May

31st
WE HAVE BUT ONE OBLIGATION

“What is your vocation? To be a good person.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, M EDITATIONS, 11.5

The Stoics believed, above all else, that our job on this earth is to be a good human being. It is a basic
duty, yet we are experts at coming up with excuses for avoiding it.
To quote Belichick again: “Do your job.”
 JUNE

PROBLEM SOLVING
 June 1st
ALWAYS HAVE A MENTAL REVERSE CLAUSE

“Indeed, no one can thwart the purposes of your mind—for they can’t be touched by fire, steel,
tyranny, slander, or anything.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, M EDITATIONS, 8.41

O bstacles are a part of life—things happen, stuff gets in our way, situations go awry. But nothing can
stop the Stoic mind when it’s operating properly, because in every course of action, it has retained
“a reverse clause.”
What’s that? It’s a backup option. If a friend betrays us, our reverse clause is to learn from how this
happened and how to forgive this person’s mistake. If we’re thrown in prison, our reverse clause is that
we can refuse to be broken by this change of events and try to be of service to our fellow prisoners. When
a technical glitch erases our work, our reverse clause is that we can start fresh and do it better this time.
Our progress can be impeded or disrupted, but the mind can always be changed—it retains the power to
redirect the path.
Part of this is remembering the usual course of things—Murphy’s Law states that “if anything can go
wrong, it will.” So we keep this reverse clause handy because we know we’re probably going to have to
use it. No one can thwart that.
 June 2nd
PLATO’S VIEW

“How beautifully Plato put it. Whenever you want to talk about people, it’s best to take a bird’s-
eye view and see everything all at once—of gatherings, armies, farms, weddings and divorces,
births and deaths, noisy courtrooms or silent spaces, every foreign people, holidays, memorials,
markets—all blended together and arranged in a pairing of opposites.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, M EDITATIONS, 7.48

T here is a beautiful dialogue called “Icaromenippus, an Aerial Expedition” by the poet Lucian in
which the narrator is given the ability to fly and sees the world from above. Turning his eyes
earthward, he sees how comically small even the richest people, the biggest estates, and entire empires
look from above. All their battles and concerns were made petty in perspective.
In ancient times, this exercise was only theoretical—the highest anyone could get was the top of a
mountain or a building a few stories tall. But as technology has progressed, humans have been able to
actually take that bird’s-eye view—and greater.
Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut, was one of the first people to see the earth from outer space. As he later
recounted:

“In outer space you develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense
dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out
there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff
of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a
bitch.’”

Many a problem can be solved with the perspective of Plato’s view. Use it.
 June 3rd
IT IS WELL TO BE FLEXIBLE

“He can’t serve in the military? Let him seek public office. Must he live in the private sector? Let
him be a spokesperson. Is he condemned to silence? Let him aid his fellow citizens by silent
public witness. Is it dangerous to enter the Forum? Let him display himself, in private homes, at
public events and gatherings, as a good associate, faithful friend, and moderate tablemate. Has
he lost the duties of a citizen? Let him exercise those of a human being.”
—SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF M IND, 4.3

S hortly before his death, as victory in the Civil War was finally within his grasp, Lincoln told a story
to an audience of generals and admirals about a man who had approached him for a high-ranking
government appointment. First, the man asked if he might be made a foreign minister. Upon being turned
down, the man asked for a more modest position. Upon being turned down again, he asked for a job as a
low-level customs officer. Finding he could not get even that, he finally just asked Lincoln for an old pair
of trousers. “Ah,” Lincoln laughed as he concluded the story, “it is well to be humble.”
This story embodies the flexibility and determination of Stoicism. If we can’t do this, then perhaps we
can try that. And if we can’t do that, then perhaps we can try some other thing. And if that thing is
impossible, there is always another. Even if that final thing is just being a good human being—we always
have some opportunity to practice our philosophy, to make some contribution.