In our last several +1s (here, here, here and here), we’ve been spending time with Donald Robertson exploring wisdom from his new book How to Think Like Socrates.
As I’ve mentioned, it’s a REALLY (!) compelling look at Socrates’ life and the dialogues Plato created to capture the wisdom he shared.
Today we’re going to wrap up our quick tour with a quick +1.
Let’s get straight to work.
Donald tells us: “When it was nearing sunset, you said it was time for you to take a bath. You wanted to save the women the trouble of washing your corpse. Crito asked about your final instructions concerning your sons and what little property you owned. After listening to you, he also asked, ‘What can we do that would please you the most?’ You said the same thing as always: We would please you, and ourselves, by always taking good care of our own souls. ‘You will do yourselves the most good,’ you explained, ‘if you put your philosophy into practice, because even if you agree with every word I say today, you will achieve nothing if you neglect to take care of yourselves tomorrow, and every day thereafter.’”
That’s from the final chapter of the book called “The Swan Song.”
As he does throughout the book, Donald breathes new dramatic life into Plato’s dialogues. In this case, we get to spend time with Socrates in his final hours.
Right before that passage, Donald has the narrator of that dialogue remind us of the power of rehearsing our deaths as we strive to live our best lives by becoming as good as possible.
And, I absolutely love how Socrates answers the question of what his friends could do to most please him. It happens to be pretty much exactly the answer I always give when someone asks me what they can do to thank me for the support they have received from me.
I repeat…
“You will do yourselves the most good if you put your philosophy into practice, because even if you agree with every word I say today, you will achieve nothing if you neglect to take care of yourselves tomorrow, and every day thereafter.”
It’s time to move from theory to practice to mastery as we forge excellence, activate our Heroic potential, and help create a world in which 51% of humanity is flourishing by the year 2051.
Today’s the Day, Hero.
Let’s go!
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