Category Archives: philosophy
7 Pieces of Wisdom from Socrates
7 Pieces of Wisdom from Socrates
- Be Content
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.”
Having a beautiful home and a gorgeous car will not make you content. Contentedness is birth from the inside, it’s a decision, it’s your choice. Things will never make you happy, happiness is a choice. - Faithful are the wounds of a friend
“Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.”
The Scripture says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” A true friend will reprove your faults; they will tell you when you are “out of line.” Be wary of friends, who only say kind words. A true friend will tell you the truth, and often the truth hurts. Socrates said, “Do not be angry with me if I tell you the truth.”
- Study
“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for.”
Do you realize that you can read a book in a few hours and learn what it took someone twenty years to learn. You can literally pick someone’s brain for $19.95. Learn to cultivate the joy of reading, and you will gain with ease what others have sweated for.
- Be by Doing
“To do is to be.”
As the quote goes, “Be the change, you want to see.” Don’t just talk about it, be the example, be the leader. Socrates said, “Let him that would move the world, first move himself.” If you can move yourself, than you will easily move others.
- Gaining a Good Reputation
“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.”
Solomon said, “A good name is better than rubies.” And the way to gain a good name is to be how you want to be perceived. Be, in the dark, the way you want to be perceived in the light. If you can master that, you will never need to worry about your reputation. Socrates said, “It is not living that matters, but living rightly.”
- Avoid False Words
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”
Labor for accuracy in your speech! Don’t stretch the truth, don’t bend the truth, only speak the truth. Exaggerations infect the soul! You can be just as truthful and accurate in your speech as the most honest men who have ever walked the earth.
- Beware of a Busy Life
“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”
If you don’t take anything else away from this article, please remember this question, you should ask yourself this question everyday. The question is, “What am I accomplishing?”
Never get lost in the “busy-ness” of life, avoid all of the distractions and attractions.
Examine your life. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” So ask yourself daily, … not: “What am I doing,” but, “What am I accomplishing?” If you do this, you will begin to awaken to your true potential, you will begin to become who you are.
The idea of good character
The latest issue of Prospect magazine features a thought-provoking article by Richard Reeves on the old-fashioned concept of “good character” and its importance for a successful society.
Reeves says good character is made up of three parts: “a sense of personal agency or self-direction; an acceptance of personal responsibility; and effective regulation of one’s own emotions, in particular the ability to resist temptation or at least defer gratification.”
Reeves discusses whether good characters are harder to come by these days and if so why? The author also identifies the family and good parenting as one of the most important sources of good characters.
Change the rules
The timing is never right: You cannot wait for the optimum time. Waiting for “someday” is a long wait and a waste of time.
Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission: It is easier to stop a horse at the starting line than in mid-course. Don’t give people a chance to stop you. Do it, then justify your actions.
Emphasize strengths, don’t fix weaknesses: If you spend the majority of your time trying to perfect the things you are lousy at, your overall achievement will be mediocre. Do what you are good at and perfect that strength—delegate the rest.
Money alone is not the solution: Money can, and does, help you pursue those things or activities that make you happy but it is not an end unto itself.
Relative income is more important than absolute income: Absolute income is statistically based on the dollar. Relative income is based on the dollar AND time. The more time it takes you to earn that dollar, the less value that dollar has.
Distress is bad, Eustress is good: Distress is harmful, it makes you weaker, less confident, and less able; It is usually created through destructive criticism. Eustress is healthy stress, contributing to personal growth and is created through constructive criticism. The trick is in learning (and recognizing) the difference between the two.
Five Frogs on a Log
Gary Feld shares this interesting analogy by Lewis Jaffe:
“…If there are five frogs on a log and four decide to jump off, how many frogs remain on the log.” Of course – the instinctive answer of “one” is wrong. Five frogs actually remain on the log, as deciding to jump and jumping are different things.
In an entrepreneurial context, intentionality is important, but results are what really matter. Lewis reinforced this in a memorable way – as the point he was making is “just because you decide, doesn’t mean you do.” He stressed that one of the main problems he sees early in his tenure as CEO of a company that is failing is paralysis – everyone has ideas about what to do, but no one is willing or able to do them.
Remember – just because a frog decides to jump, doesn’t mean he will. Be careful not to confuse intentionality with results in your business (or your life.)
Be Remarkable
Don’t be afraid to embrace change, to do things a little differently than you did before. Trust yourself, that is the starting point.
5 years ago, I developed a five-year plan for my life and career. As I reflect on the past 5 years I realize that along the way, several things happened that I did not expect. However, I embraced these unexpected events in a way that helped me to see them as opportunities rather than stumbling blocks. This has made all the difference.
What is Philosophy?
The Department at Victoria University at Wellington has compiled an interesting set of reflections by contemporary and 20th-century figures in answer to the Question: What is Philosophy?
My favorite:
Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never travelled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect. [Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy]
To Love is to be Vulnerable
“Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket–safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” -C. S. Lewis
Realism and Perception
In 1927 Werner Heisenberg shocked the world of classical physics by claiming that when we measure the world, we change it. He called this the uncertainty principle. This concept gave the scientific community credibility with what philosophers had gradually come to understand over the preceding hundred years: Human beings cannot ever know what is “really real”. We participate more deeply than we imagine in shaping the world that we perceive.
Philosophers have coined the term “naïve realism” as the world view that defines reality as a given entity outside our perception and see language as the tool through which we describe this external reality. But Heisenberg suggests that whenever we articulate what we see, our language interacts with our direct experiences. Therefore, the “reality” we bring forth arises from this interaction.
In a sense, we tend to confuse the maps for the territory. We develop a sense of certainty about our perceived reality that robs us of the capacity to wonder and develop new interpretations and new possibilities for action. Who we are becomes our beliefs and our views. This is why some people will defend an attack on their beliefs as if it were an attack on them. When I’m confronted with multiple interpretations of “reality” I seek those that are most useful to a particular purpose, understanding that there’s no ultimately “correct” interpretation and value can be derived from a multiplicity of views.
