Dear Brittany, a lovely tribute to your forebears. You are just right about how we should regard earlier generations. Researching my family history allowed me to understand better my ancestors' challenges, their decisions, and why they were at times difficult people. We hope our descendants will extend charity to us, in our turn.
A beautiful essay Brittany, with a balanced and compassionate view of the past. I think of how we suffer in the midst of so many blessings- I can’t imagine how much strength it took our forbears to persevere in their circumstances, with fewer resources to cope. By having just a few of those beautiful objects around you, you can summon their spirits at will and remember your connection to the past. And now they’re enshrined in your words.
Lovely read. I agree with you about Stoicism allowing for appreciating its life in all its fullness—you may enjoy a material object, while also acknowledging that it is material. The quote from Seneca about cherishing the past and valuing it is also an important reminder. Most of my grandparents died when I was very young, and the one I’m closer with is still alive. I have not yet lost anyone I am close with, but I know I will in the not-so-distant future. I will try to remember what I have learned to cope with it.
A great use of Epictetus's handle analogy. I think it also broadly solves the present's urge the "cancel" past figures who weren't perfect moral paragons by today's standards, even if their views were accepted in their own day.
If the public wants to remove a statue or rename a school, the litmus test should be, "can we find any solid handle to grasp this figure by that shows us something valuable?"
If they pushed society forward or did good great good, use that handle while never forgetting their flaws.
If the only handles we can find are moral disasters, it's probably time to put them aside.
"But we do get to choose how to remember our own forebears, and it is a choice. Like everything else in life, we can choose to focus on the bad or the good. We don’t forget the rough edges, and we don’t pretend everything was perfect. But Epictetus reminds us that
Everything has two handles, and it may be carried by one of these handles, but not by the other. If your brother acts wrongly towards you, don’t try to grasp the matter by this handle, that he is wronging you (because that is the handle by which it can’t be carried), but rather by the other, that he is your brother…and then you’ll be grasping the matter by the handle by which it can be carried.
Dear Brittany, a lovely tribute to your forebears. You are just right about how we should regard earlier generations. Researching my family history allowed me to understand better my ancestors' challenges, their decisions, and why they were at times difficult people. We hope our descendants will extend charity to us, in our turn.
A beautiful essay Brittany, with a balanced and compassionate view of the past. I think of how we suffer in the midst of so many blessings- I can’t imagine how much strength it took our forbears to persevere in their circumstances, with fewer resources to cope. By having just a few of those beautiful objects around you, you can summon their spirits at will and remember your connection to the past. And now they’re enshrined in your words.
I got a lot out of this one, Brittany. My Dad died of cancer when I was 19. This gives me a wonderful perspective! Thanks!
Lovely read. I agree with you about Stoicism allowing for appreciating its life in all its fullness—you may enjoy a material object, while also acknowledging that it is material. The quote from Seneca about cherishing the past and valuing it is also an important reminder. Most of my grandparents died when I was very young, and the one I’m closer with is still alive. I have not yet lost anyone I am close with, but I know I will in the not-so-distant future. I will try to remember what I have learned to cope with it.
A great use of Epictetus's handle analogy. I think it also broadly solves the present's urge the "cancel" past figures who weren't perfect moral paragons by today's standards, even if their views were accepted in their own day.
If the public wants to remove a statue or rename a school, the litmus test should be, "can we find any solid handle to grasp this figure by that shows us something valuable?"
If they pushed society forward or did good great good, use that handle while never forgetting their flaws.
If the only handles we can find are moral disasters, it's probably time to put them aside.
"But we do get to choose how to remember our own forebears, and it is a choice. Like everything else in life, we can choose to focus on the bad or the good. We don’t forget the rough edges, and we don’t pretend everything was perfect. But Epictetus reminds us that
Everything has two handles, and it may be carried by one of these handles, but not by the other. If your brother acts wrongly towards you, don’t try to grasp the matter by this handle, that he is wronging you (because that is the handle by which it can’t be carried), but rather by the other, that he is your brother…and then you’ll be grasping the matter by the handle by which it can be carried.
Handbook, 43"