HKB
2 passages · search this phrase →
Often appears with: will, choice, and freedom · the fear of death · prayer at death · prayer and worship · nature of the good · justice as a virtue · judging friendship · god’s commands · friendship and loyalty · freedom of will · freedom from fear
Usually: argument (1) · reflection (1) · confronting death (1) · detachment (1) · exhortation (1) · reverence (1)
He teaches how to judge friendships by whether people place their real interest in the Will rather than externals, insists that no one can rob the Will, and prays to God when sickness and death come.
“Then you will say nothing to me?” “I can only tell you this: that one who knows not who he is and to what end he was born; what kind of world this is and with whom he is associated therein; one who cannot distinguish Good and Evil, Beauty and Foulness, . . . Truth and Falsehood, will never follow Reason in shaping his desires and impulses and repulsions, nor yet in assent, denial, or suspension of judgement; but wi…
He defines the Good’s nature as a disposition of the will, insists external things are merely “matter” for the will, and argues that freedom from trouble comes from focusing on what Zeus commands is truly one’s own.
THE PROMISE OF PHILOSOPHY. 1. Of things that exist, some are in our own power, some are not in our own power. Of things that are in our own power are our opinions, impulses, pursuits, avoidances, and, in brief, all that is of our own doing. Of things that are not in our own power are the body, possessions, reputation, authority, and, in brief, all that is not of our own doing. And the things that are in our own powe…