“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”
~ Socrates
When my late wife and I decided to get married to each other, her friends and family thought that I was nuts to marry her. My friends and family on the other hand, thought that she was nuts to marry me. We went ahead nevertheless, and both of us were quite happy but eventually became philosophers anyway.
That was the single biggest commitment that I ever made in my life.
“The opposite of opportunism in human relations is loyalty; a noble sentiment – but one that needs to be invested in the right places, that is, in human relations and moral commitments.”
~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
The two other commitments that followed much later, to become a vegetarian in 1998 and to become a teetotaller in 1999 were of less significance but commitments nevertheless made to my late mother and to my God Daughter In Love respectively. Both also helped in my passage to becoming a philosopher!
Before some of you ask me, let me clarify. I am not a philosopher in the classic sense but am one in the sense that I am learning to be one.
“Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose – and commit myself to – what is best for me.”
~ Paulo Coelho,The Zahir
I flatter myself that I am free.
I picked this week’s topic and so Shackman will choose next week’s. Be sure to check Shackman’s take on this week’s topic.
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