Author: Wes White

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How Shall I Live? I Can’t Solve the Issues of Our Time

That’s the question that Ralph Waldo Emerson posed in his book, The Conduct of Life. He wrote, “The question of the times resolved itself into a practical question of the conduct of life. How shall I live? We are incompetent to solve the times” (943, Note: These quotes are taken from Emerson: Essays and Lectures. You can read this book online here.). And what was his answer? That we are to do good, to make a contribution.

The Goal
Emerson believed that we all had an obligation not merely to do something good for ourselves but to do something that would make a significant difference in the world. “Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He fails to make his place good in the world, unless he not only pays his debt, but also adds something to the common wealth” (989). Each person must increase his talents not merely bury the one they have in the ground.

The Obstacles
In seeking to do good, there are numerous obstacles. There is fate. Fate is any natural limit we encounter. In includes everything from the fact that we live on earth to the fact that we have five fingers. Everything that defines us limits us. Fate inevitably brings suffering and death.

These limitations are not an unmitigated evil. “In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better” (1083). “The frost which kills the harvest of a year, saves the harvests of a century, by destroying the weevil or the locust” (1084). It is these challenges that give us opportunity to rise to greater heights. “We acquire the strength we have overcome. Without war, no soldier, without enemies, no hero” (1084). Steam always seemed to cause a problem by lifting houses and pots. Here was what Watt and Fulton saw: “Could he lift pots and roofs and houses so handily? He was the workman they were in search of” (959). Continue reading “How Shall I Live? I Can’t Solve the Issues of Our Time”

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The World Is “Full of Friends”: How to Become More Sociable

Last January, I stayed by myself for most of the month at a condo in Myrtle Beach. It was part of my sabbatical. It was a great time, but, with my family back in Tennessee, it could be lonely.

So, what do we do when we find ourselves without the people who are close to us? They may be travelling. They may have moved. They may have died. How do we process this absence?

According to the ancient philosopher Seneca, philosophy has some resources. He says, “The first thing which philosophy undertakes to give is fellow feeling with all men; in other words, sympathy and sociability” (V, 7). Philosophy trains us to be sociable.

How does philosophy teach us to be more sociable? It teaches us that humans are social beings. This means that humans are made to interact together. So, whenever we meet one, we meet with a person who has been designed to interact with us. Continue reading “The World Is “Full of Friends”: How to Become More Sociable”

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What Will Make Us Truly Happy?

When you think about it, everything we do aims at one thing: happiness. Many things can make us happy to some degree, but we are always looking for that which will truly satisfy us. We want something that will give a lasting joy and peace that leaves no regret.

In spite of the fact that happiness is the goal, happiness generally eludes us. We pour our energy into a variety of things, hoping they will make us happy, but they always disappoint. In the United States, people in the tens of millions turn to anxiety and depression medication to help them cope with life. I am not judging those who choose to do that (it’s sometimes necessary, in my view). I merely point this out to demonstrate that happiness seems to elude us.

So, what is it that makes us truly happy? In spite of the fact that happiness is what we want, it’s surprising how little time we actually spend thinking about it. Ancient philosophers spent a lot of time thinking about this question. They did not want to pursue happiness haphazardly. They wanted to know what would really make people happy and how.

The Christian theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas summarized this ancient thought in his famous book, Summa Theologica, or Summary of Theology. In the second section of the first part of the work, in the second question (yeah, it’s not exactly what we could a “summary”), he discusses the question, what makes people happy? Aquinas helps us think about this question by first helping us see where we will not find happiness. Here’s what he says.

1. We won’t find happiness in money. Why? Because we seek money in order to be able to get something else. If we seek money to purchase something else, then money cannot be that which would make us happy. To discover what happiness is, we would have to ask, what do we want to do with the money? What do we think that it buys us? Continue reading “What Will Make Us Truly Happy?”

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Burns Night

“Have you ever heard of Burns night?” My brother asked me.

“No. I don’t think I have.” I replied.

“It’s a Scottish holiday celebrating the life and poetry of Robert Burns.” He said.

This was December. Burns night was in January. Driving home from visiting my Brother, I thought, I am going to do a party for Burns night. At the time, I had no idea what that meant.

I knew who Robert Burns was. He was and is the Scottish national poet. My brother and I were both interested in him because of our interest in our Scottish heritage. My mother is a Keith. My father is a Lindsey (through his mother). The Lindsey’s and Keith’s played prominent roles in the history of Scotland. Through the Lindsey side, we are descended from the great King Robert the Bruce. So, my brother and I take pride in our Scottish heritage. Burns night sounded like a good way for me to express it.

I started talking about the party with a few friends who also had Scottish heritage or interest. They liked the idea.

So, I began researching what it would take to do a Burns Night celebration. I found a recommended running order for Burns night on the BBC page. Here’s what it included: Continue reading “Burns Night”

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10 Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Help You Live Well

For Halloween this year, my wife decided that I would be Waldo from the Where’s Waldo? series of books. I decided to tell people that I was dressing up as Ralph Waldo Emerson. I thought, I could tell them that I was Ralph Waldo Emerson and then quote him. So, I went to Google and searched for “quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson.” I was astonished! There was wonderful and helpful quote after wonderful and helpful quote.

Now, I didn’t tell many people that I was Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I didn’t remember any of the quotes. What I realized, though, was that I needed to read. I have now read several of his essays, but I love his book The Conduct of Life. Emerson provides so much solid advice for thinking about life well and living well. Here are ten quotes from this book that will help you think and live well.

These quotes are taken from Emerson: Essays and Lectures. You can read this book online here.

1. “To me, however, the question of the times resolved itself into a practical question of the conduct of life. How shall I live? We are incompetent to solve the times” (943). Focus on living well and what you have power over, don’t swamp your brain with worries about the big issues you can’t control.

2. “The first wealth is health. Sickness is poor-spirited, and cannot serve any one; it must husband its own resources to live. But health or fulness (sic) answers its own ends, and has to spare, runs over, and inundates the neighborhoods and creeks of other men’s necessities” (972). If we are not healthy, we cannot push forward. If we are healthy, our life will flow over in blessings to others.

3. “[I]n our flowing affairs a decision must be made,—the best, if you can; but any is better than none. There are twenty ways of going to a point, and one is the shortest; but set out at once on one” (983). Try to do something significant. Don’t get paralyzed by trying to figure out what the exact best is. Continue reading “10 Quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Help You Live Well”

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