To be perfect means to never think, speak, do, or be wrong or bad or even negative.
No one has ever been perfect. No one could ever be perfect. Does this mean we should never try to be perfect? Yes, that is simply too much pressure. The only thing we can and should do is strive for goodness.
As Crates states: “It is impossible to find a person free from flaws; just as with the pomegranate, one seed is always going bad.”
Stoicism is a philosophy, a way of life, only able to be claimed if one puts into practice the ideals of Stoicism. And by putting these ideals into practice one becomes a Stoic.
Stoicism states there are two types of people: good and bad. A good person is one who no longer thinks, speaks, or does anything wrong, bad, or negative. A bad person is everyone else, whereas even one wrong, bad or negative thought is enough to identify someone as bad, albeit ever so close to being good.
Stoicism has no truly attainable goal, rather it has a path of goodness which is able to be followed until the end of one’s life, yet if Stoicism were to claim a goal it would be this: to spend as much time on the path of goodness as is possible.
What is one to do when venturing off this Stoic path? Find the path again and continue on in the right direction. Nothing more could be asked or even expected of anyone, yet anything less should be unacceptable for everyone.
Therefore, it is the duty of each and every one of us to embark on the path of Stoicism and strive for goodness until the end of our days.
Be good. Do better. Go vegan.
-The Wry Stoic