Reddit reviews Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

I would also like to volunteer to being an external resource/pal. Please DM me.

As for reading, you can start with holiday right now. It is "pop"-y but a super easy read. After that Irvine, which is more legit stoicism.

After that, I've got some ideas for you.

Right before prison, consider "Thoughts of a philosophical fighter pilot", or perhaps right after. It is the story of an American POW in Vietnam for seven years. You will probably think "wow, I have it easy" - at least I hope so.

"Rome's Last Citizen" is the story of Cato and a great read.

When it comes time to study the ancients, I'm going to suggest the lectures of Musonius Rufus:

https://www.amazon.com/Musonius-Rufus-Lectures-Cynthia-King/dp/145645966X/

and seneca's selected dialogs:

https://www.amazon.com/Seneca-Selected-Dialogues-Consolations-Classics-ebook/dp/B00UCODE1G

I found those FAR more approachable than Marcus or Epectitus. But that's just me. Read those first, then read the popular ones. :-)

Next, I'd think about denying yourself BEFORE you get into prison, along with creating a diet and exercise program. Find out what they have in prison and feed yourself food for the next few months that is wholesome yet MORE bland and restrictive in variety.

Sleep on a sleeping bag on a board, with a pillow that is just a laundry bad with some clothes in it. Wear remarkably similar bland outfits each day. Find out what kind of strength training is available in prison, and begin a weight and cardio training program. I suggest stronglift 5x5. It is super easy.

Turn down your internet access - in fact, everything you will lose. Yes, fine, give yourself a cheat day once a week to appreciate what you have while you have it, and learn to appreciate a sunrise. The point is, get used to hardship while it is optional, so you won't have to get used to it when it is required. Your system will have ENOUGH jolts when you surrender. No need to give it more.

Let us know how it goes, at least before you report.

His lectures and fragments are here https://sites.google.com/site/thestoiclife/the_teachers/musonius-rufus and this book is available too https://www.amazon.com/Musonius-Rufus-Lectures-Cynthia-King/dp/145645966X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Great question. I think finding stoic thoughts/words to share at funerals would be easier than for weddings - although the audience at a funeral might not be very receptive, at least at first!

Cynthia King's translation of Musonius Rufus's lectures and sayings includes good stuff about marriage in Lectures 13 and 14. A few quotes:

> In marriage there must be, above all, companionship and care of husband and wife for each other, both in sickness and in health and on every occasion. Each party entering into a marriage desires this, after all, just as they desire children. When this mutual care is complete and those who live together provide it to each other completely, each competes to surpass the other in giving such care. Such a marriage is admirable and deserves emulation; such a partnership is beautiful.... Neither wealth nor beauty nor noble birth have been able to increase a sense of partnership, let alone increase harmony; nor do they aid in the creation of children.... Souls that are naturally disposed towards self-control and justice - in a word, towards virtue - are obviously most suitable for marriage. Could a marriage be good without harmony? Could such a union be noble? Could wicked people be in harmony with each other? Could a good person be in harmony with a bad one? This could not happen, [as] a crooked piece of wood could not fit together with another crooked piece, and would fit even worse with its opposite, a straight piece.

To conorohiggins's excellent points, I would only tweak the third item on the list: that as a good spouse, I would aim to "give" to my partner my own virtue / arete / excellence of character, as a gift without expected reciprocation, in addition to trying to help my partner develop his/her own virtue.

edit: link format

These excerpts are from probably the best Musonius Rufus translation, there are a bunch more, including how he ties marriage and relationships into Stoic philanthropy, but I can only type so much ;-):

> Would not a woman who studies philosophy be just? Would she not be a blameless partner in life, a good co-worker and likeminded one, a careful guardian of husband and children, entirely free from the love of gain or grasping for too much?


> Husband and wife should come together for the following reasons: to live with each other, to have children, and to consider all things as common possessions and nothing as private--not even the body itself.


> In marriage there must be, above all, companionship and care of the husband and wife for each other, both in sickness and in health and on every occasion. Each party entering a marriage desires this, after all, just as they desire children. When this mutual care is complete and those who live together provide it to each other completely, each compete to surpass the other in giving such care. Such a marriage is admirable and deserves emulation; such a partnership is beautiful.

The speeches and fragments that survived are collected in this little book. I might be wrong, but I don't think there's more.