My Question and a Philosopher

After doing research, I found a great many philosophers who discussed emotions and anger. However, I found a select few who seemed to have the same feelings about anger as I do. While they are much older, their philosophy has stood the test of time and is almost exactly what I have been searching for. This blessing is the idea of stoicism. Stemming back since the third century B.C., thinkers such as Seneca, Epictetus, and its founder, Zeno of Citium have all spent years pondering the causes, effects, and alternatives to destructive emotions. Stoics turned their thinking into a way of life, for those who wished to better themselves. They had a devoted following throughout the Roman Empire for hundreds of years.
However, the philosopher who will be the focus of this essay is not known for being a stoic. Rather, he was in fact a Roman emperor. Marcus Aurelius is a prime example of the reach and influence that stoicism had almost two thousand years ago. He was one of the great Roman emperors, and at the same time was one of the great stoic philosophers. In fact, other than the writings of Julius Caesar, The Meditations are the only works by a Roman Emperor to still be widely read in western culture to this day. His work continues to be a source of guidance for all who read it, though The Meditations was originally meant to be solely personal writings, and not with the purpose of being published. They were written while he was at war. He chose to write whenever he thought of something worth writing, ranging from a few sentences to large paragraphs, and it is for this reason that the twelve separate books contain so much meaning. He wrote simply to try to better himself.
The Meditations strongly agree with what I have been discussing thus far in my essay. He explains how any anger or emotional pains come from our own judgment. The world is how we perceive it, so we can either see an event as a positive or a negative. We have the power to control our lifestyle, whether we are happy or sad, good or bad. We have the power to make our lives worth living. He explains, “If thou art pained by an external thing, it is not this that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.” (VIII, 47) Basically, as people, we have the power to not let any outside influence control our emotions. Good can come from everything, as can bad, so people need to be conscious that they are the mechanism that ultimately makes that choice between a positive or a destructive emotion.
Marcus Aurelius also goes further to explain how all people must not let bad things get inside their heads. They must avoid confrontation at all costs, and turn away from things that could possibly lead to a multitude of destructive emotions. “A cucumber is bitter. Throw it away. There are briars in the road. Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, ‘And why were such things made in the world?’” (VIII. 50) Essentially, it is not always necessary to question things that are not understood. Rather, it is more beneficial to accept that they are there and just to accept these things for what they are. This is not to say, however, that nothing in the world should be explored. If something interests you, it should be a goal to gain further knowledge about that specific subject. What Marcus Aurelius is saying is that things that could turn a mood sour should not become a burden on the mind. Instead, people should move on and forget about these things.
Marcus Aurelius believed that people have the capacity to bear any burden. No matter what happens, our minds can stay strong. In Meditations, he explains, “Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.” What he means is that the human brain has lasted for so long due to its ability to withstand amazing pressures, whether it be external or internal. People would not be where they are today if the mind was weak and fragile. And, while perhaps a majority of people are weak-minded, the strong ones that nature intended us to use are the ones who facilitate change and shape the world. Also, though Marcus Aurelius lived around 200 C.E., this quote could also be looked at as way ahead of its time. This is because it seems to bear a hint towards natural selection, or survival of the fittest. The strong minds have been selected for, as, from a scientific standpoint, they have the greatest chance at reproducing and passing on their genes. Those who have trouble controlling their anger have slowly been dying off as the emotionally sound people have been overshadowing them.
When somebody understands that this quote has truth to it, they can conquer all obstacles. Even the worst possible outcome, death, can be looked at with dignity and acceptance. He continues, “Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that nature wills.” So, if one fears death, then one will live his whole life in fear of what is to come. All people die eventually, so there is no reason to fear it. People must live with confidence and a positive outlook in order to keep these negative emotions as distant as possible.
This last quote also demonstrates how Marcus Aurelius, and all stoics in general, went beyond the idea of quelling anger, and instead went to the extent of putting all emotions in conscious thought. Not just anger, but all emotions have a drastic effect on the continued presence of happiness. He warns, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore guard accordingly; and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue, and reasonable nature.” He is saying how people must be careful not to demonstrate any emotions that may be considered unclean or destructive. Keep emotions in your conscious, and make any emotions that you exhibit are positive and lead to happiness in the long run. When he says to “guard accordingly” he is merely repeating my claims to keep anger in your conscious thought, though he is speaking for all emotions.
Even his writing shows that of a man with no regrets. He is extremely knowledgeable about life and about the world he lives in, both past and present, mentioning events such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the city of Pompeii almost fifty years before his birth. He speaks with a confident undertone, as if to say that he wrote what he knew was true, no matter what other people believed. He even explained that to truly honor the Gods, all people must have a pure soul: “Live with the gods. And he does live with the gods who constantly shows them that his own soul is satisfied with that which is assigned to him.” This also brings in the topic of fate, which only adds to his argument. In essence, the future has already been planned out, and nothing that happens in life can change that. So, anger is completely contradictory to the stoics’ ultimate goal of happiness. Anger can occur when people fail to realize that what happened happened, and could not have happened any other way. They have not yet learned to accept that the world and everything that happens in it is out of their control, though the way the world is perceived and responded to is completely voluntary and can either work constructively or destructively.