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, like the Stoic archer, but we should not fret over the outcome—which, if we have done our best, is no reflection on us.

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MORE IDEAS ON THIS

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.

90 reads

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

94 reads

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 tha...

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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

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IDEAS CURATED BY

Xarikleia

@xarikleia

“An idea is something that won’t work unless you do.” - Thomas A. Edison

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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