Plutarch
Plutarch: On Contentedness of Mind
Should we be surprised that society two thousand years ago carried many of the same burdens and struggles of the human condition that we wrestle with today? Plutarch’s writing may have established him as a leading thinker during the Roman Empire, but his philosophy is no less relevant as a guide to our modern living. Throughout On Contentedness of Mind, a collection of nine essays on questions of ethics and wisdom, it’s hard to not be stuck by the approachability of Plutarch’s insight
In this 193 page book compiled by Levenger, Plutarch gives us a guide to elements of our human nature including emotional stability, peace of mind, listening vs. speaking, and self-awareness. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson writes in the introduction, Plutarch’s popularity was found in his humanity as “a man of society, of affairs; upright, practical; a good son, husband, father, and friend – he has a taste for common life, and knows the court, the camp and the judgment hall, but also the forge, farm, kitchen and cellar, and with a wise man’s or a poet’s eye.”
In On Contentedness of Mind you’ll discover such insights as:
“If you say your enemy is uneducated, increase your own love of learning; if you call him a coward, stir up the more your own spirit and manliness.”
“Those who wish to lead a good life ought to have genuine friends or red-hot enemies; for the former deter you from what was wrong by reproof, the latter by abuse.”
“Those who have enjoyed a truly noble and royal education learn first to be silent and then to speak.”
“Turn your curiosity so as to look inwards: if you delight to study the history of evils, you have copious material at home.”
“The inclination to hurt others gets its greater strength from greater weakness.”
