If there's one regret about my collegiate life (actually, there are many) it's that I never took a class in Philosophy. You'd think that a liberal arts college like Syracuse University would have made that a freshman requirement, like English or Biology or Binge Drinking.
But it wasn't and now I wish it were.
Last week I came across an article regarding Scott Thompson, a recognizable actor known for Kids in The Hall and the brilliant Larry Sanders Show.
You may be wondering what an openly gay Canadian actor whose home was once attacked by Islamic terrorists and left a note that said, "In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate, you will be dead" (Scott: They underlined the word dead as if being firebombed didn't freak us out enough) could teach me about philosophy?
Well, I'll tell you.
Scott had become interested in Stoicism. And had started reading Letters from a Stoic.
I know a little about Stoicism, mostly from Russell Crowe's admiration of Marcus Aurelius in the movie Gladiator. But I decided I wanted to know more about a philosophy that emphasizes: the contempt of death, the value of friendship and virtue as the supreme good.
So I ordered a copy for myself. Pictured here alongside a book of considerably less significance.
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