When I was a little girl my father used to read Marcus Aurelius to us at the dinner table. Both of my parents subscribed to stoicism.
I know stoicism is having a moment, but, it never worked for me and only made me alienated from own emotional being, which I find to be the truest part of myself.
But Ben Franklin did inspire me to keep notebooks full of quotes and poems that I found to be either meaningful, or inspiring in that, there was a quality that I wanted to incorporate into my own character.
As I grew into adulthood, I got busy, and spent many years in hot screaming love with what I thought might be destiny, as all of those quotes and poems got tested out in real life, and I began to learn who I really was, when the rubber met the road.
I often fell short.
Even so, along the way other adults, older adults, people I came to consider mentors, also passed on to me the things they'd learned that worked for them. Here are a few of them:
1. You can't get anyone to love you, really at all. Either they do, or they don't. And you sure can't get anyone to love you by giving them more of what they already don't appreciate.
2. People make time for the things they want to do, and excuses for the things they don't want to do.
3. Everyone you meet is a mirror for you, and you are also one for them. If you dislike them, they're showing you something that you don't like in yourself. If they like you, you're showing them something they either like in themselves, or would wish to have in their own character. Try and keep your mirror as clear as possible, and remember that we all are driven by our own insides. Often, when someone is ugly, it was never about you - it was about what's going on inside of them.
4. "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate". - Carl Jung
5. “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The cave you're afraid to enter holds the treasure you seek." - Joseph Campbell
6. Sometimes, you just have to put your head down, and hoe corn. - My maternal Grandfather, Grover Cleveland Gresham, Masonic Bother, Compass Lodge A.F.&A.M., Parkvillle, Missouri.
Yeah, I know that stoicism is really popular right now, but I don't think it's for me either. Too much of the romantic mystic in my character to make a good stoic. That said, I am finding some real gems in the Meditations.
My wife worked for the court for over 15 years. She had a saying that would fit this app, “Little green bugs find little green bugs”. It’s why we never run out of little green bugs.
The Starting Six are maxims, aphorisms or reminders I review in the morning. I use them for various habits or traits to reinforce more of *this* in my life, and less of *that.*
When I finally make one automatic-ish, I drop it to make room for another.
Feynman’s Twelve Questions (after the physicist): what twelve problems am I trying to solve?
I review them often. They remind my subconscious to take what it can from the day’s input to solve various challenges.
Yesterday was a long day of Masonic events. One conversation at your dining table (thanks again for the hospitality!) with a Brother I’d never met before, helped me with an unrelated community event I work on. He doesn’t even know that; we were talking about a project of his.
1. All politicians lie, they lie about everything, all the time.
2. Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often and for the same reason.
3. If a politician ends a term or terms with their wealth increased by more than 50% you can be sure they were taking bribes, or doing insider trading.
4. A politician may start out actually believing in and wanting to do the things they say, but with every deal, every trade of votes, they give away a little bit of their soul. The longer they’ve been at the game without a break, the more sure you can be that they’ve sold their soul for power.
5. Never create a political weapon that you don’t want to hand to your enemy to use against you. You will not be in power forever no matter what, and they will do on to you as you have done on to them, only they’ll have had the time to perfect it.
6. Gold is a very malleable metal. Every hand that touches it, a little rubs off. For this reason, never put more people between the generator of gold, and the desired recipient. Do things at the lowest level possible.
7. The more words meaning freedom in the name of a country, the less freedom in the country. This is IRON CLAD.
8. Never say anything in print, by text, or any electronic media that you aren’t willing to discuss in court, and have tied to your name on the internet forever.
Lehman's laws of Tool use:
1. The nearest tool to the mechanic's hand, becomes as if by magic, a hammer.
2. using the right tool precludes injuries.
3. using the wrong tool is much faster
4. when buying something you're not sure which things you need {like router bits} buy a cheep full set. If you wear one out, replace it with the best one you can afford, you use it a lot.
5. in general, buy the best you can afford, use it until it breaks, then replace it with the best you can afford.
And I agree, without a doubt... A person who enters politics poor or middle class, and leaves politics rich is a crook. For the salaries are far too low to ever get rich upon. In my experience there is very little bribery type corruption in our system. Insider trading or otherwise benefiting personally from things one funds are the main ways the system is gamed.
I was taught when doing A TV interview to use his many soundbites as possible. News and TV is measured in minutes and seconds. You have to say a lot with just a few words. Today’s maxims!
I never heard of the 'pagan pope' title. I like that. Marcus Aurelius is a name I'm familiar with but after refreshing my memory with Wikipedia, I need to read more of his works. Here is a guy that grew up with Manicheisn, Neoplatinism, Eastern Catholicism edification- but developed his own set of ethics. I like that too. I also have a lengthy background of Gnostic persuasion, as those with Marcus. If Free Masonry ever became a public institution, this topic, I believe, should be class #1. We're are all different but need a code of conduct. Personal ethics is the grey area we should define for ourselves. I've not set ink on paper what my ethics are, but that will be my goal before 2025.
Yeah, he was Pontiff of the Roman State Religion when the Christians were still being persecuted by Rome. Pontifex Maximus. Roman Catholic Popes have carried those same ancient titles forward.
I'm not sure how much Eastern Catholic thought would have impacted Aurelius. It's my understanding that official persecution of Christians was in place under his rule.
We all have lines drawn in the sand that we live by. Mine are my many Oaths and Promises that I have given to my God, my family and my Ancient Craft. I am human and I struggle with the lines I have drawn never to cross, but I try very hard to follow my path on this earthly plain. Keep on fighting on!
That a man occasionally fails to live up to the standards he sets for himself is not a sign that he's a bad man in my view. Rather it is the striving, despite occasional failure that makes him a good man.
I like to think of myself as a farmer. But, I've made my living with my words for most of my adult life. And I don't think that the herd of squirrels I feed in my front yard every morning really count as livestock, despite the claims I make to my wife. 🐿
HA! I think lived by his maxim those who talk find that trust wasn't freely given by my dad. It was earned. You'd find you'd have some work do to. But once given, you got every thing. He was a kind man, and absolutely loyal. Unfortunately he passed a few years ago. RIP dad. Damned Covid. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009025057459
Farmers are "the salt of the earth" , they all share a love of growing things, feeding people and of course they are jacks of all trades. I find most of them to be kind and a caring sort of people. "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" Be kind, and be wary. Matthew 5:13
When I was a little girl my father used to read Marcus Aurelius to us at the dinner table. Both of my parents subscribed to stoicism.
I know stoicism is having a moment, but, it never worked for me and only made me alienated from own emotional being, which I find to be the truest part of myself.
But Ben Franklin did inspire me to keep notebooks full of quotes and poems that I found to be either meaningful, or inspiring in that, there was a quality that I wanted to incorporate into my own character.
As I grew into adulthood, I got busy, and spent many years in hot screaming love with what I thought might be destiny, as all of those quotes and poems got tested out in real life, and I began to learn who I really was, when the rubber met the road.
I often fell short.
Even so, along the way other adults, older adults, people I came to consider mentors, also passed on to me the things they'd learned that worked for them. Here are a few of them:
1. You can't get anyone to love you, really at all. Either they do, or they don't. And you sure can't get anyone to love you by giving them more of what they already don't appreciate.
2. People make time for the things they want to do, and excuses for the things they don't want to do.
3. Everyone you meet is a mirror for you, and you are also one for them. If you dislike them, they're showing you something that you don't like in yourself. If they like you, you're showing them something they either like in themselves, or would wish to have in their own character. Try and keep your mirror as clear as possible, and remember that we all are driven by our own insides. Often, when someone is ugly, it was never about you - it was about what's going on inside of them.
4. "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate". - Carl Jung
5. “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The cave you're afraid to enter holds the treasure you seek." - Joseph Campbell
6. Sometimes, you just have to put your head down, and hoe corn. - My maternal Grandfather, Grover Cleveland Gresham, Masonic Bother, Compass Lodge A.F.&A.M., Parkvillle, Missouri.
Yeah, I know that stoicism is really popular right now, but I don't think it's for me either. Too much of the romantic mystic in my character to make a good stoic. That said, I am finding some real gems in the Meditations.
As I went through my career at the Sheriff’s Office I tried to instill these two maxims to all the “newbies” that came to work.
“The jail is not a dating pool”
“Crazy sex is fun, then it’s just crazy”
In that case, I think that you just might enjoy this essay I ran across yesterday!
https://wildingout.substack.com/p/let-your-red-freak-flag-fly-on-the
My wife worked for the court for over 15 years. She had a saying that would fit this app, “Little green bugs find little green bugs”. It’s why we never run out of little green bugs.
There we go! 🤣
I have six and twelve.
The Starting Six are maxims, aphorisms or reminders I review in the morning. I use them for various habits or traits to reinforce more of *this* in my life, and less of *that.*
When I finally make one automatic-ish, I drop it to make room for another.
Feynman’s Twelve Questions (after the physicist): what twelve problems am I trying to solve?
I review them often. They remind my subconscious to take what it can from the day’s input to solve various challenges.
Yesterday was a long day of Masonic events. One conversation at your dining table (thanks again for the hospitality!) with a Brother I’d never met before, helped me with an unrelated community event I work on. He doesn’t even know that; we were talking about a project of his.
I think that practices like those are really solid habits to get into. A form of alchemy, bringing forth change within ourselves and around ourselves.
Thank you for spending the day of Masonry with us. It was great getting to spend some time with you!
I have a running collection of "Lehman's rules"
Lehman’s laws of politics
1. All politicians lie, they lie about everything, all the time.
2. Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often and for the same reason.
3. If a politician ends a term or terms with their wealth increased by more than 50% you can be sure they were taking bribes, or doing insider trading.
4. A politician may start out actually believing in and wanting to do the things they say, but with every deal, every trade of votes, they give away a little bit of their soul. The longer they’ve been at the game without a break, the more sure you can be that they’ve sold their soul for power.
5. Never create a political weapon that you don’t want to hand to your enemy to use against you. You will not be in power forever no matter what, and they will do on to you as you have done on to them, only they’ll have had the time to perfect it.
6. Gold is a very malleable metal. Every hand that touches it, a little rubs off. For this reason, never put more people between the generator of gold, and the desired recipient. Do things at the lowest level possible.
7. The more words meaning freedom in the name of a country, the less freedom in the country. This is IRON CLAD.
8. Never say anything in print, by text, or any electronic media that you aren’t willing to discuss in court, and have tied to your name on the internet forever.
Lehman's laws of Tool use:
1. The nearest tool to the mechanic's hand, becomes as if by magic, a hammer.
2. using the right tool precludes injuries.
3. using the wrong tool is much faster
4. when buying something you're not sure which things you need {like router bits} buy a cheep full set. If you wear one out, replace it with the best one you can afford, you use it a lot.
5. in general, buy the best you can afford, use it until it breaks, then replace it with the best you can afford.
I like em'!
And I agree, without a doubt... A person who enters politics poor or middle class, and leaves politics rich is a crook. For the salaries are far too low to ever get rich upon. In my experience there is very little bribery type corruption in our system. Insider trading or otherwise benefiting personally from things one funds are the main ways the system is gamed.
I was taught when doing A TV interview to use his many soundbites as possible. News and TV is measured in minutes and seconds. You have to say a lot with just a few words. Today’s maxims!
Excellent point!
Thank you!
I never heard of the 'pagan pope' title. I like that. Marcus Aurelius is a name I'm familiar with but after refreshing my memory with Wikipedia, I need to read more of his works. Here is a guy that grew up with Manicheisn, Neoplatinism, Eastern Catholicism edification- but developed his own set of ethics. I like that too. I also have a lengthy background of Gnostic persuasion, as those with Marcus. If Free Masonry ever became a public institution, this topic, I believe, should be class #1. We're are all different but need a code of conduct. Personal ethics is the grey area we should define for ourselves. I've not set ink on paper what my ethics are, but that will be my goal before 2025.
Also. I wanted to ask, where specifically can I find Marcus Aurelius code if ethics, that you mentioned?
I don't know that he would have called it a code of ethics. Today it is known as the 'Meditations.'
You can snag a copy here:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-meditations-the-complete-12-books-marcus-aurelius-antoninus/952525
Don't be alarmed when you see it described as the complete 12 books. Those twelve combined just make a fairly standard sized paperback.
Yeah, he was Pontiff of the Roman State Religion when the Christians were still being persecuted by Rome. Pontifex Maximus. Roman Catholic Popes have carried those same ancient titles forward.
I'm not sure how much Eastern Catholic thought would have impacted Aurelius. It's my understanding that official persecution of Christians was in place under his rule.
I'm an idiot, I think I Wikipedia'd Augustine of Hippo instead of Marcus Aurelius.
😁🐿😁
We all have lines drawn in the sand that we live by. Mine are my many Oaths and Promises that I have given to my God, my family and my Ancient Craft. I am human and I struggle with the lines I have drawn never to cross, but I try very hard to follow my path on this earthly plain. Keep on fighting on!
That a man occasionally fails to live up to the standards he sets for himself is not a sign that he's a bad man in my view. Rather it is the striving, despite occasional failure that makes him a good man.
Lord knows, I've stumbled often enough.
My dad had a maxim that he lived by and imparted it to my brothers and I. One that sticks in the back of my head in business, church, lodge, etc.
He was a Farmer, and a blue collar Electrician, working in a plant. The man could rig, fabricate, design circuits. Worked with his hands.
"Never trust a man who speaks for his bread"
I always took that to mean:
Lawyers, Preachers, Politicians...
I added to it:
"Trust is at it's cheapest, only once."
As Thomas Jefferson once said, “Never trust quotes you find on the internet.”
Damn Straight!
I'm not sure how I would rate under that maxim! 😁
I like to think of myself as a farmer. But, I've made my living with my words for most of my adult life. And I don't think that the herd of squirrels I feed in my front yard every morning really count as livestock, despite the claims I make to my wife. 🐿
HA! I think lived by his maxim those who talk find that trust wasn't freely given by my dad. It was earned. You'd find you'd have some work do to. But once given, you got every thing. He was a kind man, and absolutely loyal. Unfortunately he passed a few years ago. RIP dad. Damned Covid. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009025057459
Thank you for sharing his memory page with me. I appreciate having an opportunity to learn a little about your dad this morning.
I lost mine a couple of years before your dad's passing, an accident on our farm. Interestingly, the two of them kind of look alike.
Farmers are "the salt of the earth" , they all share a love of growing things, feeding people and of course they are jacks of all trades. I find most of them to be kind and a caring sort of people. "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" Be kind, and be wary. Matthew 5:13