Beyond Philosophy

Philosophy for Unamuno is more about how than what . Kant and Butler share many things, physical and metaphysical, but they are not the same person. They navigate differently, and that is what matters most to Unamuno. He does not say that one must be wrong or the other right, or that the primary point of comparing them is to chart the best universal map of the metaphysical worlds they explored (as though these were static rather than dynamic). Each offers notes from a different journey, notes whose signal value to us depends upon our own journey. How do we travel through life? You can hear this passage < here >. Otro hombre, el hombre José Butler, obispo anglicano, qué vivió a principios del siglo XVIII, y de quien dice el cardenal católico Newman que es el hombre más grande de la Iglesia anglicana, al foral del capítulo primero de su gran obra sobre la analogía de la religión ( The Analogy of Religion ), capítulo que trata de la vida futura, escribió estas pequeñas pa...

Seneca ultimately took his own life, not because he was tired of breathing but because his pupil Nero wanted him gone. History records that he lived up to the advice given here to Lucilius (see Tacitus, Annales 15.60-64). You can listen to me read this passage < here >. Profice modo: intelleges quaedam ideo minus timenda quia multum metus afferunt. Nullum malum magnum quod extremum est. Mors ad te venit: timenda erat si tecum esse posset: necesse est aut non perveniat aut transeat. 'Difficile est,' inquis, 'animum perducere ad contemptionem animae.' Non vides quam ex frivolis causis contemnatur? Alius ante amicae fores laqueo pependit, alius se praecipitavit e tecto ne dominum stomachantem diutius audiret, alius ne reduceretur e fuga ferrum adegit in viscera: non putas virtutem hoc effecturam quod efficit nimia formido? Nulli potest secura vita contingere qui de producenda nimis cogitat, qui inter magna bona multos consules numerat. Hoc cotidie meditare, ut...

The dream of a government that values the freedom of its subjects. Alas, perhaps all dreams eventually become nightmares. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Παρὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου (*) Σεουήρου τὸ φιλοίκειον καὶ φιλάληθες καὶ φιλοδίκαιον· καὶ τὸ δἰ αὐτοῦ γνῶναι Θρασέαν, Ἑλβίδιον, Κάτωνα, Δίωνα, Βροῦτον, καὶ φαντασίαν λαβεῖν πολιτείας ἰσονόμου, κατ̓ ἰσότητα καὶ ἰσηγορίαν διοικουμένης, καὶ βασιλείας τιμώσης πάντων μάλιστα τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῶν ἀρχομένων· καὶ ἔτι παρὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τὸ ὁμαλὲς καὶ ὁμότονον ἐν τῇ τιμῇ τῆς φιλοσοφίας· καὶ τὸ εὐποιητικὸν καὶ τὸ εὐμετάδοτον ἐκτενῶς καὶ τὸ εὔελπι καὶ τὸ πιστευτικὸν περὶ τοῦ ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων φιλεῖσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀνεπίκρυπτον πρὸς τοὺς καταγνώσεως ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ τυγχάνοντας· καὶ τὸ μὴ δεῖσθαι στοχασμοῦ τοὺς φίλους αὐτοῦ περὶ τοῦ τί θέλει ἢ τί οὐ θέλει, ἀλλὰ δῆλον εἶναι. From my brother Severus (†) I learned to love home, truth, and justice. Through him I got to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dio, and Brutus (‡), and took on the dream of a state t...

Unamuno believes that reason is an emergent property of the universe, not its foundation, which lies beyond reason, in irrationalities. Reason, from a perspective like his, becomes a tool for surfing on vast uncharted seas of incomprehensibility that we can never hope to dominate or destroy. You can hear this passage < here >. El hombre Kant sintió la moral como base de la escatología, pero el profesor de la filosofía invirtió los términos. Ya dijo no sé dónde otro profesor, el profesor y hombre Guillermo James, que Dios para la generalidad de los hombres es el productor de inmortalidad. Sí, para la generalidad de los hombres, incluyendo al hombre Kant, al hombre James y al hombre que traza estas líneas, que estás, lector, leyendo. Un día, hablando con un campesino, le propuse la hipótesis de que hubiese, en efecto, un Dios que rige cielo y tierra, Conciencia del Universo, pero que no por eso sea el alma de cada hombre inmortal en el sentido tradicional y concreto. Y me r...

Seneca encourages Lucilius to correct and compose his mind, mastering his fear of things that don't matter or even exist. You can listen to this passage < here >. Persevera ut coepisti et quantum potes propera, quo diutius frui emendato animo et composito possis. Frueris quidem etiam dum emendas, etiam dum componis: alia tamen illa voluptas est quae percipitur ex contemplatione mentis ab omni labe purae et splendidae. Tenes utique memoria quantum senseris gaudium cum praetexta posita sumpsisti virilem togam et in forum deductus es: maius expecta cum puerilem animum deposueris et te in viros philosophia transscripserit. Adhuc enim non pueritia sed, quod est gravius, puerilitas remanet; et hoc quidem peior est, quod auctoritatem habemus senum, vitia puerorum, nec puerorum tantum sed infantum: illi levia, hi falsa formidant, nos utraque.   Continue as you have begun, and make what haste you can, that you may sooner enjoy the fruits of a mind corrected and composed. You w...

From his adopted father, the emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius learned that you can participate in the games without being a fan. You can hear this passage < here >. Παρὰ τοῦ τροφέως τὸ μήτε Πρασιανὸς μήτε Βενετιανὸς μήτε Παλμουλάριος ἢ Σκουτάριος γενέσθαι· καὶ τὸ φερέπονον καὶ ὀλιγοδεές· καὶ τὸ αὐτουργικὸν καὶ ἀπολύπραγμον· καὶ τὸ δυσπρόσδεκτον διαβολῆς. From my foster-father ( † ) I learned not to be a fan: neither Green nor Blue, not a Thracian or a shield-man ( ‡ ). To endure much and need little. To fend for myself and avoid meddling with others. And to reject slander. --- ( † ) Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius (86-161 AD). Born into the Aurelii Fulvii, a Roman senatorial family raised to prominence when they sided with the Flavii in the wake of Nero's fall, Antoninus Pius was raised by his maternal grandfather, Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus. He had a distinguished but relatively uneventful political career, remaining in Italy his entire life, righ...

Take no umbrage when friends call you out. You can listen to this passage < here >. Παρὰ Κατούλου τὸ μὴ ὀλιγώρως ἔχειν φίλου αἰτιωμένου τι, κἂν τύχῃ ἀλόγως αἰτιώμενος, ἀλλὰ πειρᾶσθαι καὶ ἀποκαθιστάναι ἐπὶ τὸ σύνηθες· καὶ τὸ περὶ τῶν διδασκάλων ἐκθύμως εὔφημον, οἷα τὰ περὶ Δομιτίου καὶ Ἀθηνοδότου ἀπομνημονευόμενα· καὶ τὸ περὶ τὰ τέκνα ἀληθινῶς ἀγαπητικόν. From Catulus (†) I learned to receive the blame of friends without scorn, even when it is offered foolishly, and then to begin the attempt to repair the relationship. Also to speak well and warmly of teachers, as tradition does of Domitius (‡) and Athenodotus (*), and to adopt a genuinely affectionate attitude towards children. --- (†) Cinna Catulus appears in the catalogue of Marcus' associates in the Historia Augusta as one of the Stoics, alongside Claudius Maximus and Junius Rusticus, but that is all we know of him. (‡) Domitius is another mystery. Hammond ( Meditations , pub. 2006) suggests he may be Gn...

What is our personal destiny? What happens when I die? You can hear this passage < here >. Kant reconstruyó con el corazón lo que con la cabeza había abatido. Y es que sabemos, por testimonio de los que le conocieron y por testimonio propio, en sus cartas y manifestaciones privadas, que el hombre Kant, el solterón—un sí es, no es egoísta—que profesó filosofía en Koenigsberg a fines del siglo de la Enciclopedia y de la diosa Razón, era un hombre muy preocupado del problema. Quiero decir del único verdadero problema vital, del que más a las entrañas nos llega, del problema de nuestro destino individual y personal, de la inmortalidad del alma. El hombre Kant no se resignaba a morir del todo. Y porque no se resignaba a morir del todo, dio el salto aquel, el salto inmortal de una a otra crítica. Quien lea con atención y sin anteojeras la Crítica de la razón práctica , verá que, en rigor, se deduce en ella la existencia de Dios de la inmortalidad del alma, y no esta de aquella....

The nature of things teaches us to act when the mind is quiet, and to rest when it is active. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Sic utrosque reprehendas, et eos qui semper inquieti sunt, et eos qui semper quiescunt. Nam illa tumultu gaudens non est industria sed exagitatae mentis concursatio, et haec non est quies quae motum omnem molestiam iudicat, sed dissolutio et languor. Itaque hoc quod apud Pomponium legi animo mandabitur: 'quidam adeo in latebras refugerunt ut putent in turbido esse quidquid in luce est'. Inter se ista miscenda sunt: et quiescenti agendum et agenti quiescendum est. Cum rerum natura delibera: illa dicet tibi et diem fecisse se et noctem. Vale. So you should reprove both those who are always restless, and those who never move. Delighting in confusion is not industry, but the racing of a thoroughly agitated mind, and it is not peace that judges every motion irksome, but lethargy and laziness. Commit to memory this saying I have taken...

Don't say that you are busy, when you are really just wasting time. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Παρὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Πλατωνικοῦ τὸ μὴ πολλάκις μηδὲ χωρὶς ἀνάγκης λέγειν πρός τινα ἢ ἐν ἐπιστολῇ γράφειν ὅτι ἄσχολός εἰμι, μηδὲ διὰ τούτου τοῦ τρόπου συνεχῶς παραιτεῖσθαι τὰ κατὰ τὰς πρὸς τοὺς συμβιοῦντας σχέσεις καθήκοντα, προβαλλόμενον τὰ περιεστῶτα πράγματα. From Alexander the Platonic ( † ) I learned not to say constantly that I am busy, nor to claim it in writing, without some pressing need. Not to make a habit of begging off my duties in any situation thus, by casting up the prospect of deeds undone. --- ( † ) Alexander of Seleucia, the son of a distinguished advocate from Cilicia whose death left him heir to a large fortune that he spent chasing a high life all over the Mediterranean. Like his mother Seleucis, who made love to Apollonius of Tyana , he was renowned for good looks, and took such care of them that Antoninus Pius marked h...

Try to avoid secrets. When they appear, know how to share with friends without inviting the whole world. That being said, it is nobler to trust too much rather than too little. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Tu quidem ita vive ut nihil tibi committas nisi quod committere etiam inimico tuo possis; sed quia interveniunt quaedam quae consuetudo fecit arcana, cum amico omnes curas, omnes cogitationes tuas misce. Fidelem si putaveris, facies; nam quidam fallere docuerunt dum timent falli, et illi ius peccandi suspicando fecerunt. Quid est quare ego ulla verba coram amico meo retraham? quid est quare me coram illo non putem solum? Quidam quae tantum amicis committenda sunt obviis narrant, et in quaslibet aures quidquid illos urit exonerant; quidam rursus etiam carissimorum conscientiam reformidant et, si possent, ne sibi quidem credituri interius premunt omne secretum. Neutrum faciendum est; utrumque enim vitium est, et omnibus credere et nulli, sed alterum honestius d...

Unamuno uses Kant to illustrate his idea that history matters to philosophy. You can hear me read his reflections < here >. Tomad a Kant, al hombre Manuel Kant, que nació y vivió en Koenigsberg, a forales del siglo XVIII y hasta pisar los umbrales del XIX. Hay en la filosofía de este hombre Kant, hombre de corazón y de cabeza, es decir, hombre, un significativo salto, como habría dicho Kierkegaard, otro hombre -¡y tan hombre!-, el salto de la Crítica de la razón pura a la Crítica de la razón práctica . Reconstruye en esta, digan lo que quieran los que no ven al hombre, lo que en aquella abatió, después de haber examinado y pulverizado con su análisis las tradicionales pruebas de la existencia de Dios, del Dios aristotélico, que es el Dios que corresponde al πολιτικὸν ζῷον ; del Dios abstracto, del primer motor inmóvil, vuelve a reconstruir a Dios, pero al Dios de la conciencia, al autor del orden moral, al Dios luterano, en fin. Ese salto de Kant está ya en germen en la noci...

Lord Acton remarked famously that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Marcus Aurelius puts it differently: power pretends, and must manage its pretense carefully. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Παρὰ Φρόντωνος τὸ ἐπιστῆσαι οἵα ἡ τυραννικὴ βασκανία καὶ ποικιλία καὶ ὑπόκρισις, καὶ ὅτι ὡς ἐπίπαν οἱ καλούμενοι οὗτοι παῤ ἡμῖν εὐπατρίδαι ἀστοργότεροί πως εἰσί. From Fronto (†) I learned to recognize that the alchemy of power (‡) demands both subtlety and hypocrisy, and that those we call well-born are generally quite ruthless. --- (†) Marcus Cornelius Fronto was born in the city Cirta, in north Africa, into a family with Roman citizenship. He studied rhetoric as a child with great success, eventually moving to Rome to complete his education and enter public life, where his success as an advocate earned him a large fortune and a consulship. He was generally taken to have no equal in Latin oratory besides Cicero, so it was no surprise wh...

A true friend is one you trust the way you trust yourself. You can listen to me reading this passage < here >. Epistulas ad me perferendas tradidisti, ut scribis, amico tuo; deinde admones me ne omnia cum eo ad te pertinentia communicem, quia non soleas ne ipse quidem id facere: ita eadem epistula illum et dixisti amicum et negasti. Itaque si proprio illo verbo quasi publico usus es et sic illum amicum vocasti quomodo omnes candidatos 'bonos viros' dicimus, quomodo obvios, si nomen non succurrit, 'dominos' salutamus, hac abierit. Sed si aliquem amicum existimas cui non tantundem credis quantum tibi, vehementer erras et non satis nosti vim verae amicitiae. Tu vero omnia cum amico delibera, sed de ipso prius: post amicitiam credendum est, ante amicitiam iudicandum. Isti vero praepostero officia permiscent qui, contra praecepta Theophrasti, cum amaverunt iudicant, et non amant cum iudicaverunt. Diu cogita an tibi in amicitiam aliquis recipiendus sit. Cum p...

How to improve rhetorical style? Alexander the grammarian showed Marcus that the best way to do this is incidentally, by focusing on substance instead. Clarify what you want to say first; don't go directly for style, which will show up better for you as you acquire it naturally, subconsciously, on the way toward clear communication. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Παρὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ γραμματικοῦ τὸ ἀνεπίπληκτον καὶ τὸ μὴ ὀνειδιστικῶς ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι τῶν βάρβαρον ἢ σόλοικόν τι ἢ ἀπηχὲς προενεγκαμένων, ἀλλ̓ ἐπιδεξίως αὐτὸ μόνον ἐκεῖνο ὃ ἔδει εἰρῆσθαι προφέρεσθαι ἐν τρόπῳ ἀποκρίσεως ἢ συνεπιμαρτυρήσεως ἢ συνδιαλήψεως περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πράγματος, οὐχὶ περὶ τοῦ ῥήματος, ἢ δἰ ἑτέρας τινὸς τοιαύτης ἐμμελοῦς παρυπομνήσεως. From Alexander the grammarian (†) I learned to refrain from criticizing language. To avoid blaming a speaker for using barbarous or bad Greek, or for saying something out of place. To offer instead what must be said about the matter at hand by way of...

Unamuno thinks our feelings are more uniquely human than our reason. You can hear me read this passage < here >. El hombre, dicen, es un animal racional. No sé por qué no se haya dicho que es un animal afectivo o sentimental. Y acaso lo que de los demás animales le diferencia sea más el sentimiento que no la razón. Más veces he visto razonar a un gato que no reír o llorar. Acaso llore o ría por dentro, pero por dentro acaso también el cangrejo resuelva ecuaciones de segundo grado. Y así, lo que en un filósofo nos debe más importar es el hombre. Man, they say, is a rational animal. I don't know why they haven't said that he is an emotional or sentimental animal. And it is possible that what differentiates him most from other animals is not reason but sentiment. I have seen cats reason more than I have seem them laughing or crying. Perhaps they cry or laugh within, but then it is also possible that crabs are solving quadratic equations in the...

Exploring the mind of Epicurus with his friend Lucilius, Seneca discovers a prospect overlooking his own approach to wealth: you have to know when to stop acquiring. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Hoc ipse quoque facio; ex pluribus quae legi aliquid apprehendo. Hodiernum hoc est quod apud Epicurum nanctus sum; soleo enim et in aliena castra transire, non tamquam transfuga, sed tamquam explorator. 'Honesta,' inquit, 'res est laeta paupertas.' Illa vero non est paupertas, si laeta est; non qui parum habet, sed qui plus cupit, pauper est. Quid enim refert quantum illi in arca, quantum in horreis iaceat, quantum pascat aut feneret, si alieno imminet, si non acquisita sed acquirenda computat? Quis sit divitiarum modus quaeris? primus habere quod necesse est, proximus quod sat est. Vale. I myself practice this method: each day I choose one thing from the many I have read. Today's reading is something I acquired from Epicurus. I like to wander ...

Another philosopher, Sextus, showed Marcus what life according to nature ( τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ζῆν ) looks like. You can here me read about it < here >. Παρὰ Σέξτου τὸ εὐμενές· καὶ τὸ παράδειγμα τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρονομουμένου· καὶ τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ζῆν· καὶ τὸ σεμνὸν ἀπλάστως· καὶ τὸ στοχαστικὸν τῶν φίλων κηδεμονικῶς· καὶ τὸ ἀνεκτικὸν τῶν ἰδιωτῶν καὶ τῶν ἀθεωρητὶ οἰομένων· καὶ τὸ πρὸς πάντας εὐάρμοστον, ὥστε κολακείας μὲν πάσης προσηνεστέραν εἶναι τὴν ὁμιλίαν αὐτοῦ, αἰδεσιμώτατον δὲ αὐτοῖς ἐκείνοις παῤ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν εἶναι· καὶ τὸ καταληπτικῶς καὶ ὁδῷ ἐξευρετικόν τε καὶ τακτικὸν τῶν εἰς βίον ἀναγκαίων δογμάτων· καὶ τὸ μηδὲ ἔμφασίν ποτε ὀργῆς ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς πάθους παρασχεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἅμα μὲν ἀπαθέστατον εἶναι, ἅμα δὲ φιλοστοργότατον· καὶ τὸ εὔφημον ἀψοφητὶ καὶ τὸ πολυμαθὲς ἀνεπιφάντως. From Sextus (†) I learned kindness. He also showed me an example of how to rule the household as a father. How to think about living in accordance with nature. Reverence without pr...

Unamuno develops further his notion that philosophy is prior to ideas, an instinctual or perceptual sense of the world as a whole, revealed to the individual. You can hear me read this passage < here >. La filosofía responde a la necesidad de formarnos una concepción unitaria y total del mundo y de la vida, y como consecuencia de esa concepción, un sentimiento que engendre una actitud íntima y hasta una acción. Pero resulta que ese sentimiento, en vez de ser consecuencia de aquella concepción, es causa de ella. Nuestra filosofía, esto es, nuestro modo de comprender o de no comprender el mundo y la vida, brota de nuestro sentimiento respecto a la vida misma. Y esta, como todo lo afectivo, tiene raíces subconscientes, inconscientes tal vez. No suelen ser nuestras ideas las que nos hacen optimistas o pesimistas, sino que es nuestro optimismo o nuestro pesimismo, de origen filosófico o patológico quizá, tanto el uno como el otro, el que hace nuestras ideas. ...

A good book is one that you never cease to learn from. And you should read it slowly, savoring it as you would a good meal. You can hear me read this passage < here >.   Non prodest cibus nec corpori accedit qui statim sumptus emittitur; nihil aeque sanitatem impedit quam remediorum crebra mutatio; non venit vulnus ad cicatricem in quo medicamenta temptantur; non convalescit planta quae saepe transfertur; nihil tam utile est ut in transitu prosit. Distringit librorum multitudo; itaque cum legere non possis quantum habueris, satis est habere quantum legas. 'Sed modo,' inquis, 'hunc librum evolvere volo, modo illum.' Fastidientis stomachi est multa degustare; quae ubi varia sunt et diversa, inquinant non alunt. Probatos itaque semper lege, et si quando ad alios deverti libuerit, ad priores redi. Aliquid cotidie adversus paupertatem, aliquid adversus mortem auxili compara, nec minus adversus ceteras pestes; et cum multa percurreris, unum excerpe quod illo...

Rusticus may have been the adult Marcus' preferred philosopher, but he has kind words for another one, too. You can hear me read them < here >. Παρὰ Ἀπολλωνίου τὸ ἐλεύθερον καὶ ἀναμφιβόλως ἀκύβευτον καὶ πρὸς μηδὲν ἄλλο ἀποβλέπειν μηδὲ ἐπ̓ ὀλίγον ἢ πρὸς τὸν λόγον· καὶ τὸ ἀεὶ ὅμοιον, ἐν ἀλγηδόσιν ὀξείαις, ἐν ἀποβολῇ τέκνου, ἐν μακραῖς νόσοις· καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ παραδείγματος ζῶντος ἰδεῖν ἐναργῶς ὅτι δύναται ὁ αὐτὸς σφοδρότατος εἶναι καὶ ἀνειμένος· καὶ τὸ ἐν ταῖς ἐξηγήσεσι μὴ δυσχεραντικόν· καὶ τὸ ἰδεῖν ἄνθρωπον σαφῶς ἐλάχιστον τῶν ἑαυτοῦ καλῶν ἡγούμενον τὴν ἐμπειρίαν καὶ τὴν ἐντρέχειαν τὴν περὶ τὸ παραδιδόναι τὰ θεωρήματα· καὶ τὸ μαθεῖν πῶς δεῖ λαμβάνειν τὰς δοκούσας χάριτας παρὰ φίλων, μήτε ἐξηττώμενον διὰ ταῦτα μήτε ἀναισθήτως παραπέμποντα. From Apollonius (†) I learned freedom and frank discretion (‡), also to keep my gaze fixed relentlessly upon the argument at hand, without deviating even a little. To remain the same person—whether in great physical pain, in the loss of ...

Unamuno sees philosophy as primarily about people rather than ideas. The ideas people hold are for him a function of how they live, who they are as human beings ( de carne y hueso ). Philosophy happens as you express via some signal the ideas you derive from your material life. You can listen to me read this passage < here >. En las más de las historias de la filosofía que conozco se nos presenta a los sistemas como originándose los unos de los otros, y sus autores, los filósofos, apenas aparecen sino como meros pretextos. La íntima biografía de los filósofos, de los hombres que filosofaron, ocupa un lugar secundario. Y es ella, sin embargo, esa íntima biografía la que más cosas nos explica. Cúmplenos decir, ante todo, que la filosofía se acuesta más a la poesía que no a la ciencia. Cuantos sistemas filosóficos se han fraguado como suprema concinación de los resultados finales de las ciencias particulares, en un período cualquiera, han tenido mucha menos consisten...

Seneca advises Lucilius to approach life patiently, with a calm mind. Don't do too many things! That way, you can dedicate yourself better to what you do. You can hear me read his advice < here >. Ex iis quae mihi scribis et ex iis quae audio bonam spem de te concipio: non discurris nec locorum mutationibus inquietaris. Aegri animi ista iactatio est: primum argumentum compositae mentis existimo posse consistere et secum morari. Illud autem vide, ne ista lectio auctorum multorum et omnis generis voluminum habeat aliquid vagum et instabile. Certis ingeniis immorari et innutriri oportet, si velis aliquid trahere quod in animo fideliter sedeat. Nusquam est qui ubique est. Vitam in peregrinatione exigentibus hoc evenit, ut multa hospitia habeant, nullas amicitias; idem accidat necesse est iis qui nullius se ingenio familiariter applicant sed omnia cursim et properantes transmittunt . From what you write and the rumors I hear, I have good hope for you. You are not rushing a...

Marcus Aurelius is famous for being a Stoic. Here we get a glimpse of what Stoicism meant to him, as conveyed by the philosopher who taught him most. You can listen to me read this passage < here >. Παρὰ Ῥουστίκου τὸ λαβεῖν φαντασίαν τοῦ χρῄζειν διορθώσεως καὶ θεραπείας τοῦ ἤθους· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐκτραπῆναι εἰς ζῆλον σοφιστικόν, μηδὲ τὸ συγγράφειν περὶ τῶν θεωρημάτων, ἢ προτρεπτικὰ λογάρια διαλέγεσθαι, ἢ φαντασιοπλήκτως τὸν ἀσκητικὸν ἢ τὸν ἐνεργητικὸν ἄνδρα ἐπιδείκνυσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀποστῆναι ῥητορικῆς καὶ ποιητικῆς καὶ ἀστειολογίας· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐν στολῇ κατ̓ οἶκον περιπατεῖν μηδὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν· καὶ τὸ τὰ ἐπιστόλια ἀφελῶς γράφειν, οἷον τὸ ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ τούτου ἀπὸ Σινοέσσης τῇ μητρί μου γραφέν· καὶ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς χαλεπήναντας καὶ πλημμελήσαντας εὐανακλήτως καὶ εὐδιαλλάκτως, ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα αὐτοὶ ἐπανελθεῖν ἐθελήσωσι, διακεῖσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἀκριβῶς ἀναγινώσκειν καὶ μὴ ἀρκεῖσθαι περινοοῦντα ὁλοσχερῶς μηδὲ τοῖς περιλαλοῦσι ταχέως συγκατατίθεσθαι· καὶ τὸ ἐντυχεῖν τοῖς Ἐπικτητείοις ὑπομνήμασιν, ...

Mankind for Unamuno is individuals , not the collective. Behavior, not ideas. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Porque hay otra cosa, que llaman también hombre, y es el sujeto de no pocas divagaciones más o menos científicas. Y es el bípedo implume de la leyenda, el πολιτικὸν ζῷον de Aristóteles, el contratante social de Rousseau, el homo oeconomicus de los manchesterianos, el homo sapiens de Linneo o, si se quiere, el mamífero vertical. Un hombre que no es de aquí o de allí, ni de esta época o de la otra, que no tiene ni sexo ni patria, una idea, en fin. Es decir, un no hombre. El nuestro es otro, el de carne y hueso; yo, tú, lector mío; aquel otro de más allá, cuantos pensamos sobre la Tierra. Y este hombre concreto, de carne y hueso, es el sujeto y el supremo objeto a la vez de toda filosofía, quiéranlo o no ciertos sedicentes filósofos. There is another thing they call man , and he is the subject of quite a bit of speculation, more or less scie...

Here, at the close of his first epistle, Seneca offers his principle ethic: approach every situation knowing what you must lose--what sacrifice the goddess Fortune demands here, and what resources you have to meet her (chiefly time). If the stakes are too high, don't play. Time is too precious to waste on games you cannot afford to lose. You can hear me read this passage < here >. Interrogabis fortasse quid ego faciam qui tibi ista praecipio. Fatebor ingenue: quod apud luxuriosum sed diligentem evenit, ratio mihi constat impensae. Non possum dicere nihil perdere, sed quid perdam et quare et quemadmodum dicam; causas paupertatis meae reddam. Sed evenit mihi quod plerisque non suo vitio ad inopiam redactis: omnes ignoscunt, nemo succurrit. Quid ergo est? Non puto pauperem cui quantulumcumque superest sat est. Tu tamen malo serves tua, et bono tempore incipies. Nam ut visum est maioribus nostris, sera parsimonia in fundo est. Non enim tantum minimum in imo est, sed pessim...