lobelia
New Member
- Mar 9, 2025
- 2
Zeno of Citium (334 BC - 262BC), Greek or Phoenician philosopher, founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, is said to have tripped one day while leaving the school. He broke his toe, then struck the ground with his fist, and quoted Aeschylus's Niobe, "I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?" Then held his breath until he died.
I think this is a beautifully stupid story, that tends to illustrate the opposite of what Zeno might have intended. As, breaking a toe, might be annoying, but publicly suffocating yourself in response is... not in accordance with nature. Unable to bear hardship, a person frames whatever they must suffer as unendurable. And are then justified to end it all by this stoical doctrine.
I suppose, I disagree with the premise. Though I can't articulate precisely why.
I have come to believe that beauty is not always truth, but truth is always beauty. And that life is usually difficult, embarrassing, insulting, and tiresome. But that's all there is. And for all I know, it's bookended by a sprawling spacious nothing. So in opposition to eternity, I will persist in this brief charade.
I think this is a beautifully stupid story, that tends to illustrate the opposite of what Zeno might have intended. As, breaking a toe, might be annoying, but publicly suffocating yourself in response is... not in accordance with nature. Unable to bear hardship, a person frames whatever they must suffer as unendurable. And are then justified to end it all by this stoical doctrine.
I suppose, I disagree with the premise. Though I can't articulate precisely why.
I have come to believe that beauty is not always truth, but truth is always beauty. And that life is usually difficult, embarrassing, insulting, and tiresome. But that's all there is. And for all I know, it's bookended by a sprawling spacious nothing. So in opposition to eternity, I will persist in this brief charade.
