It seems that no matter the time period or cultural context, "self-help" genre texts tend to boil down to the same basic principle: stop dreading and desiring things you have little control over and maybe you won't be so damn miserable.
A few bits of the Enchiridion read a little like Eastern philosophy except way more centered on self (Westerners, am I right?). Some of its points could perhaps be better contextualized.
"If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies."Damn, that's cold, Epictetus. I swear like half of this thing just talks about how you should chill if your family dies.
"If a horse should be prideful and say, 'I am handsome,' it would be supportable.""Supportable" seems like an understatement for describing a talking horse.
"You must drink no cold water, nor sometimes even wine."This is describing what you should do if you are training to win the Olympics. Am I reading wrong or is this insinuating that wine is a more appropriate beverage for an athlete than cold water?
"Don't allow your laughter be much, nor on many occasions, nor profuse."Straight up terrible advice.
"If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don't make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: 'He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these.'"I think this is supposed to mean you should be humble, but it kind of reads as trolling idk.
"Women from fourteen years old are flattered with the title of 'mistresses' by the men. Therefore, perceiving that they are regarded only as qualified to give the men pleasure, they begin to adorn themselves, and in that to place ill their hopes. We should, therefore, fix our attention on making them sensible that they are valued for the appearance of decent, modest and discreet behavior."wat
"It is a mark of want of genius to spend much time in things relating to the body, as to be long in our exercises, in eating and drinking, and in the discharge of other animal functions."Is he seriously saying that only dumbasses take a long time to poop? We're done here. 1/10 stars.
Word Count: 7,392 (I feel like this blog is a testament to my short attention span.)
Sara's Total Points: 166,667
2 comments:
Did you read this because they mention it in Adventure Time? Man you must be disappointed.
No, I read it because people talk about it like it's the Tao Te Ching. It is not the Tao Te Ching.
Enchiridion just means "handbook."
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