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STOIC POETRY | The best seat in the house
I have long dreamed of a nice, personal room where I can work. A little office at home where I can set up a desk and chair and my stuff,...
Kurt Bell
Aug 6, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | A brief time to truly live
The Great Indifference exists wherever we are not distracted by ourselves. It is the substance of the universe that isn't—not empty...
Kurt Bell
Aug 5, 20203 min read
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STOIC POETRY | More to life than living
There is so much to occupy the time of life. So much to do. So many people to know, and love, and pass the time together with. One thing...
Kurt Bell
Aug 4, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | The virtue of temperance
For what reason is temperance a virtue? Why do the sages live in austerity, and the desert fathers forsake the world, and the poet love...
Kurt Bell
Aug 3, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | Adrift across a desert night
In his book Walden, specifically in the chapter titled "The Ponds", Henry David Thoreau describes the seasons and moods of Walden Pond as...
Kurt Bell
Jul 30, 20203 min read
29 views
2 comments


STOIC POETRY | The road into night
Such a long hike to get here, now. The place where I set out from is invisible beyond those distant hills, a memory of setting out from a...
Kurt Bell
Jul 28, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | A prison of consequence
I keep forgetting - fooling myself, really - that I could be in any circumstance other than the one in which I find myself now. It's fun...
Kurt Bell
Jul 27, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | The way things are likely to be
Our personal nature is our most visible evidence that our will is never fully free: as how many forces of my personal being - my...
Kurt Bell
Jul 26, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | Life at the atomic level
I expect my consciousness is a connect-the-dots affair; a consequence of some trillions of atoms gathered and enlivened through the...
Kurt Bell
Jul 25, 20202 min read
32 views
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STOIC POETRY | The circular value of caring for one another
I took our sick dog Ollie to the doggie E.R. yesterday. The visit was a costly, though worthwhile expense, for Ollie's sake, as well as...
Kurt Bell
Jul 24, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | Walking the shore with seashells in my hand
I have such a small and precious set of values - objectives and principles to guide my life. So very few. Each one is precious to me, as...
Kurt Bell
Jul 23, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | Tracing consciousness
I wonder how far down the tree of life consciousness goes? Like us, dogs are clearly aware of themselves relative to the world, and can...
Kurt Bell
Jul 22, 20203 min read
27 views
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STOIC POETRY | Swimming to a park bench by the sea
I swam yesterday in the sea. I swam possibly too far yesterday in the sea, as I am today quite worn and spent. I expect that this is a...
Kurt Bell
Jul 18, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | An uncomplaining camp
Emotions are a curious thing to ride upon. They jump and jostle and jolt and then rest, before picking up again and tossing all about. As...
Kurt Bell
Jul 16, 20202 min read
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STOIC POETRY | Such a life to live
How much more decorous a possession than honest self-reflection; though there is nothing to see in such wealth besides the owner's...
Kurt Bell
Jul 15, 20201 min read
38 views
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STOIC POETRY | Ad Aster and The Great Indifference
Yumiko and I watched a movie last night called Ad Aster, starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones. We enjoyed the film, which is a science...
Kurt Bell
Jul 7, 20202 min read
22 views
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STOIC POETRY | COVID-19 and Stoic Apathy
The arrival of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an opportunity to exercise the Stoic virtue of Apathy in the face of what we cannot easily...
Kurt Bell
Apr 27, 20202 min read
72 views
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STOIC POETRY | A Stoic returning home
I might go out Into life, To see what is there, And then return in peace. Or, I might stay, Seeking peace; Wondering always... What there...
Kurt Bell
Apr 25, 20201 min read
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STOIC POETRY | Ulysses' Ride - A will-less venture into new life
Exploring the livelihood and consequence of living with an awareness that free will may be a quite compelling illusion.
Kurt Bell
Dec 31, 20193 min read
59 views
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