Someone not too far in the past that embodied “it’s the work of the sun” was Vice Admiral James Stockdale. He was the senior officer POW in the North Vietnamese prison system and ostensibly spent most of his captivity in the Hanoi Hilton. By his own account one day a Naval Aviator and one of the best, “cock of the walk” and next shot down and would spend the next seven years in a unique Hell. Rather than submit and relent he choose to lead those around him, and he refused to allow himself to used as a propaganda tool. Moments before he was to be paraded before news cameras and asked to humiliate himself and his brethren he smashed his head against a stone wall and so badly lacerated his head that he could pull his scalpe away from the skull. “Here assholes let’s go to the cameras now…” he terrified his captors. What sort of man would do this to himself. Well start with stoic! He was, Sam as you likely know, awarded our nations highest award and decoration for valor, The Medal of Honor. But he would not stop there, he would come home finish his navy career and go one to teach an ethics class at Harvard Business School. (Can you imagine the losers in that classroom when the old boy walked in and surveyed that motley lot! Holy Phuck!! I get the giggles just thinking on it!!) He would stun the voting population of America when at the opening of the vice presidential debate in 1992 he opened his remarks with the now infamous line “Who am I, and why am I here?” The dullards of the press and political class mocked him, they didn’t have a clue about what he was on to, but he did, and he cared less what the those safe in their beds at night thought of him. He had suffered “the work of the sun” and he taught those of us who would be interested enough to listen, that suffering is good, it’s a way of life, and when the moments of not suffering occur, that life is indeed precious, and pretty dandy!! Thanks again Sam for a GREAT reminder and post!!
This is an absolutely excellent riff. Stockdale was a warrior to his core. It is difficult to imagine what he went through and how he handled it, even when reading his own words. It is simply so raw and real. Thank you, Charles!
I just finished rereading Stephen Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire” (which, if you haven’t read, is phenomenal). My favorite line comes just before the final battle, when it’s just the Spartans and Thespians left at Thermopylae. The officers are giving final words of encouragement before what will be certain death — and Dithyrambos, the Thespian captain, puts it so perfectly: “Just go out there and have fun!”
I have been told to read that book for over twenty years and still have not. I'll pick it up today and put it on the shelf. That is one hell of a line before certain death.
It occurs to me that the people who blame others for their suffering are most likely to keep experiencing the pain. Just as our actual nerves exist to warn us that something bad is affecting our body, emotional suffering warns us that something is wrong in our minds. Those who alleviate the suffering by blaming others never get a chance to heal from the wound.
This is on point. The existentialist philosophers say to cure anxiety (the deep, existential kind) is to lean into that anxiety with everything we have. That is the path to "healing". Thank you for the thought to mull over.
I’m sorry, you’ve traumatized me, I have to retreat into a safe space. (… and reread Gates of Fire).
Thank you for making me laugh this morning, Marshall. And for doubling down on Gates of Fire.
Yes! You’ll enjoy the book. Also it might slow you down so us mere mortals will have more time to better absorb your writing.
Someone not too far in the past that embodied “it’s the work of the sun” was Vice Admiral James Stockdale. He was the senior officer POW in the North Vietnamese prison system and ostensibly spent most of his captivity in the Hanoi Hilton. By his own account one day a Naval Aviator and one of the best, “cock of the walk” and next shot down and would spend the next seven years in a unique Hell. Rather than submit and relent he choose to lead those around him, and he refused to allow himself to used as a propaganda tool. Moments before he was to be paraded before news cameras and asked to humiliate himself and his brethren he smashed his head against a stone wall and so badly lacerated his head that he could pull his scalpe away from the skull. “Here assholes let’s go to the cameras now…” he terrified his captors. What sort of man would do this to himself. Well start with stoic! He was, Sam as you likely know, awarded our nations highest award and decoration for valor, The Medal of Honor. But he would not stop there, he would come home finish his navy career and go one to teach an ethics class at Harvard Business School. (Can you imagine the losers in that classroom when the old boy walked in and surveyed that motley lot! Holy Phuck!! I get the giggles just thinking on it!!) He would stun the voting population of America when at the opening of the vice presidential debate in 1992 he opened his remarks with the now infamous line “Who am I, and why am I here?” The dullards of the press and political class mocked him, they didn’t have a clue about what he was on to, but he did, and he cared less what the those safe in their beds at night thought of him. He had suffered “the work of the sun” and he taught those of us who would be interested enough to listen, that suffering is good, it’s a way of life, and when the moments of not suffering occur, that life is indeed precious, and pretty dandy!! Thanks again Sam for a GREAT reminder and post!!
This is an absolutely excellent riff. Stockdale was a warrior to his core. It is difficult to imagine what he went through and how he handled it, even when reading his own words. It is simply so raw and real. Thank you, Charles!
“It is the work of the sun.” - perfect!Most of us live by it because we choose to live. Some of us choose to suffer beautifully.
That's all there is to it, Barry. I think your past and perspective is a testament to this truth.
Thank you, Sam. There is only one objective truth.
I just finished rereading Stephen Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire” (which, if you haven’t read, is phenomenal). My favorite line comes just before the final battle, when it’s just the Spartans and Thespians left at Thermopylae. The officers are giving final words of encouragement before what will be certain death — and Dithyrambos, the Thespian captain, puts it so perfectly: “Just go out there and have fun!”
I can’t think of anything better.
I have been told to read that book for over twenty years and still have not. I'll pick it up today and put it on the shelf. That is one hell of a line before certain death.
I think you’re going to love it.
It occurs to me that the people who blame others for their suffering are most likely to keep experiencing the pain. Just as our actual nerves exist to warn us that something bad is affecting our body, emotional suffering warns us that something is wrong in our minds. Those who alleviate the suffering by blaming others never get a chance to heal from the wound.
This is on point. The existentialist philosophers say to cure anxiety (the deep, existential kind) is to lean into that anxiety with everything we have. That is the path to "healing". Thank you for the thought to mull over.
Damn this is good. I’ve been reading The Art of Living and have been thoroughly enjoying the stoic philosophy and Epictetus’s ideas.