"No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. ⭐ The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. ⭐ If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind. The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it. And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither. For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man. And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth." ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Kahlil Gibran. (1923). The Prophet (pp52-53). Knopf.

"Shower him with earthly blessings, plunge him so deep into happiness that nothing is visible but the bubbles rising to the surface of his happiness; give him such economic prosperity that he will have nothing left to do but sleep, eat gingerbread and worry about the continuance of world history - and he, I mean man, even then, out of mere ingratitude, out of sheer devilment, will commit some abomination (Dostoevsky, 1864. p38)." What makes you so sure that if you were given what you wanted, that you would be satisfied? We can tell ourselves that when we have a salary of £x, or a relationship, or a career, or live in a certain place that THEN we will be happy. What makes us so sure? What if being dissatisfied is a necessary part of life, even though this defies logic and reason. "In short, anything can be said of world history, anything conceivable even by the most disordered imagination. There is only one thing that you can't say - that it had anything to do with reason. The very first word would choke you (Dostoevsky, 1864. p37)." We like to think our desires are rational, we desire improvement because once we have what we currently do not, we will feel better off. However, look at the history of your own life: you wanted things, be it a grade, or a job, or a relationship, you received it, and now look at you: Despite achieving all of your past reasoned, rational, logical desires, you want more... We don't want sufficiency, we aren't reasonable: We are inherently irrational beings, why is this important to know? Well, firstly understand that what you rationally desire now, you will be irrationally ungrateful for when you pursue the next thing. Secondly, you are an irrational creature, so do not take yourself too seriously. Thirdly, life is irrational, the elements of insanity, randomness, insecurity and vulnerability are what you want, and what you need even, perhaps they are what gives your life meaning. Man would even risk his gingerbread, and desire the most pernicious rubbish, the most uneconomic nonsense, simply and solely in order to introduce into all this good fortune his most fatal element, simply to prove to himself that men are still men and not the keys of a piano.

“In the event that you are haled before someone wielding the reigns of power, remember that there is somebody else looking down from above, and you have to answer first to Him (Discourses 1.30).” I infer that the ‘somebody else looking down from above’ is Epictetus’ conception of God. His message is one of humility. I remember when I first started dating a girl ‘out of my league,’ I’d get the train back home and listen to ‘Legend’ by Drake, emphasising ‘oh my god, oh my god, if I die I’m a legend.’ I remember when I first made money online, I’d play ‘Money in the grave’ by Drake, emphasising ‘when I die put my money in the grave.’ These were strokes of my own ego and pride. It is no wonder my late teen years were so difficult and troublesome: My pride led the way. For the most part I grew out of my own self-aggrandisement. However, this is where Epictetus’ message becomes prevalent. I remember when I was being praised for the complexity of my degree by a Doctor from my gym. That praise struck the wrong chord in me, I worshipped my own intellect, I dropped 47% on my next exam. I remember I was encouraged by my professor to apply for a prestigious Masters. That encouragement struck the wrong chord, again, I worshipped my own intellect, and proceeded to crash out and flop my application. Humble yourself. Or be humbled. I have been called intelligent, driven, strong, successful and wise by people who are more intelligent, more driven, stronger, more successful and wiser than me. THESE are the moments where the ego and pride become dangerous. I feel the urge to worship my own abilities and efforts. When you are ‘haled’ by someone you look up to, it is easy to see yourself on their level: Up: At the top. I have been tempted to forget that there is ‘somebody else looking down from above.’ Even in the last week, catching up with friends and family I look up to, I was being praised for recent developments in my life, and began speaking a little too pridefully for my own liking, taking undue credit for the blessings which have been entrusted to me. Pride is considered the worst of the capital sins since you are momentarily feigning the place of The Highest.

"If you want to arrive at the conclusion that the good man ought not to get drunk: Tell them of all the things men do that they would blush at sober, that drunkenness is nothing but a state of self-induced insanity. For imagine the drunken man's behaviour over several days: would you hesitate to think of him out of his mind? As it is, the difference is simply one of duration, and not degree." ~ Letter LXXXIII However it is not just the drunken mind which we would ought to attribute insanity: If we met a man who was constantly enraged, much like the Hulk, would we hesitate to think him out of his mind? If we met a man who was constantly afraid, a state of constant anxiety, would we hesitate to think him out of his mind? If we met a man who was constantly jealous, exercising continual obsession, would we hesitate to think him out of his mind? Even euphoria. If we met a man who was constantly elated, would we hesitate to think him out of his mind? These emotions are not entirely bad: anger can be righteous, fear - protective, and who doesn't want euphoria? The issue is when these emotions become prolonged, extreme and irrational. Rage, resentment, and anxiety deprive us of reason. I like this frame. Viewing my rage, fear, jealousy and even euphoria as temporary lapses of rationality and reason restores my control. Remember the next time you feel one of these things, perhaps the only difference between you, and a mad-man is just the duration of your emotion and not the degree.

It is through your word that you manifest everything. Your word is your power to create. Be impeccable with your word (The First Agreement). Your word is not just a sound or a written symbol. Your word is a force, it is your power to express and to communicate, to think, and to create events in life. But like a sword with two edges, your word can either create the most beautiful dream or it can destroy the world around you. One edge is the misuse of your word, which will create hell around you, the other edge is the impeccability of your word, which will produce beauty, love and heaven all around you. It is easier to think about how other people’s words influence us; so that we can understand the power of our own word. There are people who we trust because their words have lead us to good outcomes in the past and there are people we trust because we resonate with the emotions in their story. Equally there are people we cannot stand, and even if their advice is well-intentioned and intelligent we will not trust them because their word has betrayed us in the past. A lot of the decisions we make in life hinge off of words. We are told we are intelligent, so we go to university, or believe we can achieve things that are currently out of our reach. We are told we are stupid or selfish and this makes us self-conscious, and fills us with doubt. We have all been inspired by someone’s word. Equally, we have all been discouraged. Once we acknowledge that the words people say shape the reality we exist in, we can be more careful with the things we say ourselves. Our minds are like fertile soil where seeds are planted. The seeds are opinions, ideas and concepts, you plant these seeds and they grow. Seeds are planted in our minds: Seeds such as we have to be rich, fit and relentless to be of any value to people. These seeds are planted in our heads by influencers who aim to make money from us. Just one fear planted in our heads will create a butterfly effect, and change the course of our lives. Influencers will tell you that you need to be rich, unavailable and toxic, that if you are not working you are wasting your time: This will cause you to avoid ‘brain-rot’ pass-times like watching your favourite show or playing your favourite game, will stop you from hanging out with ‘unproductive’ friends you used to cherish, and have a warped perception of relationships. All based off of the influence, and the word of a man in a bathrobe, or a man driving a Bugatti. Be aware of when someone is using their word to cause fear in your life. Whoever controls your fear, controls your actions and they can use nothing more than their words to create this anxiety.