Ciceros Six Mistakes of Man

Cicero was, by any standards, an amazing man. Philosopher, politician,

lawyer, orator, political theorist, and the list goes on. He had a huge
infuence of the Latin language and one could argue that the
rediscovery of Ciceros letters icstarted the !enaissance.
"ust to clarify# while $ thin men are generally more guilty of the
following mistaes, $ dont thin women should get o% so lightly&
1. Believing that one person can proft by
crushing another.
$ts hardly surprising that over the millennia people still believe that
you can pro't from somebody elses downfall. (fter all, thats what
capitalism is all about. )e live on a planet with 'nite resources but a
system which promotes endless consumption# someone, somewhere,
has to lose.
*our successes will be much sweeter and long lasting if instead of
trying to destroy your competitors, you actually help them out. *ou
victory will not be as +uic and it may not be a victory in the traditional
sense, but you will be winning as a human being.
$ thin one of the hallmars of an educated and cultured person is the
ability to empathise with others, no matter who they are.
2. The tenency people have of !orrying
about things they cant change
$ve often discussed on this website the things that we can control. $t
turns out that its not much# we can control our thoughts and our
actions and thats about it. !ead my essay on ,How to -ever .ail/ for a
more indepth discussion on this issue of what we can control.
0o the problem is this# while we may be able to have some e%ect on
things outside our direct control, there is no guarantee yet we worry
about it. )e constantly create alternative ,what if/ scenarios and
wonder if it was our fault.
1he truth is that you will never know if it could have gone any
diferently. 1he 'rst thing that must be accepted is that the past in
unalterable and so there is very little point of endlessly dwelling on it.
$m not saying that we shouldnt thin about the past, $ thin that there
is much to learn from our personal past e2periences and also from the
collective e2perience of the human race.
)orrying about things you cannot change is a waste of time, time that
could be far better spent concentrating on the things we can change.
". The tenency people have of insisting
that so#ething is $i#possible% &ust
because they cannot o it.
(nother reason some people insist something is impossible is because
they cannot even conceive how such a thing might be accomplished.
(lmost everything that we tae for granted today would appear pure
magic a few hundred years ago. $t would appear impossible and yet,
here we are.
Change is a strange phenomenon# most people vastly overestimate
how much can change in a day and underestimate how much can
change in a year.
Have you noticed that whenever you go ahead and mae a ma3or life
change, you will always have people telling you that its too e2treme,
that you cant do it, that its not practical or that its 3ust plain
impossible.
4ften this is the case because people secretly want people to fail,
especially when that person is doing something di%erent. 1he logic is
+uite simple# $f you are doing something di%erent to them, you are, in
some ways, saying that what they are doing is wrong.
And people hate being told that they are wrong.
1his leads us nicely to the fourth point5
'. (oling fast to trivial prie)
preference) an pre&uice
People hate being told that they are wrong because it wounds their
pride. ( truly wise person doesnt get insulted when his mistaes are
pointed out to him. He is thanful that he has a chance to correct his
ways.
4ne should accept the fact that none of us are infallible and so you
should +uestion both your own opinions as well as the opinions of
others.
1he best way to live is with a thic sin and an open mind.
*. The fact people stop learning an o
not continue to hone their #ins)
particularly by ac+uiring the habit of
reaing an stuying.
1his is gets to the core of what this website is about 6 continual
education. )eve discussed ways to educate ourselves each and every
day and of course reading and writing featured prominently in that. $
will repeat a small e2cerpt here#
*ou now whats the really amazing thing about reading7 $t
allows you to e2perience other peoples ideas and points of view,
as well as other cultures without having to leave your front door.
$ts almost lie teleportation& !eading also wors lie a time
machine. *ou get to have wonderful conversations with people
who lived hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Thats real
magic.
$ honestly believe that if you stop learning you stop living.
,. -eoples consistent an insistent
atte#pts to co#pel others to believe an
live as they o.
$ guess $ could be accused of this si2th point by running this website,
but $ would lie to have a chance to voice my defence#
.irstly, $ encourage everyone to thin, and stand, on their own two feet.
1ae the information and ideas you 'nd on this website with a septical
but open mindset. 1ry things out and see if they wor for you, $ can
only vouch for my own e2periences. 1hin of the ideas presented here
as being open8source# you are free to modify, redistribute and whatnot,
free of charge.
0econdly, $ do not force anyone to read this website&
1he thing $ really 'nd strange about people who compel others to
believe and live as they do is that almost everyone agrees that true
hell on earth would be a society in which everyone agrees on
everything. $ntelligent debate, disagreements and problem solving are
the spice of life.
Conclusion
(nyway, $ hope you en3oyed our short 3ourney in the past and $ would
highly recommend you chec out Ciceros wors, $ especially
recommend his essay ,4n 9uties/