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March   24th

THERE   IS  PHILOSOPHY  IN  EVERYTHING

“Eat    like    a   human   being,  drink   like    a   human   being,  dress   up, marry,  have    children,   get politically

active—suffer   abuse,  bear    with    a   headstrong  brother,    father, son,    neighbor,   or  companion.  Show

us  these   things  so  we  can see that    you truly   have    learned from    the philosophers.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.21.5–6

lutarch, a Roman biographer as well as an admirer of the Stoics, didn’t begin his study of the greats
of Roman literature until late in life. But, as he recounts in his biography of Demosthenes, he was
surprised at how quickly it all came to him. He wrote, “It wasn’t so much that the words brought me into a
full understanding of events, as that, somehow, I had a personal experience of the events that allowed me
to follow closely the meaning of the words.”
This is what Epictetus means about the study of philosophy. Study, yes, but go live your life as well.
It’s the only way that you’ll actually understand what any of it means. And more important, it’s only from
your actions and choices over time that it will be possible to see whether you took any of the teachings to
heart.
Be aware of that today when you’re going to work, going on a date, deciding whom to vote for, calling
your parents in the evening, waving to your neighbor as you walk to your door, tipping the delivery man,
saying goodnight to someone you love. All of that is philosophy. All of it is experience that brings
meaning to the words.