ARE YOU A CYNIC, A STOIC OR AN EPICUREAN?

Today's pearls of wisdom will require you to analyze yourself. Don't worry it's not as scary as it sounds. The Greeks used to classify their people into three different categories. The main emphasis was on finding out what true happiness was and how it could be achieved. We are going to look at three of these philosophical trends. Are you ready?
The Cynics emphasized that true happiness isn't found in external advantages such as material luxury, political power or good health. True happiness doesn't depend on random and fleeting things. Happiness can't be lost once attained. Cynics believed that people didn't need to be concerned about their health or let themselves be concerned for other people's woes. Nowadays we use terms like "cynical" or "cynicism" to describe a sneering disbelief in human sincerity or to imply insensitivity towards other people's suffering. George Carlin is a prime example of what a cynic is.
The Stoics believed that everyone was part of the same common sense. They thought that each person was like a world in miniature. This led to the thought of universal rightness. Natural law governed all mankind and they considered the legal statutes of various states incomplete imitations of the "law embedded" in nature itself. They believed there was only one nature and the idea was called monism. They drew attention to human fellowship and were interested in politics and encouraged culture and philosophy. They believed that Man must accept his destiny since all natural processes follow the unbreakable laws of nature. Everything happens through necessity and one shouldn't complain when fate comes knocking. They never let their feelings take over. Today we use the term "stoic calm" about someone who does not let his feelings take over. A good example of a Stoic would be Gandhi.
Last but not lease, we have the Epicureans. They believed that the pleasurable results of an action must always be weighed against its possible side effects. To them, pleasure doesn't necessarily mean sensual pleasure like intimacy or eating chocolate. Pleasure could mean the appreciation of friendship or art. Their motto was: " The gods are not to be feared. Death is nothing to worry about. Good is easy to attain. The fearful is easy to endure." They basically lived for the moment. Around the year 300 B.C. one of Socrates's pupils by the name of Aristippus pretty much summed it up. He said " The highest good is pleasure; the greatest evil is pain." The word "epicurean" is used in a negative sense nowadays to describe someone who lives only for pleasure. Karl Marx believed in epicureanism.
So... which one are you? Think long and hard. I like to think that I'm an Epicurean... remembering to always "seize the day." Well, have you made up your mind yet?
Till next time...