The history of Chinese philosophy has become the most popular course at Harvard in modern times. Why is she so interesting? Let's take a look at the most interesting tips on how to become a better person, according to Confucius and other prominent thinkers and philosophers in China.

People are often surprised to learn that Confucius, Mencius, Lao Tzu, and other classical Chinese philosophers were not rigid traditionalists who taught that our highest good comes from the limitations of social roles. Nor were they serene sages preaching harmonious coexistence with the natural world. Rather, they were bright and radical thinkers who undermined the conventions of their society. They sought to make the world a better place by expanding the boundaries of human possibilities.

The middle of the first millennium B.C. was as turbulent as it is today with regard to disputes about how to live, how to maintain morality, and how to build a better society. Unlike Western philosophers, who are better known to us, Chinese thinkers did not ask such big questions. Their philosophy can be described as highly pragmatic, based on questions that seemed unimportant, such as: "How is your daily life?" These thinkers emphasized that great change only happens when we start from something down to earth and doable.. Their teachings show that many of our most fundamental assumptions about how we should live are actually misleading us.

So, what ideas do we value, and what alternatives would Chinese philosophers offer instead?

Stop looking for yourself

Our thinkers were skeptical about the existence of a true "I". Especially the one you can discover by looking into yourself.

There is such a popular postulate: it is important to look into yourself in order to understand and realize your true essence. Our thinkers would be skeptical about the theory of the existence of a true "I". They understood that we are multifaceted and develop towards the outside world, and not inward. Human personality is formed through interaction with other people, through reaction to things and events, through occupation. You don't behave in the same way with your mother, colleague, dentist, and close friend. Each of us is a complex creature that constantly collides with other complex beings. Each meeting draws a different perspective. We are made up of patterns of behavior and emotional habits that have been formed over time. And this means that we have numerous possibilities of what we can become.

be inauthentic

We are not only what we think we are.

Once we discover who we are, we must accept ourselves and be true to ourselves. But the great Chinese thinker Confucius, who was born in the sixth century BC, thought differently. He would say that the problem with authenticity is that it is not a liberation, as we believe. What do you think, who is this “true self” that you discover in yourself? This is your image at a particular moment in time. If you stay true to it, let that image be your guide, it will hold back and limit the growth that comes when you acknowledge that you are constantly changing.

We succeed when we acknowledge our complexity and learn to work with it through self-improvement. Growth begins, for example, when it comes to understanding that you are not a bully just because you tend to think of yourself as a short-tempered person, or shy because you consider yourself an introvert. Most labels are patterns of behavior that we have formed and are susceptible to destruction. We are not just what we think we are. We can always become the best version of ourselves.

Pretend (perform rituals)

When you smile as if you're not angry, or bite your tongue to avoid lashing out, you're pretending to be acting more mature.

The opposite side of our reverence for authenticity is the ritualistic ways of behaving that are called "pretending." Wouldn't it be better to let the "real me" come out?

But Confucius teaches that certain rituals - when we behave "as if" - help a person to transform, because they break the patterns of behavior that he has fallen into. When you smile as if you're not angry, or bite your tongue to avoid lashing out, you're faking it. These “as ifs” create a tiny break from reality, which is why they are so valuable. We act “as if” we are different and our feelings become more mature. In doing so, we turn into someone more kind and generous, instead of expressing our true but destructive feelings. We do it over and over again, such actions become rituals that allow behavior take precedence over feelings, and not vice versa. As time goes by, we change and become better.

See the fickleness of the world

Any roundabout ways - casual conversations, impressions, communication - nourish life.

Often considering himself as a stable person, a person sees the world as permanent. Of course, we understand that life can change, but at the same time, we tend to assume that the world as a whole is predictable and we need to determine how we fit into it. If we consider ourselves strong in mathematics, then we continue to follow this academic path; if we consider ourselves unpredictable, then we are looking for a life partner who will join our adventures.

Mencius, a representative of the Confucian tradition, who lived at the end of the 4th century BC, saw the world as fragmented and impermanent. He would suggest working with change in a roundabout way - using casual conversations, impressions and communication to expand life. Mencius approach means not make plans for life, but set the trajectory in motion.

Stop making decisions

When you're contemplating big changes, it's easier to make a decision if you try new experiences first.

You know what's wrong with life? When you plan your life, you make decisions for your future personality based on the personality you are today.

When making important decisions, Mencius would advise approaching them through small and achievable steps. When you're thinking about a career change, it's easier to solidify or reject a decision if you first get new experiences on a small scale. Pay attention to your reaction to the impressions received, it is she who will lead you in a new direction.

Be weak

Notice interconnectedness in the world instead of division and difference, then you can harmonize with others.

Statue of Laozi, founder of Taoism, in Luoyang, China. Photo: Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock

Another common hypothesis: the strongest wins. We are told to be strong and confident in what we want. But Lao Tzu in the treatise Tao Te Ching stands for strength of weakness over apparent strength. Often people think that this means the need to harmonize with nature. Some students, upon first encountering the teachings of Lao Tzu, go for walks in the forest to merge with the majesty of the natural world. But passivity is not quite what he meant. The philosopher said that we should notice how everything in the world is interconnected, and not divided and different. This understanding helps to harmonize with others.

Attunement allows you to exercise various kinds of influence. Without using open force, you see how to skillfully change the situation, so that people will not notice the dominant in you.

Don't play to your strengths

Live your life as a series of breakthroughs because it changes you over time.

We are encouraged from a young age to discover and hone our skills and talents. If you are athletic, then join the football team; if you constantly bury yourself in books, then you study literature. As a person grows older, these natural tendencies develop until they become part of his personality. But if you get carried away with this way of thinking, you can stop doing everything else.

Our philosophers would encourage you not to focus on what you think of yourself, but to break prejudice. If you think you're clumsy, take up dancing. If you are not strong in languages, sign up for French lessons. The goal is not to be the best in a new field, but to live life as a series of breakthroughs, because this is what changes us over time.

Drop awareness

The principles of mindfulness in a broad sense are the opposite of its true purpose.

We've been hearing a lot lately about the importance of mindfulness. It should help a person to achieve peace and tranquility at a fast pace of life. It is even touted as a productivity and efficiency tool in business schools, corporations, and the military.

The widely accepted principles of mindfulness—including looking into yourself and accepting what you find with equanimity and nonjudgment—are the opposite of what mindfulness was meant to be. Buddhism, after all, adheres to the doctrine of the non-existence of the individual "I". Confucian cultivation is different. It's about interacting with the world and nurturing yourself through every encounter and interaction. It professes an active rather than a passive way of self-education in order to become the best version of itself.

Rethink traditional and modern

The modern attitude to everything assumes that you have freed yourself from the oppressive traditional world and live your life, making your own choice. But if you define the traditional world as one in which people passively accept everything as it is and try to fit into a stable, pre-established order, then you are a traditionalist. The knowledge we hold and believe to be true limits our possibilities.

Clever thoughts come only when stupid things have already been done.

Only those who make absurd attempts can achieve the impossible. Albert Einstein

Good friends, good books, and a sleeping conscience are the ideal life. Mark Twain

You can't go back in time and change your start, but you can start now and change your finish.

Upon closer examination, it generally becomes clear to me that those changes that seem to come with the passage of time are, in fact, no changes at all: only my view of things changes. (Franz Kafka)

And although the temptation is great to go along two roads at once, you can’t play with the same deck of cards with both the devil and God ...

Appreciate those with whom you can be yourself.
Without masks, omissions and ambitions.
And take care of them, they are sent to you by fate.
After all, in your life there are only a few of them

For an affirmative answer, only one word is enough - “yes”. All other words are invented to say no. Don Aminado

Ask a person: "What is happiness?" and you will find out what he misses the most.

If you want to understand life, then stop believing what they say and write, but observe and feel. Anton Chekhov

There is nothing in the world more destructive, more unbearable than inaction and waiting.

Turn your dreams into reality, work on ideas. Those who laughed at you before will begin to envy.

Records are there to be broken.

Don't waste time, invest in it.

The history of mankind is the history of a fairly small number of people who believed in themselves.

Did you push yourself to the limit? Don't you see the point in living anymore? So, you are already close ... Close to the decision to reach the bottom in order to push off from it and decide to be happy forever .. So do not be afraid of the bottom - use it ....

If you are honest and frank, then people will deceive you; still be honest and frank.

A person rarely succeeds in anything if his occupation does not give him joy. Dale Carnegie

If at least one flowering branch remains in your soul, a singing bird will always sit on it. (Eastern wisdom)

One of the laws of life says that as soon as one door closes, another one opens. But the whole trouble is that we look at the locked door and do not pay attention to the opened one. André Gide

Don't judge a person until you talk to them in person, because everything you hear is hearsay. Michael Jackson.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Mahatma Gandhi

Human life is divided into two halves: during the first half they strive forward to the second, and during the second back to the first.

If you don't do anything yourself, how can you be helped? You can only drive a moving car

All will be. Only when you decide to do it.

In this world, you can look for everything except love and death... They will find you when the time comes.

Inner satisfaction in spite of the surrounding world of suffering is a very valuable asset. Sridhar Maharaj

Start now to live the life that you would like to see it in the end. Marcus Aurelius

We must live every day as if it were the last moment. We do not have a rehearsal - we have a life. We don't start it from Monday - we live today.

Every moment of life is another opportunity.

A year later, you will look at the world with different eyes, and even this tree that grows near your house will seem different to you.

Happiness does not need to be sought - it must be. Osho

Almost every success story that I know of started with a man lying on his back, defeated by failure. Jim Rohn

Every long journey begins with one, the first step.

Nobody is better than you. Nobody is smarter than you. They just started early. Brian Tracy

The one who runs falls. He who crawls does not fall. Pliny the Elder

It is enough just to understand that you live in the future, as soon as you find yourself there.

I choose to live rather than exist. James Alan Hetfield

When you appreciate what you have, and not live in search of ideals, then you will truly become happy ..

Only those who are worse than us think badly about us, and those who are better than us are simply not up to us. Omar Khayyam

Sometimes one call separates us from happiness… One conversation… One confession…

By admitting one's weakness, one becomes strong. Honre Balzac

He who humbles his spirit is stronger than he who conquers cities.

When an opportunity presents itself, you must seize it. And when you grabbed it, achieved success - enjoy it. Feel the joy. And let everyone around suck your hose for being goats, when they didn’t even give you a penny. And then go away. Beautiful. And leave everyone in shock.

Never despair. And if you have already fallen into despair, then continue to work in despair.

A decisive step forward is the result of a good kick from behind!

In Russia, you have to be either famous or rich to be treated the way anyone in Europe is treated. Konstantin Raikin

It all depends on your attitude. (Chuck Norris)

No reasoning can show a man the path he does not want to see Romain Rolland

What you believe in becomes your world. Richard Matheson

It's good where we're not. We are no longer in the past, and therefore it seems beautiful. Anton Chekhov

The rich get richer because they learn to overcome financial hardship. They see them as an opportunity to learn, grow, develop, and prosper.

Everyone has their own hell - it's not necessarily fire and tar! Our hell is a wasted life! Where Dreams Lead

It doesn't matter how hard you work, the main thing is the result.

Only mother has the most affectionate hands, the most tender smile and the most loving heart ...

Winners in life always think in the spirit: I can, I want, I. Losers, on the other hand, focus their scattered thoughts on what they could have, could do, or what they could not do. In other words, winners always take responsibility for themselves, and losers blame circumstances or other people for their failures. Denis Waitley.

Life is a mountain climbing slowly, descending quickly. Guy de Maupassant

People are so afraid to take a step towards a new life that they are ready to close their eyes to everything that does not suit them. But it’s even scarier: to wake up one day and realize that everything is not right, wrong, wrong ... Bernard Shaw

Friendship and trust cannot be bought or sold.

Always, in every minute of your life, even when you are absolutely happy, have one attitude towards the people around you: - In any case, I will do what I want, with or without you.

In the world, only one can choose between loneliness and vulgarity. Arthur Schopenhauer

One has only to look at things differently, and life will flow in a different direction.

The iron said to the magnet: most of all I hate you because you attract, not having enough strength to drag you along! Friedrich Nietzsche

Know how to live even when life becomes unbearable. N. Ostrovsky

The picture you see in your mind will eventually become your life.

“The first half of your life you ask yourself what you are capable of, but the second - and who needs it?”

It's never too late to set a new goal or find a new dream.

Control your destiny or someone else will.

see beauty in the ugly
to see rivers in the streams…
who knows how to be happy on weekdays,
he really is a lucky man! E. Asadov

The sage was asked:

How many types of friendship are there?

Four, he replied.
There are friends, like food - every day you need them.
There are friends, like medicine, you look for them when you feel bad.
There are friends, like a disease, they themselves are looking for you.
But there are such friends as air - they are not visible, but they are always with you.

I will become the person I want to be - if I believe that I will become one. Gandhi

Open your heart and listen to what it dreams about. Follow your dream, because only through the one who is not ashamed of himself will the glory of the Lord be manifested. Paulo Coelho

To be refuted is nothing to fear; one should be afraid of another - to be misunderstood. Immanuel Kant

Be realistic - demand the impossible! Che Guevara

Don't put off your plans if it's raining outside.
Don't give up on your dreams if people don't believe in you.
Go against nature, people. You are a person. You are strong.
And remember - there are no unattainable goals - there is a high coefficient of laziness, a lack of ingenuity and a stock of excuses.

Either you create the world, or the world creates you. Jack Nicholson

I love it when people just smile. You go, for example, on a bus and you see a person looking out the window or texting and smiling. It feels so good to the soul. And I want to smile too.

I am very glad that in the lecture of the modern philosopher Alexei Tsurkan I found for myself the answer to the question “How to live the wise advice of ancient Greek philosophers about the philosophical attitude to life”? And now I will give you a set of these recommendations. They will help us develop a philosophical worldview, a correct attitude to life, help us live life with relative confidence, learn the secrets of a philosophical worldview and attitude to life, and, if possible, not make mistakes that are often made by people with an ordinary worldview.

For some reason people are more tend to find the right solutions by trial and error. But a smart person will not put his hand on a hot stove to see if he really burns himself, he will use the knowledge of previous generations that hot objects should not be touched.

This is a banal, but illustrative example, because the same knowledge as knowledge of a hot stove, is (accumulated by previous generations) for absolutely all aspects of life. You just need to find the advice of the sages about life and use them.

We now live in a fast-paced and fussy world, we do not have time for contemplation and the formation of new thoughts. And no need to reinvent the wheel.

One of the philosophers owns the words: If a new thought comes into your head, know that it is not new and came before you to the darkness of those people who lived before you.

From the 1st part of the lecture, we learned what is . Ordinary and philosophical consciousness are 2 different approaches to adaptation to the external environment called LIFE and to reduce the pain syndrome from being in it. Most people prefer to solve this problem in simple ways with the help of ORDINARY CONSCIOUSNESS. These methods were discussed in the 1st part of the article. In this article, we will learn about ways to solve the same problem with the help of PHILOSOPHICAL CONSCIOUSNESS.

PHILOSOPHICAL CONSCIOUSNESS is an effective alternative to ordinary consciousness.

In order to understand in what is a philosophical approach to life, it is necessary to return to the past, to the origins of philosophy.

The ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, who coined the term "philosophy was a mystic and ascetic. He began teaching his students mathematics only after they had eaten nothing for 40 days.

Pythagoras divided all creatures living in space into 3 classes:

• Higher creatures (immortal Gods), who have the full knowledge of the world;
• Inferior creatures (Fools) who have no need to seek the truth;
• Philosophers are an intermediate and evolutionary type of person who understands the limitations of human nature, since a person is mortal. But he strives to get closer to the world of the Gods through the love of wisdom and the search for truth. Strives to modify, transform its nature.

Pythagoras and Plato believed that Man can become God. Man has all the possibilities for this, since he contains an immortal soul.

Plato believed that before entering the human body, each immortal soul lived in the valley of Truth, in the world of the Gods, where it directly contemplated the truth. But then she lost her original knowledge and now the task of the philosopher is precisely to recall them.

The main thesis of Plato is the anamnesis (Greek, recollection). He believed that true knowledge is the recollection of the knowledge that the human soul possessed in the divine world. Therefore, a philosopher is a person who is in constant transformation or transfiguration.

The theme of Christian transfiguration echoes Plato's theory. Therefore, he is called a Christian before Christianity.

The Greeks believed that a person can achieve apotheosis (deification) in different ways:

• Through heroic over effort like Hercules, Alexander the Great,
• Through constant reflection, love of wisdom, like philosophers.

This is the key to understanding the philosophical attitude to life as an alternative to the ordinary perception of life. The philosopher of Ancient Greece is a person who, through the comprehension of the highest truth, sought to establish an alternative to the ordinary type of perception of reality. If ordinary consciousness is built on a stereotype and dogma, then philosophical consciousness is based on skepticism (doubt), irony and speculation.

2. Signs of a philosophical outlook. Skepsis (doubt), irony, lack of faith in dogmas and authorities.

• Philosophy begins where a person has doubts. If a person does not doubt, then he is not a philosopher.
• A real philosopher does not worship anyone, and above all, he does not worship anyone of his own kind - none of the people, because he knows that there is no person on Earth who would have the fullness of truth and wisdom. If a person believes in an idol, authority, dogma, then he is not a philosopher.

Since man constantly falls into error, it was unacceptable for the philosophers of Greece to trust his judgment about anything and to believe him. This would mean enslaving oneself to someone else's consciousness. But there is no more terrible slavery on Earth than when one person is a slave to the intellect of another.

The fact that in the ancient Greek views we do not find such concepts as extremism, fanaticism, including religious fanaticism, is explained by the fact that the Greek consciousness was a consciousness based on healthy skepticism (doubt) and irony.

Doubt (skepticism) is very important, because it encourages you to move on. Any thesis presupposes an antithesis. Therefore, rejecting the service of authority as an idol, the Greek philosophers make their consciousness freer, and, therefore, god-like. Because all the fullness of freedom is with the Gods. But the Gods are also subject to the highest necessity, therefore the last secret of existence, the Greeks believed, is also hidden from the Gods.

3. Practical recommendations of Greek philosophers for the right attitude to life. How to live wise advice, philosophical outlook.

Greek philosophy reached such heights and was able to give practical recommendations for the right attitude to life thanks to its inherent doubt and irony.

So let's get started.

Tip #1 of the sages, ancient Greek philosophers.

If the consciousness of an ordinary person is involved in any process (a person is inside and does not see the whole picture), then the consciousness of a philosophical person is dissociated (not involved) in the process (he considers the situation from the outside).

The main principle of the philosophical perception of reality is the parallelism of existence with the world. The philosopher must strive to build certain barriers separating him from the world. He must keep the world at arm's length in order to secure a high degree of autonomy for his consciousness and independence of his judgments.

Face to face you can’t see a face, you can see a lot at a distance (Sergey Yesenin)

Here is the 1st advice of the Greek philosophers for us:Keep the world at arm's length, look at it as if from the outside!

Advice #2 of the sages, ancient Greek philosophers.

Socrates owns one of the brilliant discoveries of Greek philosophy of the 5th century BC:

A person does not completely convey in a word the reality that he names.

You know that the layman is constantly involved in the process of speaking and is terribly afraid of silence because silence is associated with nothingness and death. He produces so many words in which his consciousness simply drowns. By Most of these words don't mean anything. (note by A. Kraev: I recognize myself). And even those words that name objects do not convey the fullness of their reality, because the word and the object are different things.

A person is involved in the process of speaking, because in the process of speaking, meanings are imitated and meanings are created. The process of speaking is the process of constructing sounds endowed with some meaning in written or spoken speech. This process creates a kind of matrix for the inhabitant to stay, in which he is both comfortable and sad at the same time. Because he understands with his sixth sense that speech does not replace life, but is only its more or less convincing analogue. It all looks like a giant Chinese sound cracker, which was invented by man in order to drown out the silence.

A good illustration of this thought is the phrase from the book "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf: "Mrs. Dalloway always throws parties to drown out the silence!"

We are all, to a greater or lesser extent, laymen, we love to throw giant parties, make speeches to chatter silence. But it was silence that the great philosophers considered the most perfect prayer on Earth, for only in silence is the mystery of God, beginningless and infinite, revealed.

Another striking illustration Socratic dialogues. The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates used this method to prove that words mean absolutely nothing. He went out into the streets of Athens, chose an interlocutor and asked him questions about what beauty, nobility and the like are. The interlocutor tried to define these abstract concepts, but experienced difficulty, because in reality these concepts have no definition. When the interlocutor asked the wise Socrates, what was his answer. Socrates replied: "I don't know. I know only one thing: that I know nothing!”

Thus, the Socratic discus, which begins with word extraction, ends with silence, and this is the great meaning and greatness of Greek philosophy in principle. Because it was Socrates who discovered the wisdom of silence.

Thus, the 2nd recommendation of the ancient Greek philosophers: Silence is always better than speaking!

If something annoys you, causes a movement of the soul, most often of a negative nature, then silence and silence are best, because silence eventually equalizes everything.

Tip #3 of the sages, ancient Greek philosophers.

The 3rd recommendation, which must be adopted, is called in Greek " kastema" and essentially means "peace" . A person takes everything too close to his heart and often suffers from it. A person is vulnerable, open to external shocks, which gives rise to psychosomatic changes in him. A person gets sick very often and dies very early due to the fact that he is very dependent on external influences.

That's why Epicurus, when his disciples asked him how to deal with the blows of fate, gave the answer, which in our list will be the 3rd recommendation of the sages.

3rd recommendation of the sages: Live unnoticed, avoid extremes, because lightning strikes the tallest trees, keep calm, peace and harmony with yourself!

Whatever happens to you, try to maintain a state of inner harmony and peace with yourself. In order for this to be possible, the following Epicurean advice must be followed.

Council #4 sages, ancient Greek philosophers.

This advice in Greek is called "ataraxia" - this is the avoidance of suffering, equanimity, calmness. In fact, this is a desire to reduce the pain syndrome from the very presence of a person in this world. Ataraxia is achieved by the fact that a person correctly distributes value systems, because most of the physical and mental suffering brings a person not so much illness as lack of what is desired.

And here it is very useful to recall the popular phrases of the outstanding English writer Aldous Huxley (1894-1963):

“The key to achieving happiness is very simple: you need to enjoy what you have and not desire what you cannot have!”

“Experience is not what happens to a person, but what a person does with what happens to him”

This, after all, is very correlated with what Epicurus taught in the 4th century BC.

When a person builds a system of values ​​correctly, he can understand what he can get rid of, he begins to understand what values ​​are:

• Eat natural and natural values such as food and water.
• Eat values ​​are natural, but no longer quite natural That is, they are dictated by the social nature of a person, susceptibility to stereotypes, and from these values ​​you can release more or less.
• Eat values, and not natural, and not natural. This is, for the most part, fame, wealth, success, servility. These are words of praise from the outside, or condemnation from the outside if you do not meet the expectations of others. This may be over!

The basic principle of ataraxia is to minimize pain from external influences. And this is not about physical pain, but about emotional pain, which often appears due to the fact that a person is not accepted and not understood, as it seems to him.

Therefore, the 4th advice of the ancient Greek philosophers will be very useful to modern people. It sounds like this: Don't ask anything from God.

You are asking for a lot of money, a house, a wife, a husband, but you cannot know if what you are asking will be good for you. In one of Chekhov's stories, a little boy asked God for the same dentures as his grandfather. We also often ask ourselves for crutches, and not something useful. Therefore, our ideas about the good turn out to be something opposite when we receive it.

Therefore, philosophers say: Beware of your desires, for they may come true!

But man is weak and therefore he constantly asks. He asks the people around him, the state. And the person asks God. Ancient Greek philosophers advise not to ask the Gods for anything, because the Gods themselves know what a person needs. This resonates with Christian views. Christ tells his disciples: Look at the birds of the air: they don't sow, and they don't reap, and they don't gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you much better than them? In Christianity, it is not customary not to ask God for anything, but only to give thanks for what is. And if a person asks, then he says a prayer “Do thy will, Lord!”, i.e. "You yourself know what is best for me, give it to me."

4th Council of Ancient Greek Philosophers (PART 2): Don't ask anything from God.Hoh, if you decide to ask something from God, then ask so much that you can’t even imagine it in your imagination!

For, if you ask for little, what you have will be taken away(to teach you to love yourself, because he does not know how to love himself, as he can love his neighbor as himself).

It is very important for a person who has decided to ask God for something, never doubt that you will get what you ask for.

Tip #5 of the sages, ancient Greek philosophers.

This recommendation is the saddest for us, modern people, because we, unlike the ancient Greek philosophers, are afraid of death. A person is afraid of death, because it is the unknown, and it may very well be a punishment. The consciousness of the philosopher accepts death as a natural course of things, as a given, without which the world would not exist at all. Because every thesis must have an opposite antithesis, and in this world there is exactly as much creation as there is destruction.

And in the world, creation is possible only as destruction, and beauty only as a manifestation of ugliness. A segment is only a special case of an infinite straight line, and the Law is only a special case of chance. For there is a law for a certain number of cases, but there is no Law for chance as such.

5th council of ancient Greek philosophers. Understanding this dialectic leads the Greek philosophers to the idea that death is a natural and good course of things. This is similar to how real Christians should feel about death.

4. Resume.

In conclusion - a wonderful phrase of the English philosopher and writer Oscar Wilde, which reconciles the dialectically ordinary attitude to life and the philosophical one:

There are only two tragedies in the world: the first is not getting what you want, the second is getting.

That is, no matter which approach to life we ​​choose, the end result will be the same for everyone. And we can only talk about questions of taste, style, behavior and nothing more. There is a fundamental ontological basis, a common denominator, which reconciles these two different attitudes towards life. And a person has no power to change these initial rules of the game, no matter how he tries to do it.

I think that during our lives at different periods we combine these 2 approaches to life in different ways - ordinary and philosophical.

With a conventional approach we are trying to conform to stereotypical values ​​in society, we want to HAVE more and LIVE longer. But over time, we begin to revise their values. And today, in my opinion, the lecture of the modern philosopher Alexei Tsurkan helped us a lot in this.

Here are the invaluable tips of the philosophers of Ancient Greece on how to live correctly, using a philosophical approach to life:

So let's sum it up. We reviewed in an abridged version Part 2 of the lecture "Ordinary and Philosophical: 2 Opposite Approaches to Life". They learned what a philosophical worldview and a philosophical approach to life are. And they got an answer to their main question “How to live the wise advice of ancient Greek philosophers about the philosophical attitude to life.”

I wish everyone not to give up, to believe in yourself and in people!

Enjoy life, love all people and forgive them their weaknesses!

And those who love philosophy can watch the full version of the lecture by the contemporary philosopher Alexei Tsurkan (30 minutes). PART 2 Lectures Ordinary and philosophical - 2 approaches to life:

A smart person can avoid mistakes by taking advantage of the experience and knowledge of the best representatives of previous generations. Why reinvent the wheel and learn from your mistakes how to live right? After all, you can use the invaluable knowledge of thinkers and philosophers of previous eras.

In this article, we will consider their main views and learn 3 important wise advice on how to live correctly.

You and I live in a fussy, we have very little time to create new, our thoughts. This is largely due to the fact that we do not have time for contemplation at all.

Unlike us, the philosophers of Ancient Greece devoted almost their entire lives to contemplation, and thanks to this they formulated so many new, relevant thoughts in our time.

Tip number 1. In any situation, it would be better to remain silent than to speak!

Socrates made a brilliant discovery of philosophy when he said: A person does not completely convey in a word the reality that he names..

We are afraid of silence and therefore constantly involved in the speaking process. We produce so many words that their awareness almost drowns in them. Most of the spoken words don't mean anything. We simply drown out the silence with them, since we associate silence with death.

Phrase from the book "Mrs. Dalloway" Virginia Woolf is a perfect illustration of Socrates' thought: "Mrs. Dalloway always throws parties to drown out the silence!"

So, the advice of the ancient Greek sages: If something annoys you, causes negative emotions, it is best to keep silent, as silence equalizes everything.

Tip number 2. It is important to keep the world at arm's length and look at it not from the inside, but from the outside!

Our consciousness is constantly involved in some processes, we are inside and we do not see the whole picture from above.

But in order to see and understand the world correctly, and in the end, to live correctly and make the right decisions, one must strive not for an ordinary, but for a philosophical worldview. The main principle of the philosophical worldview is the parallelism of existence with the world.

The philosopher keeps the world at arm's length and thereby ensures the independence of his judgments about the world as a whole and about a particular situation in particular.

Tip number 3. Keep in life the golden mean, in particular, avoid extreme poverty and extreme wealth.

This truth of the ancient Greek philosophers essentially meant peace . We constantly take everything too personally and suffer from it. People get sick and often die too early due to many negative external influences, constant troubles, worries and experiences.

When the disciples asked Epicurus how he felt about the blows of fate, he replied : “You need to live inconspicuously, avoid extremes, because lightning always strikes the tallest trees. Need to keep peace, tranquility and harmony with yourself!”

So, the 3 main tips of the philosophers of Ancient Greece, which will help us live correctly:

It is always better to remain silent than to speak!

Always look at the world from the outside, not from the inside!

Always keep the golden mean and be in harmony with yourself!

Each person is an individual with different parameters, which, like a computer filling, can perform various operations for different times. Of course, a person is not a computer, he is much cooler, even if it is the most modern computer.

Each person has a certain grain, this is called the grain of truth, if a person takes care of and cherishes the grain within himself, then an excellent harvest will grow that will delight him!

You understand that the grain is our soul, in order to feel the soul, you need to have some kind of supersensory abilities.

Another example is that Man works out rock every day, leaving only precious stones. If, of course, he knows what precious stones look like, and if he sorts out only ore, skipping diamonds and other precious stones, believing that these are just stones, then this person has problems in life.

Life is such a thing, it is like a man who shovels ore to find diamonds! What are diamonds? This is the motivation that gives us to act in this world, but the fuses of motivation are constantly melting, you need to refuel your motivation in order to continue to act effectively. Where does motivation come from? The cornerstone is information, correct information is like a compressed spring, if it is received correctly, the spring expands and shoots right at the target and we reach the target very quickly. If we treat motivation incorrectly, then why, then the spring shoots in the forehead. Why is this happening? Because our inner intention is the basis for what we act, what we want to receive and whether our motivated actions will harm others!

In this article, I have collected the most motivational quotes and statuses, as they say of all times and peoples. But of course, it's up to you to choose what will hook you the most. In the meantime, we make ourselves comfortable, make a very smart face, turn off all means of communication and just enjoy the wisdom of poets, artists and just plumbers, perhaps!

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many and wise quotes and sayings about life

Knowledge is not enough, it must be applied. Wishing is not enough, action must be taken.

And I'm on the right track. I stand. And we should go.

Working on oneself is the hardest work, so few do it.

Life circumstances are formed not only by specific actions, but also by the nature of a person’s thoughts. If you are hostile to the world, it will respond the same to you. If you constantly express your dissatisfaction, there will be more and more reasons for this. If negativity prevails in your attitude to reality, then the world will turn its worst side towards you. Conversely, a positive attitude will most naturally change your life for the better. A person gets what he chooses. This is the reality, whether you like it or not.

Just because you're offended doesn't mean you're right. Ricky Gervais

Year after year, month after month, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute and even second after second - time runs without stopping even for a moment. No force is able to interrupt this run, it is not in our power. All we can do is to spend time usefully, constructively, or waste it, to the detriment. This choice is ours; the decision is in our hands.

Under no circumstances should you lose hope. The feeling of despair is the true reason for failure. Remember you can overcome any difficulty.

A person is arranged in such a way that when something ignites his soul, everything becomes possible. Jean de La Fontaine

Everything that is happening to you now, you once created yourself. Vadim Zeland

There are many unnecessary habits and activities inside us that we waste time, thoughts, energy on and that do not allow us to flourish. If we regularly discard everything superfluous, then the freed up time and energy will help us achieve our true desires and goals. By removing everything old and useless in our lives, we allow the talents and feelings hidden in us to blossom.

We are slaves of our habits. Change your habits, your life will change. Robert Kiyosaki

The person you are destined to become is only the person you decide to become. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Magic is believing in yourself. And when you succeed, everything else succeeds.

In a couple, everyone should develop the ability to feel the vibrations of the other, they should have common associations and common values, the ability to hear what is important for the other, and some kind of mutual agreement on how to act when they have certain values do not match. Salvador Minukhin

Each person can be magnetically attractive and incredibly beautiful. True beauty is the inner radiance of the human Soul.

I really appreciate two things - spiritual intimacy and the ability to bring joy. Richard Bach

Fighting with others is just a ploy to avoid internal struggles. Osho

When a person begins to complain or come up with an excuse for his failures, he begins to gradually degrade.

A good life motto is to help yourself.

Wise is not the one who knows a lot, but the one whose knowledge is useful. Aeschylus

Some people smile because you smile. And some - in order to make you smile.

He who reigns within himself and controls his passions, desires and fears, he is more than a king. John Milton

Every man eventually chooses the woman who believes in him more than he does.

Once you sit down and listen, what does your soul want?

We so often do not listen to the soul, out of habit somewhere in a hurry.

You are where you are and who you are because of how you perceive yourself. Change your opinion of yourself and you will change your life. Brian Tracy

Life is three days yesterday, today and tomorrow. Yesterday has already passed and you will not change anything in it, tomorrow has not yet come. Therefore, try to act worthy today so as not to regret.

A truly noble person is not born with a great soul, but he makes himself so great by his magnificent deeds. Francesco Petrarca

Always expose your face to the sunlight and the shadows will be behind you, Walt Whitman

The only one who acted sensibly was my tailor. He took my measurements again every time he saw me. Bernard Show

People never fully use their own powers to achieve good in life, because they rely on some external force for themselves - they hope that it will do what they themselves are responsible for.

Never go back to the past. It kills your precious time. Do not stay on the same place. The people who need you will catch up with you.

It's time to shake the bad thoughts out of your head.

If you are looking for the bad, you will definitely find it, and you will not notice anything good. Therefore, if you wait and prepare for the worst all your life, it will definitely happen, and you will not be disappointed in your fears and concerns, finding more and more confirmations for them. But if you hope and prepare for the best, you will not attract bad things into your life, but you simply risk being disappointed sometimes - life is impossible without disappointments.

Expecting the worst, you get it, losing out of life all the good that it actually has. And vice versa, you can acquire such strength of mind, thanks to which in any stressful, critical situation in life, you will see its positive aspects.

How often, out of stupidity or laziness, people miss their happiness.

Many are accustomed to exist, postponing life for tomorrow. They keep in mind the coming years when they will create, create, do, learn. They think they have plenty of time ahead of them. This is the biggest mistake you can make. We really don't have much time.

Remember the feeling you get when you take the first step, whatever it may be, will be much better than the feeling you get just sitting still. So get up and do something. Take the first step – just a tiny step forward.

The circumstances don't matter. A diamond thrown into the dirt does not cease to be a diamond. A heart filled with beauty and grandeur is able to survive hunger, cold, betrayal and all sorts of losses, but remain itself, remain loving and striving for great ideals. Don't trust the circumstances. Believe in your dream.

The Buddha described three kinds of laziness. The first is the kind of laziness that we all know about. When we have no desire to do anything. The second is the laziness of the wrong feeling of oneself - the laziness of thinking. “I will never do anything in life”, “I can’t do anything, it’s not worth trying.” The third is constant employment with insignificant matters. We always have the opportunity to fill the vacuum of our time by maintaining our "busyness". But, usually, it's just a way to avoid meeting with yourself.

No matter how beautiful your words are, you will be judged by your actions.

Don't dwell on the past, you won't be there anymore.

May your body be in motion, your mind be at rest, and your soul be transparent, like a mountain lake.

Whoever does not think positively, it is disgusting to live in life.

Happiness does not come to the house, where they whine day after day.

Sometimes, you just need to take a break and remind yourself who you are and who you want to be.

The main thing in life is to learn how to turn all the twists and turns of fate into zigzags of luck.

Don't let that which can harm others come out of you. Don't let anything in you that can harm you.

You will immediately get out of any difficult situation if you only remember that you live not in the body, but in the soul, if you remember that you have something that is stronger than anything in the world. Lev Tolstoy

Statuses about life. Wise sayings.

Be honest even to yourself. Honesty makes a person whole. When a person thinks, says and does the same thing, his strength is tripled.

In life, the main thing is to find yourself, your own and your own.

In whom there is no truth, there is little good in that.

In youth, we are looking for a beautiful body, over the years - a kindred soul. Vadim Zeland

What matters is what a person does, not what he wanted to do. William James

Everything in this life comes back like a boomerang, no doubt about it.

All obstacles and difficulties are steps along which we grow upwards.

Everyone knows how to love, because they receive this gift at birth.

Everything you pay attention to grows.

Everything that a person seems to say about others, he actually says about himself.

When you step into the same water twice, don't forget what made you come out the first time.

You think it's just another day in your life. This is not just another day, this is the very only day that you have been given today.

Leave the orbit of time and enter the orbit of love. Hugo Winkler

Even imperfections can be liked if the soul is manifested in them.

Even an intelligent person will become stupid if he does not cultivate himself.

Give us strength to comfort, and not to be comforted; to understand, not to be understood; to love, not to be loved. For when we give, we receive. And by forgiving, we find forgiveness.

As you move along the road of life, you create your own universe.

The motto of the day I'm doing well, and it will be even better! D Julian Wilson

There is nothing more precious than your soul. Daniel Shellabarger

If there is aggression inside, life will "attack" you.

If you have a desire to fight inside, you will get rivals.

If you have resentment inside, life will give you reasons to be offended even more.

If you have fear inside you, life will scare you.

If you feel guilty inside, life will find a way to “punish” you.

If I feel bad, then this is not a reason to cause suffering to others.

If you ever want to find such a person who can overcome any, even the most difficult, misfortune and make you happy when no one else can, you just look in the mirror and say "Hello."

If you don't like something, change it. If you don't have enough time, stop staring at the TV.

If you're looking for the Love of your life, stop. She will find you when you only do what you love. Open your head, hands and heart to the new. Don't be afraid to ask. And don't be afraid to answer. Don't be afraid to share your dream. Many opportunities appear only once. Life is the people on your way and what you create with them. So start creating. Life is very fast. It's time to start.

If you are moving in the right direction, you will feel it in your heart.

If you light a candle for someone, it will light your path too.

If you want good, kind people around you, try to treat them attentively, affectionately, politely - you will see that everyone will get better. Everything in life depends on you, trust me.

If a person wants, he will put a mountain on a mountain

Life is an eternal movement, constant renewal and development, from generation to generation, from infancy to wisdom, the movement of mind and consciousness.

Life sees you as you are from the inside.

Often, a person who has failed will learn more about how to win than someone who immediately succeeds.

Anger is the most useless of emotions. Destroys the brain and harms the heart.

I don't know bad people at all. Once I met one whom I was afraid of and thought he was evil; but when I looked at him more closely, he was just unhappy.

And all this with one goal to show you what you are, what you wear in your soul.

Every time you want to react in the old fashioned way, ask yourself if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.

Everyone is a star and deserves the right to shine.

Whatever your problem, it is caused by your stereotype of thinking, and any stereotype can be changed.

When you don't know what to do, act like a human being.

Every difficulty brings wisdom.

Any kind of relationship is like the sand you hold in your hand. Hold freely, in an open hand - and the sand remains in it. The moment you squeeze your hand tightly, the sand will begin to pour out through your fingers. This way you can keep some sand, but most of it will spill out. In relationships, it's the same. Treat the other person and their freedom with care and respect while remaining close. But if you squeeze too hard and with a claim to possess another person, the relationship will deteriorate and crumble.

The measure of mental health is the willingness to find the good in everything.

The world is full of clues, be attentive to the signs.

The only thing I don't understand is how I, like all of us, manage to fill my life with so much junk, doubts, regrets, a past that is no more and a future that hasn't happened yet, fears that will most likely never come true, if everything is so obviously simple.

Talking a lot and saying a lot are not the same thing.

We see everything not as it is - we see everything as we are.

Thoughts are positive, if it does not work out positively - not thoughts. Marilyn Monroe

Find quiet peace in your head and love in your heart. And no matter what happens around you, don't let anything change those two things.

Not all of ours lead to positive changes in our lives, but it is certainly impossible to achieve happiness without doing anything.

Don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your inner voice. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

Don't make your book of life plaintive.

Do not rush to drive away moments of loneliness. Perhaps this is the greatest gift of the Universe - to protect you for a while from all that is superfluous in order to allow you to become yourself.

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place and circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.

You can't give away what you don't have. You cannot make other people happy if you yourself are unhappy.

You can't beat someone who doesn't give up.

No illusions - no disappointments. You need to starve to appreciate food, experience cold to understand the benefits of warmth, and be a child to see the value of parents.

You need to be able to forgive. Many people think that forgiveness is a sign of weakness. But the words “I forgive you” do not mean at all - “I am too soft a person, therefore I cannot be offended and you can continue to spoil my life, I will not say a single word to you”, they mean - “I will not let the past spoil my future and present, so I forgive you and let go of all grievances.

Resentments are like stones. Don't store them in yourself. Otherwise, you will fall under their weight.

Once, in a social problems class, our professor picked up a black book and said this book is red.

One of the main causes of apathy is the lack of purpose in life. When there is nothing to strive for, a breakdown occurs, the consciousness plunges into a sleepy state. And vice versa, when there is a desire to achieve something, the energy of intention is activated and the vitality rises. To begin with, you can take yourself as a goal - to take care of yourself. What can bring you self-respect and satisfaction? There are many ways to improve yourself. You can set yourself the goal of achieving improvement in any one or more aspects. You know better what will bring satisfaction. Then the taste for life will appear, and everything else will work out automatically.

He turned the book, and its back cover was red. And then he said, "Don't tell someone they're wrong until you look at the situation from their point of view."

A pessimist is a person who complains about the noise when luck knocks on his door. Petr Mamonov

Genuine spirituality is not imposed - it is fascinated.

Remember, sometimes silence is the best answer to questions.

It is not poverty or wealth that spoils people, but envy and greed.

The correctness of the path you choose is determined by how happy you are while walking on it.

Motivational Quotes

Forgiveness does not change the past, but frees the future.

A person's speech is a mirror of himself. Everything false and deceitful, no matter how we try to hide it from others, all emptiness, callousness or rudeness breaks through in speech with the same force and obviousness with which sincerity and nobility, depth and subtlety of thoughts and feelings are manifested.

The most important thing is harmony in your soul, because it is able to create happiness out of nothing.

The word "impossible" blocks your potential, while the question "How can I do this?" makes the brain work to its fullest.

The word must be true, the action must be decisive.

The meaning of life is in the power of striving for a goal, and it is necessary that every moment of being has its own lofty goal.

Vanity has never led to success for anyone. The more peace in the soul, the easier and faster all issues are resolved.

There is enough light for those who want to see, and enough darkness for those who do not.

There is one way to learn - real action. Idle talk is meaningless.

Happiness is not clothes that can be bought in a store or sewn in an atelier.

Happiness is inner harmony. It is impossible to get it from outside. Only from within.

Dark clouds turn into heavenly flowers when light kisses them.

What you say about others does not characterize them, but you.

What is in a person is undoubtedly more important than what is in a person.

One who can be gentle has great inner strength.

You are free to do whatever you want - just remember the consequences.

He will succeed,” God said quietly.

He has no chance - the circumstances declared loudly. William Edward Hartpole Leckie

If you want to live in this world - live and rejoice, and do not go around with a disgruntled face that the world is imperfect. You create the world - in your head.

Man can do everything. Only laziness, fear and low self-esteem usually interfere with him.

A person is able to change his life, changing only his point of view.

What the wise man does at the beginning, the fool does at the end.

To become happy, you need to get rid of everything superfluous. From unnecessary things, unnecessary fuss, and most importantly - from unnecessary thoughts.

I am not a body endowed with a soul, I am a soul, a part of which is visible and is called a body.

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