🖼️ Monday Muse
The Monday Muse is a weekly collection of reminders, insights, and maxims on the art of living. The term “muse” has two meanings: (1) a state of deep thought; and (2) a source of inspiration. May the following (in a small way) be a source of contemplation and wisdom to live your highest good.
📌 Perennial Reminder(s)
The French sociologist and philosopher Frédéric Lenoir on the challenges of discovering the meaning of happiness:
We all find it much easier to answer the question “What makes me happy?” than to reply to the tougher problem of “What is happiness?” I can say that I’m happy when I find myself in the company of the people I love, when I listen to Bach or Mozart, when I’m making good progress with my work, …
All these experiences, as well as many others, make me happy. But is happiness simply the accumulation of such moments? And why do these moments give me happiness, when they wouldn’t necessarily make everyone else happy? …
Is happiness to be found in our relations with other people and external objects, or rather within us, in a state of inner peace that nothing can disturb? […]
Source: Happiness: A Philosopher’s Guide
📜 Perennial Maxim(s)
In a letter titled today as “An Epicurean on His Deathbed,” Seneca wrote to his friend Lucilius that philosophy can help us in all areas of life—including death:
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💡 Perennial Insight(s)
The philosopher Gordon Marino on Existentialism and the art of responsibility:
According to Sartre, existentialists believe we are all forced to sit for the final exam, ‘What does it mean to be a human being?’ We answer this parent question of life in the ink of our choices and actions. … Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. Such is the first principle of existentialism. …
But if existence really does precede essence, man is responsible for what he is. Thus, existentialism’s first move is to make every man aware of what he is and to make the full responsibility of his existence rest on him. […]
Source: Basic Writings of Existentialism
💀 Dying Every Day
On a recent episode of Dying Every Day, we discussed what it means to live a happy life:
Listen to Dying Every Day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
J.W. Bertolotti
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Great citations 👏