If there is a quote that more less encompassed what I dream of doing, this is likely it.
I know, I know - philosophers have a rather foolish habit of extoling the simple life without either understanding what it entails or not practicing it (Lucius Annaeus Seneca was often mocked for the difference between his preaching of the simple Stoic life and his vast wealth), and I suspect on the whole it is easier to make a living as a farmer that thinks on philosophy than a philosopher that tries to farm. And yet, the combination can exist in fact: some of the greatest agricultural philosophers of the last 50 years - Masanobu Fukoka, Wendell Berry, Joel Salatin - have done exactly that.
G. Musonius Rufus, in the quote above, posits that is is living in accord with nature and drawing directly from it, rather than another source. I suspect that is largely true. At the same time, at least in my own life, the more I find that I am actively engaged in the practice of something that provides me benefit - be it gardening or cheesemaking or stitching up a sock for the 20th time - the less time I have to think about other things that I want or desire that are beyond what my actual needs are.
Leisure can have a tendency to do this to me: the more time sit and surf the InterWeb, the more I seem to find things that I "need", or at least want intensely, regardless of whether or not I actually need them. Whereas actively spending my leisure on either doing needful things or actually pondering and thinking (and writing, or even swordsmanship in my case) leads to a decided lack of desire.
The more I do and make do with what I have, the less I find that I desire and that those things I desire, I truly need to do things I need to do.
I'm not familiar with Musonius Rufus, but I really like that quote. And I have to say that my experience confirms his. And yours. I figured out a long time ago (back in the days when they used to send out product catalogs) that if I stopped looking, I stopped wanting. Very freeing.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that isn't part of a natural life's simplicity? Because unquenched desire is emotionally and spiritually complicated.
Leigh, we do not know a great deal (directly) about Musonius Rufus as he did not specifically write books (that we know of). We only have some of his thoughts preserved in the works of others. What we do know him for is that he was the teacher of the Stoic Philosopher Epictetus, whose works we do have and who himself in his works mentions Musonius several times (Loeb Classics has a two volume work of Epictetus' writing; he is often quoted in the "real world" and is a very approachable philosopher).
DeleteI can always tell when I am past specifically looking for something and just moving on to paging through things in hopes I can find something I "need".
I certainly that, in terms of unquenched desire, this is a problem largely confined to humans. Animals seem to be able to move on much faster.
Hmmmmm..........actually doing vs just looking with the former keeping a person engaged more completely than the latter, who knew? Some unquenched desire can be emotionally unfulfilling as well.
ReplyDeleteWeird, is it not Nylon12? And yet, is this something we actually discuss as a philosophy or practice, or just assume people will "figure it out"?
DeleteThere is a school of thought that maintains that our purposes will dog us through our lives until we do something to fulfill them.
Your leisure comment is spot on in my estimation. I look at Lot, and his choice of the most fertile area in Canaan. Living was easy there. It was like the food just came out of the ground. That gave the inhabitants time to dwell on their "wants". And like Romans 1 states, that soon ran to gross sin. I posit that too easy a life can lead to debauchery. I can find the parallels here and now in Hollyweird and Sodom on the Potomac. It takes a strong character not to indulge in that life style when you have the means.
ReplyDeleteSTxAR, the examples of the rich, famous, and powerful that live the quiet lives Rufus speaks of are few and far between, likely because of the reason you express.
DeleteThe one thing I am not able to do without is always lumber. No substitute for me there. Plague of living on the edge of the plain states. My property can almost supply me with anything I would ever need but I would need a lot more land to get upto lumber levels or I would already have my own portable mill.
ReplyDeletePP, wood is not an issue at The Ranch - we are doubly fortunate in that The Cowboy has a portable mill. He has used it to build a number of outbuildings for his cattle and horses.
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