more people become inspired by your comment.
"Grievance because of death could be overcome by accepting that death is natural" is only true to your not close friend/relative, if its a close friend or family, the only way to overcome it is to grief until you can accept the loss.
Thank you so much for another great video. I wish when I was young I had learned these wonderful gems for a good and fulfilling life instead of the garbage filled education from public schools here in the states.
I think emotions are part of the self preservation rule. I mean we cry or laugh to release stress or anger to defend ourselves to perceived threats. Too much though and it can make hard to experience life.
Zino in Albanian means Black or dark (as a nickname) Zi is Black" and his nickname the Finiqian. Finiq or phoenice is a ancient city in south albania. to study the ethnicity of many of the old philosophers you have to learn Albanian as many of their names are Albanian names still used nowadays.
