English philosopher and speaker Alan Watts is considered one of the most influential mediators between Eastern and Western worldviews, and his views have fascinated me for years. I return to his lessons regularly. This little excerpt in particular has a lot of meaning for me. It may be short, but it shows very powerfully how much misunderstanding exists in our...
In the working world, there is usually a certain trend or phenomenon that is on everyone's lips. In recent years, there has been a lot of coverage of the so-called hustle culture (click here for the related article). But in the last year, a new term has been popping up more and more often: Quiet Quitting. But what exactly is it? I...
Philosopher and orator Alan Watts was one of the leading mediators between Eastern and Western philosophy. His works are still very popular today, as his way of expression makes it easy to get started, especially for philosophy beginners. This passage from one of his lectures deals with the concept the vicious circle of worry and how we escape it. Watts' describes the...
I think most of us feel rushed a lot these days. Some even permanently. I definitely used to be one of the latter. The result is often that we run out of energy faster than we would like and we can't devote ourselves to things the way we would like to. The Roman...
There are many well-known quotes from Marcus Aurelius, the famous Stoic philosopher. However, there are also lesser known quotes that are of great concern to me and, in my opinion, carry important messages. We will take a closer look at one of these quotes in this article. "Today I have escaped from fear. Or no, I have discarded it, for it....
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. We have believed this since childhood. But this view is not particularly healthy. The former Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius already knew this: "Think rather of what you have than of what you lack." Marcus Aurelius The reason is normally...
Epictetus was a simple man. For a simple life corresponded to his idea of a good life. Some views and beliefs Epictetus had from the traditions of earlier Stoics, but he himself also had a significant influence on Stoicism. Many of his ideas and quotes are still very well known today. The meaning of one of these quotes we will...
It is not always easy to be clear about your actual goal. Of course, we usually have some goals in mind that we are working towards. But this is exactly the problem: any goals will always bring us only somewhere and not where we actually should go. This can also be found in the following...
In many Far-Eastern philosophies and religions, the pursuit of enlightenment and happiness is an integral aspect. I realized years ago that we in the West also feel a need for this, but in our cultures we are not actively engaged with these goals. In most cases, in westernized countries, the...
Chances are you've caught yourself acting or thinking to please others. The Chinese philosopher Lao tzu had warned against this very thing, as it makes us dependent on these people. He wrote the following words on this subject: "Take care of it....
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