ArtfulPrudence

Enriching Man's Honour by Wisdom and Nobility

Artful Prudence

The Bait of Commitment

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There are duty and device in commitment and it is always the idiot who hurriedly takes sides. A fool has no sense of self-government, he is conquered by other people and quickly ensnares himself through sheer ignorance to his detriment. Do not be hasty to take sides and stay away from the heedless commitment that you have no assurance in. When you don’t commit your fondness to any side, people only work harder to win over your approval. Their civility and thwarted yearning become your influence when you withhold your commitment and remain distant from taking sides. Holding yourself back does not sustain annoyance but more so a sense of self-concern for your individualism. Also, it makes a person seem incapable to lay hold of, his lack of compliance with the cast of mind of the common people makes him appear like a superior man who stands beyond the crowd. Such a person’s capacity to detach himself from leaning to certain positions makes him sought after. In time, such a quality cultivates and expands and as your sovereignty develops, so do more people crave your attention and commitment. Yearning is contagious and a person who is craved by many naturally seems more in-demand and in turn, more attractive.

A sure way to break the spell is to dive into commitment carelessly, you automatically become unremarkable and colourless like the masses. Swift commitment sounds more like unenlightened clinging than independence, a person who has an adequate degree of awareness would at least gauge desire and tension before considering such a contract. People carelessly commit because they find a sense of consolation and security in doing so. This is undistinguished, for obvious reason, since people generally lack self-government that is not hampered by dependency and inferiority. People have their own courses of action to persuade you to commit, such as gifts and favours, solely to coerce you into duty. Don’t be taken in by such schemes, simply advocate their civility and kindle their desire without falling for the gambit. Do not grant yourself to be subject to commitment, obligation is negotiation and it is grounded in subtle duping. Bear in mind, though, you do not want to frankly push people away or give the impression that you are inadequate for commitment. You must, as it were, intimate the potentiality of ownership and commitment to keep them involved. That is to say, you dangle the carrot neither too close nor too far from their mouth.

If control and authority are your longings, consider a strategy; place yourself at the centre of competing forces and while you entice one side with a word of honour, notice as the other side comes after you also with the intention of surpassing its adversary. Your attention is costly to both sides, your effect and appeal will instantly magnify as you get both competing forces fighting over you for your assent. If you had laid down your commitment to one side, your influence would not seem as great, thus there is more power to be gained through avoidance of impetuous commitment. It is of import to bear in mind that a sharp machiavellian has an adequate sense of objectivity and dispassion from passionate involvements and has a capacity to observe the people around him as puppets that could further his plans in his road towards supremacy. Furthermore, he does not allow himself to turn out to be a footman for any motive or belief. People earn minor respect from dashing to substantiate others. Distance is more potent than effortless support. Postponement to pick up your weapons can in and of itself be a weapon. Let them tire out and leverage their depletion to your advantage.

Stoicism: On Livelihood

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Assurance and Care

There is a recognised principle in Stoicism about assurance and carefulness; Be self-assured about all that is outside your will and attentive and careful with everything within your faculty of reason. Understand, if the wicked and unpleasant is subject to the will, care is necessary. On the other hand, if everything outside your power is unimportant, those affairs can be set about with complete assurance since you are incapable of dictating them. Being vigilant in opposition to immorality, you tackle matters that are not inherently wrong in a confident frame of mind, this is essentially a stoic application. There is an old saying that goes; “When deer are frightened by the feathers, they seek safety in the hunters’ nets.” In other words, the deer confound devastation with shelter and as a result, suffer an untimely passing. Generally speaking, terror troubles us with regards to circumstances that are not within our control, yet we take action in an assertive attitude in affairs conditional on the will under the supposition that they are of little significance, in contrast. Whether you act flagrantly and with unrestrained sexual desire or reckless and irresponsible, no part of it is a nuisance to you so long as you have a favourable outcome in transactions outside your will. Demise, deportation, suffering; under such conditions, you will uncover the urge to grow fearful, anxious and evasive.

One would presume that when fallacy takes into account the things of the most considerable significance, your unprocessed assuredness will be corrupted into impulsiveness and recklessness. At the same instant, your terror and anxiety are swapped, as it were, trading your natural prudence and reticence for diffidence and hesitancy. The faculty of avoidance is brought about by handing over carefulness and vigilance to the faculty of the will. Conversely, if you aim it towards what is outside your faculty of will and not your liability, you will inevitably encounter distress and uncertainty. Consider, dying and suffering are not horrifying, it is your terror associated with demise and agony that you should dread. You see, death is not terrible but dying a weakling certainly is. Find assurance in death, then, and be heedfully aware of the terror you attach to it. Socrates described such horrors as ‘hobgoblins of the mind and for good reason. In the same way, facades frighten little ones because they are unknown and foreign to them, so do we respond to occurrences in a comparable manner and for quite the identical ground.

Above all, an infant is merely innocent and uneducated and any judgement on his part is more likely to be grounded in the imaginative faulty than reality. Death is nothing more than a spine-chilling mask, it is only when you can see through the veil that you let go and unwind, letting life unfold as it would like. In the end, your physical form and spirit must part ways, returning to that identical condition prior to your emergence. There really is no disturbance whether it happens now or the subsequent future, for it is inescapable. You might ask “why should it happen now, why not later?” If you take a stoic attitude towards such an inquiry, it is simply to attune to the cyclical nature of life since existence demands for things to cross the threshold both now and in the time ahead. Except, an important distinction must be made here, as the future also unfolds in the present moment. Therefore, past and future are only delusions of reality envisaged in the present.

There will be times where your body will be racked with pain, but know also that alleviation and respite always inevitably follow, for what goes down must always come up and vice versa. If you find life to be intolerable, the door always stands unobstructed. It is your choice; accept it or depart. Nobody in a condition of perpetual terror and anxiety is liberated, in the same way, anyone who has reached reassurance from misery gradually releases himself from such continual apprehension. The understanding of what should be regarded with assuredness or carefulness is crucial; assuredness for what is outside your power and carefulness for what is within your power. In this way, you know you will not let down your desires or undergo the undesirable since you do not crave what is in opposition to the natural course of events.

Battling Impressions

There’s this Stoic idea; if you like doing something, do it consistently. If you don’t like doing something, substitute it with something that you do. The same principle applies to ethical propensities. When you grow irritated, for instance, remember that you are not culpable of failure, you merely endorsed a tendency and inflamed it. Inevitably, consistent conduct of any kind will inculcate new practices and propensities while also corroborating worn ones. The innermost passions leave their personal blemishes and if you don’t treat them with care, they will be repeatedly vulnerable and never recuperate. The antidote to anger is restraint and watchfulness, attempt an easy experiment; watch your first impulse of anger and hold back until it elapses, do not act upon it nor make any conclusions about it. The more you do this, the less frequent anger arises and the more command you have over it through recognition. If you manage to resist it for a full month, you have made actual progress.

Begin, for a change, by desiring to make yourself happy instead of someone else. Aspire to grow to be honourable, clean and solid. For when you are unpolluted, you will find peace and a lack of constraint and you will feel in consolation with the companionship of nature, or God. Make friends with men of superior temperament so as to echo their good qualities and emulate yourself after them. Furthermore, whether you pick someone dead or alive is of minor importance, what matters is the essential framework. Consequently, do not let your imagination provoke you with the delight and enjoyment that lie in wait for you, these will only serve as diversions from doing the work you ought to do right now in order to carry the day. Lastly, get rid of your fear of death and comprehend this; no matter how many tempests you will confront, you will become aware that your brainpower is more than capable of enduring it in a relaxed composure and collectedness.

A Stoic Attitude on Love and Friendship

People tend to show concern and care for what they deem good and they show it concern because they have a liking for it. For that reason, the righteous person is also the person who knows how to love. Yet, if a person is not able to differentiate what is good from what is bad or impartial, such a person is unable to love. It is the wise man, then, who possesses the faculty to profoundly love. You may ponder to yourself what makes a person foolish or wise, after all, your sensory faculty is working in euphony and you can generally discriminate between feelings and opinions. You see, it is not so much that you are foolish or unreasonable as it is that you are habitually stunned or overcome by unquestionable sensations and feelings whose illusory nature of their reality absolutely misleads you to the point of apprehension. Thus, while a foolish man is perpetually misled by his delusions, a wise man is able to see through their illusory nature and remain unharmed by them.

Do not live under any illusion, it is a general law of human nature that every person is married to nothing more than his egotism and self-interest. Furthermore, this fundamental law is not an exception to your children or close relatives, place a valuable property between you and your children and you will quickly realise how eager they are to consign you to the grave and how you wish they never came to be. Your self-centred and inconsiderate son has been intending your burial for a long while because his merit and profit, tied to your diligent sacrifice, is more significant to him than your enduring existence. If you think nature or god is in opposition with your self-interest, it is rational to suppose that you will object to it in the same way you object to others. Opposing nature is much like being in opposition with an extension of yourself, which in turn will cause disharmony in your ethics and character. It is a half-witted game to attempt to oppose the course of nature out of mere egotism, your sense of self-importance is a mere prejudice that clouds your judgement and unless your prejudice is given up to see what actually is, you will live in a continual state of uncertainty and disorder. Whatever you identify by ‘me’ or ‘mine’ is where you are inherently inclined, whether this force lies in your body or your will is determined by your judgement and awareness.

It is tough to trust a bad person with weak character; they are inconclusive, naive, gullible and easily misled by poor judgement. Such a character’s instability is not reliable because a dependable and honourable person has adequate integrity and good moral virtue that is worthy of your trust, unlike a wobbly and insecure man whose very values are indistinct and grounded in feebleness. Such values in a person are not dignitary. People with weak characters do not make righteous friends because friendship is contingent, largely, upon mutual confidence, not blind faith. After all, where is the relationship to be found if not in trustworthiness and unwavering loyalty? Memorise, then, make friends by choice and not by chance. When making new friends, find like-minded individuals who are well informed and wise but do not be so heedful in treating the ignorant with contempt, show some rapport and solace instead.

The stoic way is not a cruel and unforgiving attitude towards the foolish and ignorant. It is, rather, compassionate leniency that is not immoderately confrontational or aggressive. Aggression should be employed in a discriminating manner, not in a regular and thoughtless fashion that is a result of poor judgement. Employing unnecessary hostility on the ignorant is not resourceful in the least, it will agitate them all the more and make you look like a disconcerted character that is regulated by his passions not good perception. Stay away from cruelty and make adequate use of your judgement to understand a person’s disposition instead of subverting it out of loathing. Hatred, in general, is a result of inner revulsion and annoyance that needs to be inflicted onto others for brief contentment, a mark of a poor and detrimental character. Therefore, if you need to detest and pass an abusive remark about someone to discharge your self-indignation, you have to resolve your antipathy, first and foremost.

Laws of Power: Discretion, Simulation, and Courtiership

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Preface

This essay is a lengthy analysis and breakdown of three high-powered and interconnected laws from the 48 Laws of Power. In opening, I will be exploring ‘Law 19; Do not offend the wrong person‘ and in the succeeding sections, I will expand on ‘Law 21; Play a sucker to catch a sucker, seem dumber than you mark‘ and ‘Law 24: Play the perfect courtier respectively’.

To understand the ins and outs of these laws, I suggest you inquire while you read, and write down your own thoughts, diligently and in your own words. Reflective and deliberate, furthermore, how you could apply particular principles in your own life in a calculated and cautious manner. Critical thinking demands that you give consideration and think about this material before proceeding with the application. To understand said principles, mere inquiry is not adequate, execution and education go hand in hand and thus neither should be disregarded for the other.

To lay out some terminology, ‘discretion‘ refers to the deliberate quality of conducting yourself in such a way that neither causes offence nor uncovers secrecy. Furthermore, ‘simulation’ refers to the act of pretending or imitating, a deception that is misleading and convincing. Lastly, ‘courtiership’ is the magical art of the courtier that was established in royal courts. It demanded a heightened level of proficiency in cunning, cautiousness, judgement, manner and style, masters of appearance and external manipulation. Courtiers augment the ruler’s presence while adapting their own accordingly.

Discretion – Avoid causing offence to the wrong person

Law 19 – Know who you’re dealing with, do not offend the Wrong Person

Introduction

As you climb the ladder of power, you will stumble across a vast range of characters who will demand different courses of action to wrestle with, thus, one of the most indispensable skills to develop is your ability to distinguish between different temperaments with good precision. If you are precise in your estimations, you will not require too much effort to constrain people to your side. For being able to identify a particular character and have the capacity to act in accordance with it so as to avoid opposition and hostility, is all-important. We are surrounded by an abundance of diverse characters, and thus do not be naive to presume that different people will respond to your stratagem in the same way. Consequently, be cautious when choosing your targets and absolutely do not displease and upset the mistaken character.

I am about to lay out common character types that you will stumble across often, and have in all likelihood dealt with in the past. These types are rough approximations to give you an adequate overview of their key characteristics to look out for.

The Snobbish and Vain

As the name implies, an oversensitive arrogance makes this man threatening and insecure. The tiniest error will compel him to seek revenge as a consequence of his terrible hostility. This man lacks a sense of rationality or equilibrium, he is regulated by his aggressiveness, he overreacts when he gets the opportunity and asserts his antagonism upon those who have a grave dealing with him. Avoid such a person at all cost if you are confronted with his thin-skinned nature and certainly do not waste time attempting to work out his insanity, for it will all be in vain. Such a person is hard to trust, his lack of stability makes him terrible in social affairs and his insecurity invariably makes people have contempt towards him.

The Dejected and Timid

Similar to the previous type, this man is as brittle as you can imagine, he is hesitant and timid and not taxing to deceive. When he is betrayed or deceived, his sense of distress will pour out and it will be evident in his gesture. Such types will keep besetting you if you caused the injury in any possible way. Stay away from them for a long while if you caused them pain, for they will be your source of continual dreadful nuisance.

The Dubious Skeptic

The dubious character sees what he permits himself to see, he’s a pessimist by nature and identifies the imperfections and faults in people, which are often projections of his own insufficiency. His excessive sense of self-worth compels him to believe people are pursuing him, a blend of narcissism and insecurity. This type is easily deceived as he lacks the rationality to reason well and he is one of the least threatening of the types. If you want to capitalise on his obnoxious conduct, leverage his distrustful nature to be in opposition with others.

The Sly Man

The prominent qualities of this type are their proficiency in deception and foresight. This man will not exhibit weakness out in the open, he plays the waiting game and strikes back when the time is right. His callous astuteness allows him to inflict a potent vengeance when he has the upper-hand and calculated heedfully. If you have a bad dealing with such a man, you must either annihilate him or evade him at all cost and head for the hills, for he will not forgive a grave injury and will make you pay the price.

The Ignorant Man

The uneducated man is a tempting victim, nonetheless, he’s not as easy to deceive as you may presume. To fall for a ploy requires an adequate level of intellect and some insight that will supply you with a sense of possibility. Conversely, this man lacks the imagination to consider the likelihood of recompense and thus often disregard a stratagem all together. Such a man will not seek retribution yet will unquestionably squander your productive time and vitality in your attempt to exploit him.

The Subtle Art of Discretion

Everyone has vulnerabilities and anyone who says otherwise is obviously engaging in self-denial or being evasive. Many a time, the ideal way to swindle a person is to make use of his insecurities carefully. Degrees are significant in the domain of power and the degree to which a man is more unguarded than the mediocre introduces menace and possibility. To have sufficient ability in meticulously evaluating people and understanding the other person’s temperament is the most indispensable expertise in accumulating power and preserving it. If you lack this capability, you are quite literally sightless because you will have no grounds as to who you are dealing with and you will proceed with rash action, select the mistaken people and engage in inappropriate conduct with the wrong people.

Remember: Before plotting any potential initiative, be absolutely certain that you have a definite calculation of who your opponent is. Avoid moving forward unless you know the other person’s character as your probability for disaster is significantly higher and the price you could pay for it is indefinite; that is threatening both your life and your reputation. You know this already, there are certain people who are upset even over the minor offence and they will willingly transform it into a dispute and perhaps, an armed conflict. A fragile ego breaks easily and when it does, the person opposing it will have to cope with it in the heat of the moment. Thus, it is wiser to avoid such a conflict altogether and err on the side of caution and calculation.

Do not depend on your natural tendency when inferring a verdict about your adversary. There is no superior successor for accumulating useful knowledge and to lay your trust on such erroneous measures will only result in a rash error. Furthermore, do not be unsophisticated in relying on appearances, people are competent in concealing their shortcomings and vices. Know how to precisely uncover their lack of congruence and facades that they utilise to conceal their nature. A cunning man can be pretentious with his warmth and kindliness, in the same way, a fool can be pretentious with his veil of bullying and threat. You must, as it were, have the ability to dig beneath the surface and make an accurate assessment of their authentic character through body language, tonality, facial gesture and others.

Insecurity and Courtesy

Moreover, do not make that hasty supposition that your adversary may be puny and unimportant in comparison, especially if you’re not well informed about his essential qualities. Different men react to offence in different fashions, for instance, there are men who are unhurried and long-drawn-out in taking offence which may prompt a miscalculation on your part and a rude remark which would have otherwise been refrained. Nonetheless, you ought to understand that there are certain people whose vanity and integrity are so tenuous that any slight offence caused to them will motivate forceful savagery and it will seem unexpected and radical when you consider their prolonged response. Be cautious and discreet with rejections, courtesy goes a long way when dealing with people, it is always more respectable to sidestep an insult when declining an offer, even if it is an insolent and shameless proposition. Do not be of the belief that you ought to treat people the same way they treat you, for if you stumble across an impolitic fool, it is completely foolish to cheapen your position at his expense. That being said, avoid insulting refusals with people you don’t know adequately.

An unduly insecure person will make it evident in his conduct that he was insulted, but a confident person will have a good laugh at your remarks. Insecure men could seem like advocates of fair-mindedness and sincerity, but that is merely their way to shelter their lack of confidence in vague values that they most likely do not justify in their character. Such men, when fooled or deceived, have a flood of doubt and are shattered internally. They are, as a result, in desperation to mend their fragile ego and reinstate their inadequacy. Truth be told, most men welcome embarrassment of being duped with a sense of compliance. Their credulity and rapacity hinder their contemplative element because they imagine themselves harmless sufferers of circumstance.

What do you gain from an insult? It is better to bear the impulse to affront someone even if they hold a debilitated position. You never know whether one of these days they will be in a more powerful position to seek retribution, keep that in mind. The sense of gratification you get from a wilful insult is trivial compared to the prospect of the peril of future punishment. A negligible person today can be a powerful person tomorrow.

Downplay your Understanding

Law 21 – Play a sucker to catch a sucker, seem dumber than your mark.

The Conceit of Intellectual Superiority

A man can be absolutely modest in his manners yet rarely compel people to fail to notice his offence of being intellectually superior to them. Being shrugged off is a considerable good deed for your courtesy and if people discern it, it is a consequence of their judgement of it as an element of insolence and bad manners. Or, something to which the person in question has no rightful entitlement for and delights in it out of vanity and not genuine humbleness. In vengeance upon his behaviour, people will attempt to embarrass and mortify him behind his back in some way and their forbearance with doing so is only a consequence of their careful calculation.

The perception that someone could be more brilliant than you becomes intolerable, this holds even more relevance for those with extravagant egos who are extremely fragile. As a result, you start to naturally give grounds for his intelligence in myriad different manners to find a sense of ease and consolation in your shattered ego. As a matter of fact, there is nothing a man is more puffed up and arrogant about than his intellectual superiority. In this beastly world, you live in, you like to believe it is your intellect that offers you a place of authority and control, and there is a good reason for that. Nonetheless, it is an impetuous error to allow others to perceive that you are distinctly brighter, the various passions of disdain, envy, hostility and threat are inevitably not worth the foolish posturing.

The Simulation of Intelligence and Perception

Simply consider and observe how people uphold their intellectual ability to their self-conceit and then be sure to avoid disparaging this faculty. If you want to soften people’s guard, the evident faculty to downplay is intelligence, but the other two facets to downplay are judgement and experience as both draw up close to intellect on the hierarchy of conceit. Make them feel superior to you in these faculties, and you will have them at the tip of your fingers. It is the ideal camouflage to seem less clever than you are and at times, somewhat of an idiot to confound people. The sense of intellectual superiority you can induce in people by means of cognitive reassurance through indirect modes will lay down their doubt and suppositions and will be coerced easier to your side. Do not communicate this implication through direct means, though, utilise concealed and roundabout methods as these are more subtle and potent. A gesture of admiration at their intellectual ability, for instance, can go a long way.

There is an archaic hunting approach called “Masquerading as a swine to kill the tiger”, in which the huntsman disguises himself in the skin and muzzle of a pig and then imitates its grunting to enforce the pretence that subsides the pig’s guard. The camouflaged man patiently waits for a pig to approach his proximity close enough and then attacks suddenly. This method can be translated into real-life plots. For instance, if someone is conceited and cocksure, you can convey to them the impression that you are a docile target. When they resolve to make an ulterior move on you, you can at once tip over the script on them. This element of unpredictability from your end will totally frighten them, stirring menace and threat. This course of action is also productive if you are an eager and pioneering character who finds himself at the bottom end of the social order.

To sum up, compel people to be convinced that they are more intelligent and superior to you in matters of taste, intellect, and experience. For you will win them over to your side through your deliberate modesty and discretion, making them feel validated and in solace around you. The longer you are in their presence, furthermore, the more prospect for favourable outcomes for you to exploit them, should you desire to. Remember: It will not serve you to divulge and show off your intelligence, especially if you are incalculably superior, make it habitual to denigrate your intelligence continually. When you have power, do not make it evident, instead, feign a lesser position to not rouse passions. On the other hand, you can’t carry yourself in a half-witted manner, especially if you have people above you who are superiors, you must make it apparent, through your eloquence and articulation, that you are brighter than your rivalries. As you are more established, though, you must carefully lessen your genius to keep people on your side.

Lastly, if people discover the truth underlying your modesty and humbleness, they will not resent you for it. Instead, they will admire your capacity for discretion rather than exhibiting your great intellect among everyone. There is but one exception, of course, where it will serve your benefit to oppose this rule. There will be conditions where masking a deception will demand a display of brainpower, in such circumstances, do not conceal it but encompass it. Impressions are powerful and an audacious and well-spoken voice will persuade and assure many.

The Magical Art of Courtiership

Law 24 – Play the perfect courtier.

General Depiction of a Courtier

Courtiers are like wizards, they illusively manipulate their appearance and only letting those among them perceive what they desire. With such an abundance of underlying artifice and dexterity taking place, it is crucial that they are not discerned and remain as subtle as possible. The courtier is a maestro of his demeanour and facial gesture, his character wise and impervious. His genius allows him to dissemble poor affairs, regulate his passions, grin at his adversaries, contradict his soul and act in opposition to his emotions.

Courtiers are feared for their power, they are masters of their appearance with the knowledge that people largely judge others based on exterior impression. Courtiers are elegant, courteous and well mannered, for their sense of hostility and belligerence is continually concealed and channelled through indirect means. Furthermore, they are bright at pleasing people neither by embarrassing themselves nor making a display of overstated flattery. People naturally delight in their presence as a consequence of their allure. Courtiers are articulate and well-read, they are concise and bold, not saying more than required to convey the message. In addition, courtiers understand how to take advantage of both a commendation or an abusive remark. The art of indirection is one of the master tools of the courtier, he submits his authority to his superiors, asserts his influence in a dignified, elegant and implicit manner and expresses commendation in a deliberate fashion. The ideal courtier prospers in a sphere where the whole lot centres around diplomatic and influential shrewdness and skill.

Applying the Demeanour of a Courtier

The court mostly revolves around the ruler, a continual striving to make him happy and keeping him entertained, stiffening the pecking order of the allegiance and aristocracy to retain the secondaries adjacent to the sovereign so he could look out for them. It is a known truism that the construction of a society in court is founded on power and command. Accordingly, a competent courtier was rigorous and cautious, delighting in moderation and not in excess, adhering to rule and setting himself apart from his equals, but never to the extent of rousing insecurity in the leader. (Law 01: Never Outshine the Master) Nowadays, even though a courtier is not requested to engage in antiquated masquerades like the worn days, the fundamental principles that reign over politics in court are ageless and classic and thus are as prevalent today as back then.

The courtier can’t call too much notice and recognition towards his behaviour or character, it is simply not wise to become a chatterbox of self-importance. Furthermore, it brings rise to unneeded misgiving and wariness. Modesty is more desirable, narcissistic talkativeness is fruitless to the courtier and will in due course awaken adequate covetousness to bring about disloyalty and betrayal. As a rule of thumb, then, learn to talk more about others than about yourself to avoid adverse reactions. A great deal of the risks and concerns for the courtier is associated with the ruler, nonetheless, it is not solely the ruler who will dictate and decide your providence since your equals and subsidiaries too are conductive to it. With great power comes an expansive composite of terror, jealousy, bitterness and indignation. Thus, you must learn to pacify and soothe others who can cause you injury at some point in the future, diverting and bouncing their displeasure and antagonism onto others.

A court is a place of reciprocal reliance, it is the whole of senior politicians and diplomats as well as the reporters who are obsequious towards them. Therefore, it is ill-advised to displease the experience and culture of the people around you, irrespective of whether they are superiors or inferiors. In court, there is a strange contradiction, for you must get yourself the adequate recognition you deserve yet you mustn’t exhibit or parade yourself too shamelessly. This graceful balance requires sufficient skill in the art of indirect adulation; subduing and restraining your offerings to make your ruler look stronger than he is. What’s more, when you modestly flatter people on their impressive feats, you are, by implication, enticing attention to your good name. The delivery with regards to a compliment is crucial if you have the capacity to convey a sense of genuine awe and surprise at other peoples’ success, you possess an exceptional aptitude that will certainly serve you. In general, do your best to stay away from cracking jokes related to two of the most delicate spheres; appearance and taste, neither among them nor elsewhere.

The 3 Faculties; Style, Manner and Image

Courtiers disguise their efforts in matters of vocation, making their work seem effortless to the point of being interpreted as a genius. Their aptitude is adaptable and natural, moving in harmony with the changeable nature of things. You ought to learn to imitate the ethos of the times, the courtier’s ethos and reasoning ought to keep abreast with the present moment, indifferent to your finer feelings. The courtier is a reflection, as it were, exercising his wits to perceive himself in the same way others perceive him. This is a sound method to regulate your appearance. Become observant with yourself, then, to circumvent a fiasco from unfolding. Your physical appearance is crucial, you must find an aspect with which you can cultivate a characteristic and distinguishing flair that sets you apart from your rivalries. The distinctive style is subtle, it is understated and not obvious. Delicacy heightens significance, captivating those around you and emanating an aura of graceful charm. Cultivate these three faculties; style, manner and image, for they will significantly serve your influence.

When you have power over these faculties, you have the potentiality to adapt them according to each individual. If you fail to adjust your temperament and maintain a sense of pliability, you will inevitably awaken much unwanted feelings; disdain, scorn, snobbishness etc. Those among you may not grant it openly, but its latent presence is eventually sure to happen. In addition, do not ever be the belief that your basis for manner and discernment are omnipresent and general. The truth is they are not, and you should learn to refine accordingly if you want to sustain a crisp good name. You must hone your acting skills, then, and simulate your act effectively to flow with each person. The art of pretence is a gift from beyond, it is an extremely useful skill for social and political concerns. It is no smooth road, you will contend with your shortcomings and there will be conditions where it will be necessary to fabricate, exploit and swindle. It is demanded of you to be sharp in both camouflaging your annoyance and simulate your pleasure and assent. People, if truth be told, do not exactly want to see your struggles and tears as it seems like some other manifestation of pretension and showiness.

Additional Notions on Courting the Master

Law 1: Never Outshine the Master.

Your master does not want a friend, he wants a subsidiary. Do not approach him under the presumption that you are on ideal terms, do not act friendly as if he’s one of your close friends, maintain an element of distance between you and the master that enforces your appropriate roles in the pecking order. The master doesn’t want to hear your criticisms of him, you don’t hold a standing that grants you the ability to condemn him. If you decide to condemn him, you will pay a price for it, and it will be a grave one, at that. It is irrelevant how pertinent your criticism is, the master discerns the messenger, not the reproval you are communicating. You must refine your courtesy and prudence so your condemnations and suggestions are as allusive and subtle as possible. The source of condemnation should not be associated with any person, make the counselling neutral and aloof yet compelling the importance of the affairs to motivate necessary action. As well, propose favours as infrequently as possible and know your boundaries well. In addition, never ask for good turns in the interests of another person, this is crucial.

Note: Make it a point that you do not become a messenger of disappointment, this is critical, for in the long term, this can only injure your repute and make those around you regard you with contempt.

Having to turn down a person’s appeal is irritating to the master. Never unduly appeal for too much, for it is a master’s entitlement to bestow offerings and to be able to do so without initial reminders or cues by his subordinates. Therefore, do not present the master with the chance to refuse your proposals. What would be more beneficial is to secure his esteem by being worthy of your recompense and thus being offered the benefits without having to appeal to them. The rule is, then, do not overplay yourself, diligently do what is appointed to you and stop there. A surfeit of work, under the assumption that it will reap more benefits, is a fault. You will seem to be working arduously as if you are making up for insufficiency and in turn, you stir up undesirable suspicion and obstruct your effortless demeanour.

Time and again, it will be a strain to please your master, but if you have the ability to please a pair of authorities in one feat demands a higher genius of an absolute courtier. Expertise and aptitude are very significant, nonetheless, if you possess brilliance, a great ability that you know you can do better than most, you can take advantage of it to surpass your equals, connecting your genius with the master. Let the master take the credibility, it is merely momentary praise but will be your stepping stone and opportunity to exhibit your flair. In due course, it will release you from subjugation. Do not occupy much time educating yourself, then, that you disregard your social competence.

Further Reading

  1. 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene
  2. The Art of Power, AP
  3. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
  4. The Art of Wordly Wisdom, Baltasar Gracian
  5. The Book of the Courtier

Stoicism: A Brief Initiation

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I have been meaning to write an opening piece on Stoicism for some time as I believe its essential teachings are of crucial importance for the development of man’s character. I have attempted to lay out some elementary morals from Stoic Philosophy that will serve as an adequate basis for the succeeding writings on this theme.

Stoicism was a school of philosophy that originated in Athens in the primitive third century BC. The whole philosophy largely revolves around a code of ethics that is grounded in a structure of rationality and a sensible attitude towards nature. The ensuing sections will give you further insight into the moral code of the Stoics and their various outlooks on Morality and Life. Stoicism, as a doctrine, firmly finds its basis in nature, its whole adage is founded upon the notion that when the will is in line with the fundamental course of events, there is no opposition between your will and the course of nature and thus, you do not come to be a slave of circumstance. Rather, you come to accept the natural course as it was intended by the gods without suffering unnecessarily. Needless to say, Stoic Philosophy is quite red-pill with respect to the development of man and his exceptional qualities; dignity, integrity, persistence and restraint, as these make up the essential temperament of the upright man whose values and strong points move in pleasant harmony.

What is Within and Outside your Will

Reason is one of the most distinctive faculties, for it has the capacity to assess and observe itself, its ability and value apart from discerning and analysing others. Reason, furthermore, measures the utility of things and when is the suitable time to make use of them. The faculty of reason, therefore, is the most significant and productive facility we have been armed with, to make the fine use of judgement and impression. No other facility can replace it, the gods provided us with the single most sublime faculty, so long as it is exercised properly and comprehended with the utmost care. In spite of that, with the supposed knowledge of knowing there is but one faculty you can care for and commit yourself to, you instead decide to attach yourself with things that you do not own, such as your body (your physical vehicle), belongings, family and friends. Everything outside you is already in accordance with nature, there is no necessity for controlling the ungovernable whatsoever. Your commitment should be to make the finest use of your faculty of reason and everything outside your power with a position of complete assurance and trust in nature.

The understanding of what is yours and what is not, what you can carry out and what you can’t, is of great importance with regards to your attitude towards death, suffering and pleasure. You ought to die one day, but must you die enslaved by your suffering? In other words, is there something obstructing your position to approach torment with a smile in a cool and collected manner? It is your judgement of death and hardship that determines your frame of mind and attitude in the face of them. Your will is unconquerable, thus whether you’re chained by your leg or imprisoned, it is your strength of character that decides whether it grows to be a casualty of events or remain immutable to external factors, however severe they may be. Such is the position of the wise, then, it is their cultivated discernment of what is in their power and what is not that determines their purpose and attitude towards externals. You should inquire into these thoughts and put your policy into practice.

Content and Fulfilment

In the same way, an obedient citizen complies with the regulations of the state, so does the rational and clever person, after careful deliberation resolves to submit his faculty of will to nature, or shall I say; God. Freedom is not contingent upon external conditions, it’s having the river of life move in harmony with your will without opposition. Liberty is certainly precious and virtuous, but to capriciously engage in the wishful thinking of what you deem most suitable to happen to you is not noble, it is shameful. A significant part of becoming informed is becoming aware of bringing your will in accordance with the natural course of events, with the natural flow of the world.

Most people who, for instance, are held captive, are imprisoned against their will and thus are locked up both inwardly and outwardly. Conversely, when Socrates was imprisoned, he was not locked up, only his external vehicle was, his will remained unchanged and released. For, his will was not contingent upon what is outside its power, it was wholly centred around its own property. You should become aware that you occupy a minute space within the totality. Within reason, though, you do not surrender to anyone, neither to divinity because rationality is not quantified in dimensions but through the faculty of sense; perception. Furthermore, you are unfortunate, generally speaking, for being unaware and ignorant of your capacity for forbearance to manage the “problems” of life. You tend to neglect your untapped strong points, even when difficulties that said qualities can be in charge of coming to light, and their support could intelligibly be put to use.

There is something remarkable to acknowledge that the gods have made you strong enough to outlive what is outside your control and uniquely responsible for what is in your power. You are not wholly responsible for your parents, brothers and sisters, your property, death and fear. You are, however, completely responsible for making the right employment of impressions and accurately distinguish between the just and unjust. To carry your burden properly means to take full responsibility of what is in your control, and be assured and poised in everything that you can’t.

Dealing with Anger

You might ponder that we should dispose of degenerates and robbers, but you shall consider asking the question in a different way; Don’t you think we should dispose of people who are misled on what is of supreme importance, imperceptive people who lack the noble competence to discern the just from the unjust? If deprivation of the most valuable property necessitates the most injury and a person is impoverished of his most vital faculty which is his moral posture, annoyance should not be attached in response. Rather than being influenced by people’s shortcomings, exhibit an understanding of the inadequacy instead of scorn them. After all, you are not so intellectually superior that you ought to go in all directions rectifying and scolding people’s errors. Even if you were remarkably intelligent, you would have sufficient sense to understand the intricacies of how ill-informed your actions are. Therefore, let people voluntarily figure out what they ought to figure out, don’t be a nuisance.

If you don’t cling to your possessions, you will not grow passionate and vexed if you get burgled. With matters of women, don’t make your spouse’s surface allure her principal appeal and you will not grow irate with her unfaithfulness. Neither the burglar nor the disloyal person can obstruct what is truly yours, they can only obstruct what is common possession that is not within your power to regulate. Deprivation and sadness are only conceivable with regards to what is really your own. People can chain your leg or put you in handcuffs, but they will neither chain nor handcuff your will because it remains unhindered by external affairs. This is the underlying grounds for that worn saying; ‘know yourself’. To know yourself means to identify and refine your most valuable faculty, without concerning yourself or clinging to what you can’t control. Hold yourself accountable, if you have a sore head, exercise a lack of profanity. Stop yourself from engaging in profanity over trivialities, it is not so much that you can’t protest or grumble, simply do not protest with your entire existence as if your life depended on it.

Stand and walk honourably and independently, having confidence and faith in the fortitude of your ethical positions, not in the power of your physique. You are absolutely indestructible and dauntless if nothing outside your power can unsettle your integrity. The mind’s essence is as such; it will consent to the truth, turn down what is false and adjourn evaluation in irresolute affairs. In the words of Plato, ‘Every soul is deprived of the truth against its will.’ Thus, when someone accedes to a faithless hypothesis, you can be definite that he didn’t intend to entrust his agreement but simply misinterpreted the true for the untrue. People, by and large, have little to none apart from their own abstractions of good and bad to direct them. Your actions are largely all dictated by your depiction and judgement of them, whether be just or unjust. If your judgement is accurate, then, you are guiltless, but if it is mistaken, you pay the price yourself since it is unreasonable that another person ought to be punished for your blunder. For man, what amounts to good and bad could be unearthed in promptly those facets where we deviate from animals. If man’s exceptional qualities, therefore, are preserved and guarded and he does not deprive himself of his honour, integrity and intelligence, the man is delivered. Remember: no man is defeated by people’s behaviour and actions, ever. It is, rather, that you submit to your passions and whimper over a woman, for instance, that you stray from the reality that you were there for battle not love. When fair judgements are corrupt and destabilized, thoughts are weakened and sabotaged.

Reason Investigating Reason

Do you ever ponder for what purpose nature provided you with the faculty of reason? It is to have the capacity to make accurate employment of judgement. Reason is much like a hoard of characteristic judgements, thus it affects dissection and fractionation of itself. The goodness of wisdom claims to analyse the just, the unjust and the commonplace. Wisdom is virtuous, ignorance inferior. Accordingly, it is typical and inherent of wisdom to inquire into itself and its antithesis. Juxtapose your outlook in going stone-blind with being cognitively inferior, that is a conjecture of how apathetic you are towards virtue and vice and how solemn you are towards indifferent things. That juxtaposition is adequate to recognise how unfitting and incongruous your values might be. After all, the quintessence of virtue is the right use of judgement, if your discernment lacks lucidity and reasoning, you have a lack of knowledge and moral bearing that is likened to ignorance.

Further Reading

  1. Letters from a Stoic
  2. The Enchiridion
  3. Discourses and Selected Writings
  4. Meditations
  5. Art of Living

The Undoing of Men

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I would like to preface this piece by saying that I will not be drawing reference to external notes and will attempt to write from mere sense and perception as these particular melodies which relate to our inherent nature as men are of considerable significance to me and I shall not attempt to allude to what deviates from what is essentially my natural articulation, in other words, what comes to me by a matter of course, without further embellishment. I would like to elaborate and discuss the matters involving the conquest of men, in particular, for the reason that I have some remarks to put forth that have been lurking unspoken and voiceless for some time.

Firstly, I must express my unusual curiosity and incredulity that slaps me in the face every time I go outside and simply observe how we, as men, have managed to mortify and disgrace our honour and integrity in the manner in which we have, and furthermore, to comprehend our terrible capacity for ignorance, idiocy, inexperience and cluelessness with regards to what could be considered the most invaluable and exquisite gift we have been offered, that is our will and judgement. Nonetheless, most men scarcely contemplate what they could be if they only cultivated some of their innate aptitudes and looked beyond the flawed and blind faith they have been lured and drenched into by a society that is in present-day in opposition with a model of masculinity that is not grounded in poison but in an unrefined, deep-rooted ethos that will never be worthy of culture’s persecution.

A culture which, in present-day, is as second-rate, imperceptive and feminized as can be, a culture which is, in numerous ways, symbolical of the submission and surrender of man to the feminine and this is also where the origin of disorder sets about. I call it a disorder because when the dominant sex mindlessly relinquishes his authority to offer it to the inferior sex, we end up with a state of affairs that is quite faithfully synonymous with perpetual, chaotic disarray which is almost out of the question to undo at present time. The roles, as it were, have overturned, for the seeming betterment of the feminine, but in actuality for the dreadful dissension of both sexes. The roles have come to be as such; effeminate men and masculine women. The former disowned his inherently noble qualities which are indispensable for his maturing, the latter disowned her province and responsibility to exploit insufficient men for giving up their power. Invariably, it is none other than the man’s lack of honour and integrity that is blameworthy.

To be masculine and embody honourable excellence is to be designated an outlier among other misapprehensions, and this is simultaneously alarming and predictable because for one, we asked for it, and for two, it is truly dispiriting for those who acknowledge this subjugation and have not contributed to the ruination of unrefined masculinity. Of those who preserved or revivified their nature, what are they to do about this mass gender disruption? It is not like they will be recognised for their superiority of character because people who lack the knowledge to see it cannot possibly admire it. Furthermore, it is not so much a question of what are they to do about it as it is about educating the blind about the ones with sight. It is very hard to talk people out of their delusions, especially conditioning that is so thoroughly ingrained in one’s disposition, that looking beyond it will prove ineffective and incomprehensible. You must, as it were, be led to it through cruel and severe occurrence, and this is the regrettable and hapless truth for the exceptionally deluded types who require a sufficient proportion of trauma to unlatch their eyes for the first time and grasp their appalling foolishness.

Men have grown increasingly compliant because they, among other rationales, never had the dominant and authoritative fathers with strong characters to model themselves after, a father figure is so consequential and crucial during the boy’s upbringing that his presence or absence will quite literally determine the boy’s temperament and to what proportion his inherent masculine qualities will be cultivated. However, young men have no higher guidance, by and large, they are merely drifting weak-mindedly through their trail without practical and lasting knowledge of the underlying reality of their intrinsic nature they have not made sense what it means to be a man, and it is not so much that they don’t or didn’t want to, as it is that they never were made conscious of it by a superior father figure who will imbue in them those invaluable traits that will set them up for a life of remarkable significance and influence. This is not to say, of course, that there aren’t men who have relentlessly carried themselves out of their undoing and prospered heroically in their undertakings, but these are minorities who have otherwise been competent and illustrious enough to acknowledge their insufficiency and then assuredly deviate from it towards something much greater. But, how many of them are left? they are a diminishing breed that is few and far between.

Weak and effeminate men will only generate more of their own clones and this is the snare that pervades our present society, a culture which sustains its duplicity through empowering effeminate qualities in men while simultaneously persecuting the man that possesses the ideal traits that would orient him the most optimally both for his children and his community. This duplicity is not clever, it is unintelligent, brainless and incongruous to its core, and its sustenance is only plausible as a consequence of men’s incapacity to own up to their essence which they are illiterate of. This fraud would not survive a day if men were adequately educated and positively conditioned in such a way that their inherent disposition is illuminated and shun forth by men who are superior in their own right and have the tangible wisdom and manhood to offer their knowledge and sagacity to young boys who are on their way to grow into sovereigns. I don’t have the privilege of saying I cherished my father’s presence for very long, as his death came earlier than anticipated and that developed in an extensive deprivation and catastrophe that no ignorant man without a sound intelligence and a distinct awareness would rise above because to be aware is not enough, and neither to be intelligent, one without the other will leave you unequipped to discern the dogma and then transcend it heroically.

The most sensible thing you can do is educate yourself on what you lack knowledge of but if you don’t know what you ought to educate yourself on, you are merely walking in the dark. This is why a father figure is so indispensable, more so today as they come in scarce quantities but are so crucial. If you have neither a father figure nor adequate knowledge, I plead to you to learn to inquire, ask yourself and contemplate through observation, some things are evident only when you look in the right place, otherwise, they go unnoticed. If you want an over-simplistic starting point, you can make the presumption that if you observe most men’s behaviour in public and deliberate on its contrary, it would lead you to a rather brief draft of what will eventually approximate the ideal man whose qualities are neither effeminate nor “toxic” as the corrupt culture wants you to be convinced, but empathically assured, dignified, with a strong and fearless sense of integrity that is neither submissive nor neurotic. If you deliberate further, you may come to a dawning and pivotal realisation that your preliminary conditioning was nothing far from weak, defective, conflicting and antagonistic to what you are capable of out of your organic make-up.

Once you acknowledge this, you are in a beneficial position to learn to orient yourself accordingly, gradually unfastening from the turmoil society is submerged in. Even so, you must realise that if you’re deluded, it is very improbable that anyone will talk you out of your misapprehension because we are not convinced by words, we are convinced by experienced, as you consider experience as concrete evidence that your folly has demonstrated to be purposeless and unworkable. At this point, I will go so far as to say that there are still terribly imperceptive people who are still incapable of comprehending their idiocy even after proving futile and this is where, I believe, some people will be eternally empty-headed and victims of their ignorance. This can be the consequence of many factors and it certainly wouldn’t be well reasoned to narrow it down to one impetus; it can be insufficient intelligence, an acute stubbornness, a harsh environment, a lack of adversity and often an amalgam of multiple.

Make yourself a favour, and do not regulate yourself in accordance with what you instinctively may doubt to be a rational and lucid state of affairs, as a man, you have the capacity to reach the supreme heights, for all the potentiality is within and not to be found in external, unchallengeable conviction. This potentiality is your distinguished potential for integrity, honour, dignity, good judgment and proper use of impressions. There are things you do not own, those are the things that lie outside your will, these things you should be indifferent towards. What is within your will, will never be taken away from you, neither by a person nor as a result of severe conditions. If you cultivate these characteristics, you fall perfectly in line with your nature; unrefined and harmonious, with an abundance of self-respect and integrity that makes you a hero in your own right; this is worthy of praise and reverence by everyone.

There will be a second part succeeding this essay to keep it digestible, thank you for reading.

Stoicism: Elements of Good Judgement

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Your Will

Your greatest element to cultivate is your faculty of will, it is the one element that should never be neglected, your most precious jewel that no one can burgle. There is a price to be paid if you disregard it, it’s called unhappiness. Conversely, be watchful and considerate of it and your happiness is assured. In the same light, you must neither be ignorant nor bluffed by other peoples’ aptitudes. You should take a step back and observe their worth for what it is without letting it restrain you. Good judgement is capable of discerning the authority that governs peoples’ judgement, whether it be an external attachment or their body.

Upon starting your day, hold yourself responsible, subjecting yourself to observation and paying it close attention. You should then proceed to generate answers that are derived from posing the right questions, for example, does a woman’s body have any impact on my character? Does her beauty influence my actions? If the answer is ‘no’, then it is not your business to own or control her; instead, be indifferent to things beyond your control. A lack of awareness happens when the air that encircles your virtue and intellect is lessened. Heightened awareness has clear air surrounding it, signifying its intelligible and unclouded nature. Furthermore, it is capable of a distinctive moral judgement that is trustworthy and principled.

Resolve your will, so it is in line and harmonious with the natural course of events, so nothing will fail to happen as it ought to happen by divinity. Adapting yourself as such, neither your avoidance nor your intention will fail because you are in accord with your inherent substance. This is the sound means to occupying a favourable role in society as a superior man. Do not seek other means among the unexceptional mainstream for idols to model yourself after, you will not have much good fortune. When you adapt yourself accordingly, your sense of terror towards things beyond your power diminishes, and you are not heedlessly getting attached to things which you do not own.

Agitation and Attachment

Agitation stems from the craving to control what is outside your will, for instance, you want to have a good performance, but you also want to make a good impression and be well-received from the audience. The former is within your will, but the latter is not and that is precisely where the difficulty lies. You are in a predicament where you desire what is not yours, and reject what is. If you knew the variance between the two, you wouldn’t be upset with what is indifferent to you intentionally. You could evaluate that one’s agitation is, to a significant degree, a result of a lack of awareness because as discussed earlier, a lack of awareness muddles you to the point of obscurity, and you cannot exactly make a rational distinction between internal power and external authority. This sense of confusion causes people to reject their inner authority to be enslaved by the outer. In other words, to turn down their most costly power for outside authority that is not theirs.

Don’t be innocent in your judgement, don’t resort to emotional deductions to give grounds for your difference of opinion. Put an end to presumptuous reasoning to comfort your preconceptions and biases, for it will only enforce your foggy logic. People always tend to have a reaction towards externals, thus remember to treat the uneducated with some rapport and avoid trying to convert them as it will all be futile. Furthermore, shun away from being too cruel as that will only serve the evidence of your unneeded indecency.

A comment on Anger

To briefly comment on anger; when you suppress rash urges, the impulse grows less recurrent. Give yourself a moment to recuperate, poor recovery will open up unrecovered wounds and then aggravate them. Wounds heal more wholly when they are given time to regain their strength. Do not turn a discussion into a heated argument. If someone offends you, do not return the slander. It is not wise to inflame an insult with more warmth. Why would you reflect his inferior judgement and let down your own? Vulgar manners should be avoided and substituted for civility and respect as such qualities are more admirable and stately. You want to be polite and tactful to the point where you are capable of ending an argument straight away, not out of timidity, but out of fine judgement and salvaging time.

Ignorance, Pleasure and Strong Character

It is your imagination that effects terror, thoughts weigh down your sensations and awareness. Thoughts govern people, for they are often misapprehensions of reality that contain you in ways you are not conscious of, and seeing beyond them is often unthinkable due to their intoxication. Thus, a detachment from everything that is not yours is worthwhile and productive. It is pivotal to guard yourself against attachment. Do away with your terror of death, and you’ll find that the adversity you confront will be undergone in a calm and composed demeanour indifferent to your anxiety. There is a worn saying that if you make a bad opening, you will compete with the troubles for good and all. Start on an affirmative note, and tackle everything with neither reluctance nor terror. To be accomplished and competent means upholding your godly elements; unrefined, assured, wise, resolute, not easily refuted or unsettled. Nevertheless, attachment to the body and externals must be given up for the cultivation of the noble elements. Attachment hinders progress, for it fruitlessly enslaves you to what is ungovernable.

Do not be arrogant to the point of taking pride in momentary delight. Pleasures are to be appreciated but not dragged out and pretentious, and there is no reason to validate pleasure, after all, you do not own it. Furthermore, you can’t lay your trust in anything transient, its temporary nature lacks stability. By way of illustration, here is a typical scenario; as you are endeavouring on your journey, an appealing pleasure arises, and you find consolation in it. As you savour it, you grow attached to it and as a result, you grow aimless. You see, that momentary delight restrained you and made you gradually lose sight of your ambition, disregarding your integrity in the process. Great careers have been wrecked as a result, and continue to do so. Do not lose your precious resources over externals, it is disastrous.

A weak character cannot be trusted, it is indecisive and easily won over, for weakness is a lack of certainty and an incapacity to be decisive without hesitation. Weak people are hard to trust, their lack of resolve makes them jump from one thing to the next without forethought, doing things which would otherwise not be beneficial for them. A strong character is one that is resolved and trustworthy, not easily swayed by the external world and come to a decision through assuredness, not uncertainty. Strength of character stems from the firmness of purpose and noble dignity. This is the mark of good judgement, a rational discernment of the internal from the external, from your essential power and the world outside it.

You won’t be hearing anyone acknowledge their lack of intelligence as that would humiliate a person. On the contrary, you do encounter people who are ostentatious and like to strike an attitude, growing pitiful towards themselves. A fool cannot be compelled to renounce his folly. This is a rather bitter reality, but you cannot talk fools out of their delusions, they must, if their awareness serves them, acknowledge their foolishness and then correct it with rationality and become wiser as a consequence. This is not a probable case due to their cluelessness but the perceptive ignorant are not doomed indefinitely by it. Furthermore, the more engrained their delusions, the more conditional correction they require to overcome their illusions.

Further Reading