The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 19
October 31st - You were Born Good
"The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue."
- Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 2.7.1-2
"All of us have been made by nature" Rufus said, "so that we can live free from error and nobly - not that one can and another can't, but all."
From the Author:
"The notion of original sin has weighed down humankind for centuries. In reality, we're made to help each other and be good to each other, We wouldn't have survived as a species otherwise."
I think it's important to note the last sentence, despite all the horrible ways people treat others, from positions of assumed/non consensual authority (Which makes it's way into media seemingly more than good), the fact we've lasted so long is the majority population will come together for mutual benefit and coordinate peacefully with one another. The majority of people are good, with perhaps a small minority being selfish, and another small minority being outright evil.
I like "Bill and Ted"'s saying "Be excellent to each other". Excellency isn't just a higher 'tier' of goodness, but encompasses striving to do the best you can by another.
"You were born with an attraction to virtue and self-mastery. If you've gotten far from that, it's not out of some inborn corruption but from a nurturing of the wrong things and the wrong ideas."
Many are led astray from the path of goodness, of excellency, to their own lives and to their interactions with others. Virtue has been spun, perverted perhaps. Or maybe in a Libertarian way, it's only expanded, but I think virtue as we see it (to use a very common phrase - 'Virtue Signalling') is not what real virtue is. Real virtue isn't blind to truth, ignorant to nature, or 'forcing square pegs into round holes'. When it comes to whats true, and what comes from nature, we must not just accept everything as virtuous, but I think we must always be excellent to each other.
Shevacai
npub19u…wgppv
2023-10-31 12:55:04
Author Public Key
npub19ut4lep53ax69ks406zdzxd4zewgg4v3trnyw20lqzck89r33wls3wgppvPublished at
2023-10-31 12:55:04Event JSON
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"content": "The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living\n\nDay 19\n\nOctober 31st - You were Born Good\n\n\"The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue.\"\n\n- Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 2.7.1-2\n\n\"All of us have been made by nature\" Rufus said, \"so that we can live free from error and nobly - not that one can and another can't, but all.\"\n\nFrom the Author:\n\n\"The notion of original sin has weighed down humankind for centuries. In reality, we're made to help each other and be good to each other, We wouldn't have survived as a species otherwise.\"\n\nI think it's important to note the last sentence, despite all the horrible ways people treat others, from positions of assumed/non consensual authority (Which makes it's way into media seemingly more than good), the fact we've lasted so long is the majority population will come together for mutual benefit and coordinate peacefully with one another. The majority of people are good, with perhaps a small minority being selfish, and another small minority being outright evil.\n\nI like \"Bill and Ted\"'s saying \"Be excellent to each other\". Excellency isn't just a higher 'tier' of goodness, but encompasses striving to do the best you can by another. \n\n\"You were born with an attraction to virtue and self-mastery. If you've gotten far from that, it's not out of some inborn corruption but from a nurturing of the wrong things and the wrong ideas.\"\n\nMany are led astray from the path of goodness, of excellency, to their own lives and to their interactions with others. Virtue has been spun, perverted perhaps. Or maybe in a Libertarian way, it's only expanded, but I think virtue as we see it (to use a very common phrase - 'Virtue Signalling') is not what real virtue is. Real virtue isn't blind to truth, ignorant to nature, or 'forcing square pegs into round holes'. When it comes to whats true, and what comes from nature, we must not just accept everything as virtuous, but I think we must always be excellent to each other. ",
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