When insulated elite take on the identity of some ancient philosophy or pragmatic quote, these ideas also tend to spread to the gestalt. Or maybe it's vice versa.
As a younger adult and fresh college dropout I used to cling to stoicism around the time "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius become popular again.
Super embarrassing, but I even had a picture of Elon Musk hanging on my mirror. But, this also helped me ignore some painful aspects about my life and move on.
When I could finally do something about my problems, the idea of stoicism slowly outlived its utility for me. Sure as hell didn't stop me from burning out multiple times afterwards.
I picked up Chekhov years ago and this quote from Ward No. 6 helped me gain some perspective:
"You should go and preach that philosophy in Greece ... Diogenes did not need a study or a warm habitation; it's hot there without. You can lie in your tub and eat oranges and olives. But bring him to Russia to live: he'd be begging to be let indoors in May, let alone December. He'd be doubled up with the cold.
At this point I just believe that most of these high-minded ideas are after-the-fact reasonings about how or why ones life went well or poorly.
As a younger adult and fresh college dropout I used to cling to stoicism around the time "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius become popular again.
Super embarrassing, but I even had a picture of Elon Musk hanging on my mirror. But, this also helped me ignore some painful aspects about my life and move on.
When I could finally do something about my problems, the idea of stoicism slowly outlived its utility for me. Sure as hell didn't stop me from burning out multiple times afterwards.
I picked up Chekhov years ago and this quote from Ward No. 6 helped me gain some perspective:
"You should go and preach that philosophy in Greece ... Diogenes did not need a study or a warm habitation; it's hot there without. You can lie in your tub and eat oranges and olives. But bring him to Russia to live: he'd be begging to be let indoors in May, let alone December. He'd be doubled up with the cold.
At this point I just believe that most of these high-minded ideas are after-the-fact reasonings about how or why ones life went well or poorly.