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The Sensitivity of Cynics and Stoics
Cynicism and Stoicism are self-soothing behaviors.
Cynicism is little more than a defensive posturing. It is to be ever wary of bad motivations. Like one once fooled, the cynic and skeptic, are constantly on guard for betrayal, at the hands of others or by their own rationality.
There are so many people of the purest persuasion, untainted by prejudices and biases, vice or vanity, and who overflow with kindness. They are all around us. Are the cynics so insecure about the gulf between them and these angelic souls that they cannot acknowledge their existence for fear of recognizing their own begrimed self?
Perhaps the greatest affliction of the cynic is the perception of immutability. It is a miracle whenever a bird flies or water ripples, for the cynic has deemed everything frozen in turpitude. The only movement cynics allow the world is towards decay: If things are not to remain exactly as terrible as they are, surely they must be getting worse.
Stoicism is to cynicism as defense is to offense. Both are maneuvers designed to counter a threat, either by resistance or preclusion. The Stoics rambled at length about the sagacity of their ways, and eons later we repeat their words as if it was the very height of worldly wisdom. Stoicism is a teaching of retreat: Have no…
