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The Metaphor Of The Archer
“Take the case of one whose task it is to shoot a spear or arrow straight at some target. One’s ultimate aim is to do all in one’s power to shoot straight, and the same applies with our ultimate goal. In this kind of example, it is to shoot straight that one must do all one can; none the less, it is to do all one can to accomplish the task that is really the ultimate aim. It is just the same with what we call the supreme good in life. To actually hit the target is, as we say, to be selected but not sought. (On the Ends of Good and Evil, III, 22)
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MORE IDEAS ON THIS
Outcome Does Not Reflect Intention
Chance, says Seneca, has a great deal of power in our lives, “necessarily so, since it is by chance that we are alive.” When it comes to things over which we do not have complete control, we should play our part, we should do our best, l...
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We Should Seek To Control What’s Within Our Control
Thus, we should seek to be loveable, not to be loved, because the one is within our control whereas the other is not. Or, we should seek to write well, not to become a bestselling author, because the one is within our control whereas the other is not.
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The wise person considers intention, rather than outcome, in every situation. The beginnings are in our power; the results are judged by fortune, to which I grant no jurisdiction over myself… Death at the hands of a robber is not a condemnation.
SENECA
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The Arrow, The Archer And The “Externals”
The metaphor of the archer encapsulates the essence of Stoic action. The archer does everything he can to shoot accurately: his bow is well strung, his arrows are carefully calibrated, and he has taken full account of the prevailing wind and other variables.
Even so...
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Correctness And Success Or, Intention And Outcome
Similarly, having decided upon the optimal course of action, the good Stoic carries it out to the best of his/ her ability. But whether the enterprise is ultimately successful is subject to unpredictable and uncontrollable external factors (or “externals,” as the Stoics called them). Thus...
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On The Ends Of Good And Evil
The metaphor of the archer features in Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum Et Malorum (On the Ends of Good and Evil), a Socratic dialogue dedicated to Brutus, murderer of Caesar, in which Cicero, through a number of mouthpieces, expounds and cri...
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CURATED FROM
The Metaphor of the Stoic Archer: We Must Do All That We Can; And That Is All We Can Do
psychologytoday.com
7 ideas
·749 reads
IDEAS CURATED BY
An archer can shoot as accurately as possible and still miss his or her target. But this is no reflection on the archer. This is not quite saying that we must do our best, but that our best is the most that we can do—and is therefore all we need concern ourselves with.
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Multitasking Metaphor
To get a sense of what this means for your cognition, imagine a studio apartment. There is only one room. Every time you want to use the room, you have to completely change out the furniture. Want to sleep? Set up a bed and nightstand. Want to host a party? Take down the bedroom and set up couche...
“The Arrow”
Guilt is often counterproductive. It makes us feel paralyzed. However, when we are in this state, we are not helping anyone.
One Buddhist teaching could be helpful as one wrestles with this problem. It's found in a discourse called the Sallatha Sutta, known as "The Arrow." When someone...
The Blockchain Will Enable All Kinds of Evil
Crypto enthusiasts will have to come to terms with the fact that the blockchain can and will enable as much evil as it does good.
Nothing is all good or evil. Everything exists on a continuum. You can kill someone with a gun, but you can also feed your family by hunting. Wa...
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