Source | lifehacker.com | Patrick Allan
Welcome back to Mid-Week Meditations, Lifehacker’s weekly dip into the pool of stoic wisdom, and how you can use its waters to reflect on and improve your life.
This week’s selection comes from Epictetus. He suggests we only hang around people who are positive influences in our lives:
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”
THE ART OF LIVING : THE CLASSIC MANUAL ON VIRTUE, HAPPINESS, AND EFFECTIVENESS, A NEW INTERPRETATION BY SHARON LEBELL
What It Means
Epictetus believed you could only be your best if you surrounded yourself with people who drew it out. When he says “uplift,” he doesn’t necessarily mean being made happy, though. To be uplifted could mean something different to everyone. Same goes for “your best.” Basically, you shouldn’t spend time with anyone who will corrupt your virtues, undermine your happiness, or keep you from being effective—whatever that may mean to you.
