JP: 5 - (Deca)Daily Stoic: Wisdom for Every (10) Day(s)

 All, 

I hope everyone's week has been good. I, once again, just got off a  50 hour work week with about 4.5 hours of average sleep a night. My brain is mush and I am tired, but that's the most fun time to get stuff done. Just due to working nonstop I do not have a topic to write about along with the deca-daily so today will just be another quote. I look forward to doing an effortpost on my next blog day. 

April 11th, 2025

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN, BE HUMBLE

         "Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows. "

― Epictetus, Discourses, 2.17.1

 What is means: " Of all the Stoics, Epictetus is the closet one to a true teacher. He had a school. He hosted classes. In fact, his wisdom is passed down to us through a student who took really good lecture notes. One of the things that frustrated Epictetus about philosophy students - and has frustrated all college professors since time began - is how students claim to want to be taught but really secretly believe they already know everything. The reality is that we're all guilty of thinkin we know it all, and we'd learn more if we could set that attitude aside. As smart or successful as we may be, there is always someone who is smarter, more successful, and wiser than us. Emerson put it well: "Every man I meet is my master in some point, and in that I learn of him." If you want to learn, if you want to improve in your life, seeking out teachers, philosophers, and great books is a good start. But this approach will only be effective if you're humble and ready to let go of opinions you already have."

Your Authors Take: I have a very simple take on this one. Kill your ego and realize that everyone you meet can teach you something. Also, realize when someone is better at something and learn from them instead of getting upset. I highly recommend Jiu Jitsu as a way to practice this. There is no sport on the planet more humbling than it. No matter how good you get, there will always be someone who is better and will beat you up so bad it will be like you've never trained. This is a good thing though because you learn through that failure. You do now know something until you do. Anyway, the point is, accept the help of others and above all things, make sure that you know what you do not know. 

Thank you all