Thursday, June 9, 2011

The More Things Change...



Epictetus was a Roman slave who earned his freedom and became a great thinker in the first century A.D.

The following is a short list of some of his ideals:


  • self-mastery depends on self-honesty

  • seeking to please others is a perilous trap


  • events don't hurt us, but our views of them can


  • learn to apply basic principles to particular circumstances in accordance with nature


  • start living your ideals


  • all advantages have their price

Not to shabby. As any practitioner of traditional martial arts would recognize, or any contemplative individual in general, is that nothing changes when it comes to truth. The environment may change, the culture may increase in size and its technology, and the population may feel superior to the previous one; but in the end, as Robert Plant said: "The Song Remains the Same".

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