- Remember all the times you’ve procrastinated on these things, and how many times you’ve ignored a deadline that seemed to be set by fate. It’s seriously time for you to grasp the true vibes of the universe you’re a part of, and to recognize the higher power in charge of it all. You gotta realize that you only have a limited amount of time to chill out and get your inner chaos under control. If you don’t take advantage of that time, it’ll slip away and you’ll be left in the dust, never coming back.
- Let it be like, super important and constant for you as a Roman and a dude to do whatever you’re doing with real seriousness and authenticity, genuine love, freedom, and fairness. And for everything else that stresses you out or distracts you, figure out how to let it go. You should do that by treating every task like it’s the last one, without being all full of yourself, emotional, or going against your better judgment, and without pretending to be someone you’re not or only looking out for yourself. Basically, focus on doing what’s needed to live a good life without needing much else, since the gods won’t ask for anything more from you if you just stick to these things.
- Bro, like, treat yourself better, ya know? The time to start respecting yourself is running out. Your happiness comes from within, but you’re almost out of time. Stop relying on others for validation, man.
- Why should you let outside distractions bother you? Take some time to educate yourself on something positive and stop wandering aimlessly. And be careful not to waste your actions on aimless work and a lack of direction in life.
- If you don’t pay attention to another person’s vibe, you’ll hardly ever see someone feeling sad. Let anyone know who doesn’t plan or think about their own feelings through logic and wisdom, they’re gonna have a bad time for sure.
- Always keep this in mind: What’s the deal with the universe and your deal—like, how they connect and what role you play in it. Remember, no one can stop you from doing and saying things that are in line with your true nature as a part of the universe.
- Theophrastus1 really gets it when he’s talking about sin, comparing sins like lust and anger. He’s straight up saying that sins driven by lust are worse than ones driven by anger. See, when someone’s angry, it’s like they’re just losing control and letting their emotions take over. But when someone gives in to lust, they’re basically showing how weak and unmanly they are by chasing pleasure over everything else. So, Theophrastus is basically spitting truth when he says that it’s more messed up to sin for pleasure than out of anger. ‘Cause at least the person who’s angry might have been provoked, but the one who’s lusting after something is just making that choice themselves.
- Like, whatever you’re into or working on, just do it like you’re about to peace out of this world at any moment, you know? And honestly, if there are gods out there, it’s totally cool to leave the human scene. The gods ain’t gonna mess with you, for real. And if there aren’t any gods or they don’t care, why would I wanna stick around in a world without divine beings looking out for it? Trust me, there are definitely gods who look after the world, and they’ve given us the power to avoid truly bad stuff like vice and wickedness. And if there was something else really bad out there, they would’ve taken care of that too. So why stress about stuff that doesn’t really affect you personally, ya know? Don’t think the universe messed up or couldn’t handle things. Life and death, success and failure, work and fun, money and being broke, they happen to everyone regardless of being good or bad, but they ain’t inherently good or bad themselves.
- Think about how everything fades and changes so fast: things and stuff turning into the basic stuff of the world, and memories blending into the overall time of the world. Think about the true essence of all worldly things we can touch and see; especially the ones that trap us with pleasure, or scare us, or are trendy and popular – how empty and gross, how low-quality and temporary, how lacking in real life and existence they really are.
- Translation: Bro, like, it’s important for guys with good brains to think about who they really are and where their respect and credibility come from. And like, also to think about death, man. If you just focus on death alone, without all the other stuff that usually freaks us out about it, you can see it as just a natural thing. And like, if you’re scared of nature doing its thing, you’re basically acting like a kid. Death is, like, natural and part of the whole cycle of life, ya know?
- Think about how humans are connected to God and how our soul is affected. It’s not cool for someone to be all nosy, trying to know everything about others and not focusing on taking care of their own spirit. We should strive to be free from negativity, impulsive actions, and dissatisfaction towards gods or people. Anything coming from the gods is worthy of respect, and anything from people should be treated with love and understanding, since they may not always know what’s right or wrong.
- Bruh, even if you live for like 3,000 or even 10,000 years, just remember this: you can’t truly give up any part of your life except for the moment you’re living right now. Each instant you live is the only part you actually have because you’re constantly moving on from it. So whether you live the longest or shortest, it all ends up the same. Time might seem different when it’s already happened, but in the present, we all have the same amount. And when we die, we’re only really losing that instant we’re in. Like, you can’t lose what’s already past or still to come. Just remember these two things: everything in the world is basically the same stuff repeating over and over, so whether it’s a short time or forever, it’s all kind of the same. And also, the life each person lives – no matter how long or short – is measured by what’s happening in the moment, not by what’s already gone or not yet come. You feel me?
- Remember, it’s all just people’s thoughts and ideas, man. Like, Monimus the Cynic said some real talk, and it’s pretty obvious if you think about it. And it’s also obvious how we can learn from that stuff, ya know? You gotta take the facts and the deep stuff just as seriously as the fun and enjoyable stuff.
- A man’s soul straight up disrespects itself when it acts all shady and negative, getting all triggered and upset about stuff happening in the world. Like, that’s just not cool, yo. Also, when it’s all hatin’ on others and being spiteful, or getting caught up in pleasure or pain, or being fake and shady, or just doing stuff without thinking it through. Basically, the end goal is to follow reason and be part of this big ol’ universe, ya feel?
- Life is like, super short and everything’s always changing, but like, the real deal is philosophy, man. It’s all about keeping your spirit untouchable against all the haters and struggles, ya know? Don’t be fake, and don’t let anything mess with your vibe. Stay true to yourself, embrace whatever comes your way, and be chill about death – it’s just another part of the whole cycle, bro. Like, if nature’s cool with it, why stress about it? It’s all good.
While ya boi was at Carnuntum2
- Theophrastus (Died 287 B.C.) was a philosopher, pupil of Aristotle (Greek philosopher and polymath), and his successor as president of the Lyceum (a type of secondary school). He wrote a large number of works on philosophy and natural history.[↩]
- Carnuntum was the most important ancient Roman legionary camp of the upper Danube frontier, situated at Petronell, 20 miles (32 km) east of Vienna. It was the emperor Tiberius’s base in his attacks on the Marcomanni (AD 6), although a fort for one legion was first erected under the emperor Claudius. Stone structures built then were repaired AD 73–76.
[↩]