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Comment by SirFatty | Hacker News Reader

"Just suck it up and power through"

I don't feel that is a "undesirable masculine trait", I live by that and still "feel things" and have emotions.

One thing that's worth noting is that Epictetus himself was a slave, and I think it's informed a lot of his thoughts. For him, true freedom is being able to overcome the events of the world. You may not be able to control whether or not you're a slave, but (to Epictetus) you can control how you feel about being a slave, and that is true freedom.

ie, he saw the world as full of misery and difficulty, and saw modifying your internal experience as the only possible path forward.

Huh, I never saw it that way but it makes sense. I guess the cruelest thing to do to Epictetus would then be to make him believe he could be anything other than a slave, if only he worked hard enough. Oh...

Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world and adopted the same outlook. there were people along the whole spectrum between slave and emperor who also did.

It's not "suck it up and move on", it's "accept the reality as starting point and do what's possible, with calm clear mind"

Memento mori. Death is inevitable but worrying constantly about it, whether your own or your loved ones, is no way to live.

As I get older and as my parents get older I take comfort from that.

That slave mindset is not good, though. It's not about not having feelings. It's about ignoring your feelings.

Why do your opinions not matter?

Conversely, why should they matter? I'm not saying they shouldn't but I think it's worth pondering.

Even better, where did you get the opinions? are they definitely your own, did you choose them from all available options by picking the ones that were best for you, or did you passively absorb them from people who can profit from giving you those opinions?

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