Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Since life is really short. You can try them all on. =)
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 2
Dedication
To Jesus and to those funny people in life who tell one liners:
Sarah Ill always remember you because you set the bar high. This is because
when we were hungry doing Chemistry we decided to eat protein bars. Rice has
carbs but you still need to have bars in your life for protein.
Table of Contents
What can Randy Pausch Teach Me About Living a Fun Life? . Page 4
What can The Prince Teach Me? ....Page 5
What are Some Useful Lessons from Abe Lincolns Life? .. Page 10
A Guide to Happiness and Living the Good Life.. Page 12
How Can I Be Happier? .... Page 13
What can Seneca Teach me about Wrath and Anger? . Page 15
What can Montaigne Teach Me About Self- Esteem? .. Page 16
What can Nietzsche Offer Me? Page 17
What can Charlie Munger Offer Me? ...Page 18
What can Schopenhauer, Jesus, and Buddha Teach Me? .... Page 21
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 4
The following are life lessons from Randy from page 84 of the book The Last
Lecture.
A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is
basically two words: work hard.
As I see it, if you work more hours than somebody else, during those hours you
learn more about your craft. That can make you more efficient, more able, even
happier. Hard work is like compounded interest in the bank. The rewards build
faster.
The same is true in your life outside of your job. All my adult life Ive felt drawn
to ask long-married couples how they were able to stay together. All of them said
the same thing: We worked hard at it.
People lie for lots of reasons, often because it seems like a way to get what they
want with less effort. Like many short-term strategies, its ineffective long-term.
You run into people again later, and they remember you lied. They tell lots of other
people about it. Thats what amazes me about lying. Most people who have told a
lie think they got away with it...when in fact, they didnt.
So many graduating seniors have this notion that they should be hired because of
their brilliance. Too many are unhappy with the idea of starting at the bottom.
My advice has always been: You ought to be thrilled you got a job in the
mailroom. And when you get there, heres what you do: Be really great at sorting
mail. You are making a difference. The brick walls in life are not there to keep
you out but there to give you a chance to show how badly you want it, They
are there to keep other people out but not you.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 5
The Prince by Niccol Machiavelli is one of the most influential books ever
written about how to gain and maintain power. This is because basically forces you
to GET REAL and see the world like it is.
Definitions:
In life, its not enough to have good intentions and a warm heart but also about
having the power to get results.
A dark but truthful idea in life is that the wicked(such as Hitler or Stalin) tend
to win control of power in life because they are not held by morals. They are
willing to lie, threaten, or use violence to get what they want.
This means that any man who is good all the time is bound to come along the
masses who is not good. Therefore a prince must not be good when it is necessary.
There is a gap about how one should live by Christian morals and how one actually
lives because of human sin.
Machiavelli argues that Lady Morals and Duke Pragmatism cannot marry in
politics. So the big idea is that rulers have to be ruthless and crush their
enemies while appearing to be moral. In the end we arent remembered for our
kind intentions but actually the achievements or results we bring forth into the
reality of this world.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 6
To gain power, Machiavelli talks about this idea of "virt" - which is not to be
mistaken for virtue(kindness, generosity, patience). Virt for Machiavelli has more
to do with a brutal pragmatism, strategy, courage, and betraying your opponent
when necessary. The Romans had a saying that promises must be kept. However,
Machiavelli says the opposite. So violence should be done swiftly, done at night,
and not done too much or else it will be seen as tyrannical.
Power is usually scarce resource to be greedily collected and guarded since giving
power to another may take power from yourself.
For example, if you are the president in a company or the father of the family you
do not want other people competing for your influence. Being a prince is by
definition a tragic job. This position means being willing to fire people from a job,
killing enemies, or do whatever sin necessary to protect your citizens. It also means
being to basically selling your soul to protect your citizens and be prepared to go to
"hell".
Cruel acts, though evil, may be justified when they are done all at once to establish
a prince's power (but not repeated) and turned to the benefit of his subjects. Cruel
acts are done badly when they increase over time. A conqueror should decide how
many injuries he must inflict up front and do them all at once to keep his subjects
from constantly resenting them. But benefits should be handed out gradually, so
that people savor them.
He argues the success in politics meant not sticking to morals or principles since
this makes you predictable. Machiavelli says over and over that Christian ethics
and politics cannot go together. Christian virtues seems to work only on Sundays
while the rest of the days of the week are dedicated to conspiring to acquire more
power. A real life example would be Girolamo Savonarola who was a Dominican
friar who took control of Florence. He preached against the excess and greed of
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 7
Medici govt. He was executed when a corrupt pope Alexander. This is what
happened to the "nice guys" in politics.
Virt virt for Machiavelli has more to do with a brutal pragmatism, strategy,
and betraying your opponent when necessary. Virt should not to be mistaken for
virtue such as kindness, generosity, and patience.
Necesita - the ability to be cruel when necessary. The reason cruelty is necessary is
because "it can be said that men are ungrateful, liars, and greedy for profit. They
hate danger and You should not commit to keeping your word to them since many
will break their promises to you."
Fortuna - belief that success will follow by preparation, discipline, patience, and
decisiveness and help from friends. Fortune is compared to a violent river. It tears
down all resistance. So to prevent this, "dams" or precaution must be put in place
to prevent waves of bad misfortune.
Machiavelli says we cant be good at all things and are lives are filled with difficult
decisions. In economics, there is no free lunch principle. We have to lie about not
cheating on a spouse to keep a relationship working or have to fire a lazy employee
to keep a business afloat.
Another example would be if a girl named Jenny who is a love with a guy Jeremy.
Jeremy does not like Jenny so he has two options
1) Pretend to be nice to Jenny and have a fake relationship with her
2) Be a seen as a "douche" and just straight up reject her off.
In business and politics, people who are successful need to "sin" and deceive.
There is the story from middle school of the two students giving speeches for
election.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 8
One student Sarah said "I will implement for a free 5-star lunch for everyone."
while the other student Kevin said "Lets read and learn".
The one who won the election was the first student Sarah who lied.
The end justifies the means. Machiavellis idea is that you can use any idea of
morals to justify your cause. The motto would be to DO WHAT IS NECESSARY
similar to what a Hogwarts Slytherin house wizard may say. Its safer to be feared
and respected than loved if one cannot be both.
In this rebellion, it is the ancient powers of liberty and pursuing happiness that
rally the crowd to conspiracy. If the conquered territory was formerly a republic,
in which the citizens were used to living under their own laws, you must destroy it,
go live in it, or let the citizens live under their own laws with a government that is
friendly to you. If you do not destroy the city, it will destroy you, since the citizens
will desire for more freedom. Power is a double edged sword.
Biography of Machiavelli
His father was a lawyer so Machiavelli worked as a secretary to the state.
However, during his time in Florence, the Medici family was overthrown so
Machiavelli worked first as a diplomat, to a general, to being exiled for treason
when the Medici returned to power.
The irony of Machiavelli is that he didnt follow his own dark advice to advance
his career since his most famous work The Prince was written to get himself an
advisory position with Lorenzo Di Medici. However, he can be remembered as a
great man for his two famous works The Prince and The Discourses. He wrote
them when he was in exile because he couldnt work in government. So if
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 9
Machiavelli had been given a political position with the Medici, he may not have
written his two great works.
Machiavelli believed the mercenary armies -they were paid by taxes - where a
terrible mistake. Every state should use its one citizens as the military.
Machiavelli believed that one leader should unite Italy.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 10
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction
that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed
insufficient for that day.
All people can withstand adversity. If you want to test character, give him or her
power. Power corrupts. Trust me on this. [With the exception of Jesus] Absolutely
power corrupts absolutely.
Heres a short lesson we can learn from Abraham Lincolns speaking style.
His speaking style was earnest, honest, simple, and logically clear as crystal. Plus
his speeches avoided extremes. For example, he had an amazing ability to make a
point by telling stories and using vivid metaphors.
On page 233 of the book Team of Rivals, Lincoln gave this speech about accepting
slavery while stopping it from spreading:
If I saw a venomous snake crawling in the road any man would say I
should seize the nearest stick and kill it.
But if there was a bed that was newly made, and I was to take my children
to this bed and someone proposed to me to take a batch of young snakes along
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 11
This snake metaphor showed that slavery should be protected where it legally
existed but at the same time Lincoln used a mothers instinct to protect her own
child to show that slavery should not spread into the future U.S. generations.
Thinking rationally about our lives helps us live more fulfilling lives. Socrates
main idea is about finding the truth through the Socratic method. This method lets
us have confidence in our beliefs without being swayed by the beliefs of others.
Look around you for statements that seem like common sense:
Having a job that makes a lot of money makes you happier
Happiness comes from being married.
Now try to find an exception to this statement such as being in a marriage but not
being happy or rich people who look miserable.
If there is an exception, try to change the statement until you cant refute it
anymore. That revised statement would be the most truthful statement you can
reach.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 13
Epicuruss own way of life was humble. His house was very simple, he wore
very plain clothing, he drank only water and ate bread and vegetables.
Advertising causes us to think that the grass is always greener on the other
side and deceives us by associating ads with things like friends, peace, or
freedom.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 14
We should not say "Dont worry. Itll be fine." but instead ask "What are all the
things that could go wrong?"
A grieving woman lost her child and went to Seneca for help. He replied:
"What need is it to cry over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears."
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 15
Montaigne says we have troubles because of our reasoning. We think we are too
fat or too skinny.
He says a woman always ate behind a curtain because she hated how she looked
while eating.
A rich man died with his underwear because he was ashamed of his penis and a
man committed suicide because he farted to much.
We should accept our bodies with humor and grace like animals do. We are part
animals. Pigs dont feel contempt over the mess they create. Yet kings,
philosophers, Jesus, and beautiful ladies all have to take a trip to the restroom.
For example, if we were to eat chicken feet at a British restaurant we may get
awkward glances.
Many people who go to university arent any happier or wiser than people who
dont.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 16
When you go to university you will learn a lot of facts but may not be able to apply
this knowledge to real life scenarios.
In fact, a lot of the important lessons on life arent taught at school such as
how to deal with the emotional pain of the death of someone we love or how to
have chose genuine friends. Because of this people such as plumbers or
construction workers may actually be wiser than Ivy League university
graduates since they have more life experience going through these problems.
The exam system shows only for learning facts instead of wisdom. How do you
test a persons wisdom?
Do not be wiser than necessary but be wise in moderation. The happiest life is to
be without too much thought. Everything in life is too complicated for humans to
understood. The man who knows does not know what knowing is. There is nothing
more certain than our own uncertainty. There is nothing more miserable and more
proud than man.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 17
Weve all encountered hardships, suffering, and setbacks. Anyone who wants to be
happy should welcome hardships, pain, self-doubt.
We live in a society where everyone flaunts their successes but failures are not
talked about.
We should look at our lives like gardening. We should take situations that are very
hard but grow out of them something very beautiful.
We said drinking and trying to run away from lifes problems is one of the worst
ways to become unhappier. Happiness comes from overcoming lifes troubles.
Christianity makes us feel good and dull the resolve we had to overcome lifes
challenges by listening to preachers who preach us happy and have us listen to
worship songs on Sunday. The problem is that this message may be good on
Sunday but from Monday to Saturday we have to fight lifes battles.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 18
Now invert this by asking What is it that I dont want and can I destroy the plan as
soon as possible? By inverting you will know not only how to get to your goals
but also how to avoid things you dont want such as envy, not being reliable,
addiction, and resentment.
Spent each day trying to be a little easier than you were when you woke up.
Discharge your duties well. Step by step you will get ahead but not in fast spurts.
Slug it out one inch at a time and one breath at a time. You dont have to be a
genius just a little bit wiser than the rest of those guys over a very long time. At the
end of the day if you live long enough most people get what they deserve.
How do you get what you want in life?
Well, the safest way to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want.
A decently poor man who can use his money to get what he wants is actually richer
than a rich man with 99 problems.
You won't always get what you want. However, you want to follow the golden
rule.
You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.
There is no character that is so right for any person to have than this.
The people who have this character win in life and they don't just win money or
honors.
They win the respect and trust of the people they deal with! There is huge pleasure
in life from obtaining the deserved trust of the people around you!
The acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty. With lifetime learning, you are going to
advance in life.
The problems of morality are deeply intertwined with psychology, philosophy, and
economics. In order to serve, we have to love.
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 19
Affectionate love should be controlled since it can turn into a sick type of lust.
However, there is no love that is so right like admiration based love. You probably
have this for the living and the dead. To do this you must love yourself and forgive
yourself for your mistakes. Choose yourself!
Please check out the book Poor Charlies Almanack for his tips at
poorcharliesalmanack.com
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 20
No act of kindness is ever wasted. Ever. Life isnt always fair but there is
truth in this world so one day it will reward those who are kind.
Life and love is fleeting like the falling of rose petals. Remember each day
of life there are only what we did and who we talked to. Our desires for things of
this world- money, power, fame, or friends - can make us happy. Its important to
live life in moderation.
Like the dying fire king, one day you will lay on your deathbed and say:
Sarah my love the lovely red you admire is slowly simmering away.
Be Strong!
Yours,
Yibo from yibowangyw.com
You Can Wear Philosophers Hats 22
References:
http://yibowangyw.com/2017/07/20/the-48-laws-of-power-for-people-who-aren
t-evil-egomaniacs/
http://yibowangyw.com/2017/07/21/romancing-the-brick-wall
Charlie Munger Commencement Address - USC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U0TE4oqj24