Read Socrates
Du Junfei
1
The most precious thing in the world is not "not to get" and "to lose", but to be able to grasp the happiness that can be grasped now.
- Socrates
Du Junfei Read:
It is not that we do not cherish the present for no reason.
The first reason for not cherishing the present is that in every "now", we cannot calm down, that is, we do not have the ability to look down on this moment from the air;
The second reason is that we often lack thorough understanding and understanding of every present that we grasp, sometimes unwillingly, sometimes unable;
The third reason is that we tend to greedily think that the "next now" will be more, better, and more cherished than the "present."
Knowing this, perhaps you will also know how to change the past and become a person who cherishes the present: introspect at any time; deep immersion; not greedy.
2
Man can make mistakes, but he cannot make the same mistake.
Regrettably, most of the reasons why people keep making mistakes are because of the same kind of defects. For example, aggressiveness, selfishness, utilitarianism, vanity, greed, etc., all of the life inertia they bring.
The same kind of mistakes caused by the same kind of defects often haunt people's lives, and we usually say that character is destiny.
Actually, where there is no fate. Fate is nothing more than a mutual cause and effect: often, our whole life is a cycle of our own nature from beginning to end.
Blessed are those who have escaped this cycle. Because they don't step into the same river, they do it every day.
3
The less we need, the closer we are to God.
We probably can't prove whether God exists, and we don't know exactly what God is supposed to say and do.
However, we can see the sun every day. The sun shines on everything every day, but it has no need for people. Compared to us, the sun is approximate to God.
We can also see that there are people in the world who give a lot to others but have very little need for others. They are slightly closer to God than we are.
4
Those who do not understand the true meaning of work regard work as hard labor.
As I quoted yesterday, Arendt divides human activity into three categories: labor, work, and action. Once we are reduced to "labor," we become animalized producers and enslaved by work. Only "action" can prove the diversity, uniqueness and criticality of human beings.
I would like to add: It is the truth that it is better to survive than to survive.
When you begin to understand that the core meaning of life is work, when you begin to understand life. When you begin to realize that only work is meaning, when you begin to understand meaning itself.
In the ultimate sense, work is not toil, not patience, still less slavery; work is not an investment, not just a consumption, not just a profit.
The design of creation seems incredible: work is the core meaning of life. Arendt calls such work "action," and I'd like to call it "proof." Because it is often the evidence of the value of your daily feelings, and ultimately the only proof that you have been to this world as a passer-by.
5
If all the human calamities were piled up and then redistributed, I believe that most of them would be satisfied to take their share of their own.
Socrates means that everyone's suffering may be unknown.
But if you really know a person completely, you will be shocked by his pain rather than his joy. You may even feel that the disaster that stranger encountered seems to be far greater than you can bear it yourself. On the contrary, the difficulties you have encountered have been gradually adapted by you in the long-term grinding.
So, the right attitude is to pity others and sharpen yourself.
Everyone's life is a hard beach, and the sea of suffering is always lapping at your shore. After the tide fell, there was no one left, and the world seemed to return to its original state.
Biography
The image comes from the Internet
Socrates (Σωκράτης); English translation: Socrates; (469 BC – 399 BC), a famous Greek thinker, philosopher, educator, citizen juror, and his student Plato and Plato's student Aristotle are known as the Three Sages of Greece. He is considered the founder of Western philosophy.
Socrates was born into a family of ordinary citizens in Athens, Greece. His father was a carver and his mother was a midwife. Socrates had learned the art of carving from his father. Later, he read Homer's epic poems and the works of other famous poets, and became a very learned man by self-study.
He made a living imparting knowledge, and in his 30s worked as a social ethics teacher who did not pay or set up a library. Socrates saw himself as a gift from God to the Athenians, a messenger whose task was to go around all day talking to people, discussing problems, and seeking the truth and wisdom that would be most useful to man.
At the age of 40, he became a well-known figure in Athens. He debated philosophical issues in Athens with many wise men of his time, mainly about ethics and morality as well as the political aspects of education, and was considered the wisest man of his time.
As a citizen, he fought in the army three times, served as a heavy infantryman, showed tenacity and bravery in war, and more than once rescued wounded soldiers in battle. In addition, he served as a juror in the Athenian Citizens' Assembly.
After the restoration of slave-owning democracy in Athens, Socrates was charged with contempt for traditional religion, the introduction of new gods, the corruption of youth, and opposition to democracy. He refused the advice of friends and students to beg for forgiveness and flee, and was sentenced to death after drinking poisoned alcohol at the age of 70.
The philosophy of Socrates was called "ethical philosophy" by later generations. He opened up a new field for philosophical research, making philosophy "return from heaven to earth" and has great significance in the history of philosophy.
Profile references: Sogou Encyclopedia, China Social Science Network
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Author: Du Junfei, Professor of Nanjing University, Doctoral Supervisor
This article was first published in "Du Lesson" (Dknju2016)