The Daily Stoic - This Is How To Go Out

Episode Date: February 15, 2019

Epicurus’s final letter begins with a rather remarkable sentence: “On this happy day, which is the last day of my life, I write the following words to you.” While the letter briefly touches on the painful symptoms of the disease that would soon kill him, Epicurus doesn’t dwell on that. Instead, he speaks of the joy in his heart—not caused by his impending death, obviously, but by the memories he has accumulated of the friend he is writing to. Then, before concluding the letter and his life, Epicurus gives final instructions on how to care for one of his young pupils that has shown promise. What a way to go out! What strength, courage, and poise emanating from a man whose life was supposedly all about pleasure!Remember, the point of philosophy is to prepare us for exactly this moment (To philosophize is to learn how to die). That’s why we do this reading, that’s why we carry these memento mori medallions, that’s why we think about this scary subject in advance. So that when it happens—today or in a hundred years—we are able to capture just a fraction of the dignity and selflessness that Epicurus was able to marshall, even as his body quit on him. So that we can live with joy in our hearts to their final beats and call our last day a happy one, and mean it. So that we can continue to take care of the people we’ve found ourselves responsible for, even in death. That’s what it means to be a philosopher. Now go live it, all the way to the end. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. This is how to go out. Epic Curious's final letter begins with a rather remarkable sentence. Curious's final letter begins with a rather remarkable sentence. On this happy day, which is the last day of my life, I write the following words to you. And while the letter briefly touches on the painful symptoms of the disease that would soon kill him, Epicurus doesn't dwell on that.

Instead he speaks of the joy in his heart, not caused by his impending death, obviously, but by the memories he has accumulated of the friend he is writing to. Then, before concluding the letter and his life, Epicurus gives final instructions on how to care for one of his young pupils that has shown great promise, what a way to go out. What strength, courage, and poise emanating from a man whose life was supposedly all about pleasure? Remember, the point of philosophy is to prepare us for exactly this moment. As Cicero said, to philosophize is to learn how to die. That's why we do this reading. That's why we carry these memento-mori medallions. That's why we think about this scary subject

in advance. So that when it happens today or in a hundred years, we are able to capture just a fraction of the dignity and selflessness that Epicurus was able to marshal, even as his body quit on him, so that we can live with joy in our hearts to their final beats and call our last day a happy one and mean it so that we can continue to take care of the people we've found ourselves responsible for, even in death. That is what it means to be a philosopher, now go and live it all the way to the end. If you want to wear this idea of momentum or around you on your neck, you can check out the

momentum or necklace we have. We also have a coin. It's a coin I carry with me everywhere that I go. It's as momentum or in on the back. It has this beautiful quote from Marcus Relius. You can check both those out at dailystowup.com slash store. Hey, prime members. You can listen to the daily stowach early and ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.

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