The importance of stoicism

[HellRell804]

In modern society, guided mostly by the media (who have their own agenda), our view of masculinity often ends up as a caricature. Its all about mindless aggression and brute force. What is never discussed when talking about masculinity is stoicism.

sto·i·cism
ˈstōəˌsizəm/
noun

1. 1.
   the endurance of pain or hardship without a display of feelings and without complaint.
   synonyms: patience, forbearance, resignation,fortitude, endurance, acceptance,tolerance, phlegm
   "she accepted her sufferings with remarkable stoicism"
2. 2.
   an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge, and that the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.

Stoicism is absolutely vital in becoming a successful, well rounded man. The ability to not let your emotions sway you into destructive actions is what separates men from women. Having a clear head allows you to properly assess any situation and make appropriate choices.

Stoicism has been demonized as men who "aren't in touch with their feelings" and "bottling up emotions", but I counter that its the opposite. Your emotions will always exist, but stoicism is the process of accepting reality. If its something you can change, you can develop a proper course of action, if it can't be changed there's no use worrying about it.

I implore young men to take some time out of everyday to silently reflect. "Wearing your heart on your sleeve" only makes you easier to manipulate and prone to rash decisions.

For the religious brehs, I'll close with a prayer that really helped me out during tough times, and is basically stoicism in a nutshell...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"

 

[PhonZhi]

Damn breh, you be dropping jewels lowkey

 

[Sterling Archer]

:yeschild:

 

[phobos:\\]

Always disliked stoic philosophy. They believe in "whatever happens, happens". The philosophy is grounded in taking the world as is and not changing it as your attempts are futile. So just be passive according to the stoics.

Passions are necessary, however, rationality should be used to operate in the world. Rationalism is the ideal philosophy to live by as it incorporates some stoic ideology. Some adherents of rationalism believe in working to manipulate or control nature which runs counter to stoic ideology.

 

[HellRell804]

Always disliked stoic philosophy. They believe in "whatever happens, happens". The philosophy is grounded in taking the world as is and not changing it as your attempts are futile. So just be passive according to the stoics.

Passions are necessary, however, rationality should be used to operate in the world. Rationalism is the ideal philosophy to live by as it incorporates some stoic ideology. Some adherents of rationalism believe in working to manipulate or control nature which runs counter to stoic ideology.

You might have a point. I'll have to read up on rationalism

 

[BrandonBanks]

This is true. I'm saying it from experience.

 

[George's Dilemma]

Highly recommend. Bought this several years ago after stumbling across a mention of stoicism. Some gems in here, especially if you're an emotional type.

 

[Adidacs]

stoicism isn't something you fake though

you're stoic, or you aren't

 

[Voice of Reason]

In modern society, guided mostly by the media (who have their own agenda), our view of masculinity often ends up as a caricature. Its all about mindless aggression and brute force. What is never discussed when talking about masculinity is stoicism.

sto·i·cism
ˈstōəˌsizəm/
noun

1. 1.
   the endurance of pain or hardship without a display of feelings and without complaint.
   synonyms: patience, forbearance, resignation,fortitude, endurance, acceptance,tolerance, phlegm
   "she accepted her sufferings with remarkable stoicism"
2. 2.
   an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge, and that the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.

Stoicism is absolutely vital in becoming a successful, well rounded man. The ability to not let your emotions sway you into destructive actions is what separates men from women. Having a clear head allows you to properly assess any situation and make appropriate choices.

Stoicism has been demonized as men who "aren't in touch with their feelings" and "bottling up emotions", but I counter that its the opposite. Your emotions will always exist, but stoicism is the process of accepting reality. If its something you can change, you can develop a proper course of action, if it can't be changed there's no use worrying about it.

I implore young men to take some time out of everyday to silently reflect. "Wearing your heart on your sleeve" only makes you easier to manipulate and prone to rash decisions.

For the religious brehs, I'll close with a prayer that really helped me out during tough times, and is basically stoicism in a nutshell...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"

I think fundamentally as men we need a vision and purpose in our lives that drives us. Alot of modern men don't know their purpose and thus are directionless.

 

[TEH]

Subbing

 

[Black Cobain]

I've been more partial to watered down Epicurianism myself, happiness in moderation without any inconvenience

 

[Tombstone]

Ya'll should read. Great book and has a lot of quotes and principles I believe men should live by

 

[AFRAM GLORY]

Definitely not the most positive example but marlo stansfield
comes to mind

 

[George's Dilemma]

I started exploring stoicism several years ago and one of the key points that stood out to me was the control of one's emotions. I think Black people, especially men can stand to benefit from Stoic thinking and application. Thats especially so in consideration of this country's mood. We cannot afford to lose our head because the consequences can be deadly with ramifications beyond ourselves. Especially in this non thinking social media age. Dealing with police, Trump supporter types, savages that share our skin tone, coworkers who we otherwise would have nothing to do with, etc., If you're not careful you can jeopardize your freedom and even your life. Even worse, you can hurt your family, your parents, children, all because you lost your head for a brief moment. One minute of reaction can ruin your life and make life difficult on your wife, children, parents, community, etc..

That's why I really dig the following quotes from Epictetus,

That's why I dig the following quotes from Epictetus.

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.


Its not about what someone said to you, but how you handled it. To me the key question is whether your reaction benefited you or not?

 

[George's Dilemma]

Ya'll should read. Great book and has a lot of quotes and principles I believe men should live by

I have this, one thing that kinda disturbed me was another book, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. Reading about Aurelius punishing folks by having them sewn within animal carcasses had me

But that made me think, that's the dark side of Stoicism. One can control their emotions even when administering punishment. To suppress empathy and discard humanity in the name of judicial principal, is some cold sh!t. It kinda creates a paradox in that Stoicism is about being even tempered but that same lack of passion as some might define it, can be applied to brutality. Which is terrifying IMO.