Dear Plato, where’s the battle?
Plato, I love this guy! The great philosopher was born Aristocles near Athens, Greece around 427 B.C. and died 75 [or so] years later. That’s a whopping 2,370 years ago.
The web is full of bios and most read similarly.
The reason behind my research is a picture I took of a quote painted on the side of a garage housing a makeshift artist den in Nashville, Tennessee. The painting certainly caught my attention while walking along the street.
“Be kind, everyone is fighting a hard battle.” Plato
I researched the quote itself. Questions of origin suggest Plato may not have been the true champion of the remark, yet I believe his body of philosophical work and the Dialogues he is noted for encompass the mentality of the saying.
It’s possible later incarnations of the quote were relayed by studious philosophical types recalling and applying Plato’s ideology in a more contemporary context.
Other versions of the same quote include: Be kind, everyone you meet is carrying a heavy burden and be pitiful, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. (Pitiful meaning full of pity for others; empathy.)
My biggest questions are, “What is this battle?” What battle was the ancient philosopher Plato talking about? And why is everyone fighting it?
I’d like to suggest the battles Plato spoke of were those of human nature and truth versus falsehood.
In other words, the dichotomy of our perception of our physical lives and the importance of our possessions and actions over the reality of our mental activity, spirituality, and connection to the whole.
It’s deep shit I know.
But it’s Plato, I bet he was deep a deep guy.
The reason this quote has an appeal today and applications in modern society is because we still fight the same battles.
Perception vs. reality
Tragedy vs. comedy
Science vs. religion
Virtue vs. vice
Pleasure vs. pain
Rhetoric vs. rhapsody
Can you really see these deep seated questions on the philosophy of life in your sister in laws 19 thousandth facebook brag (I mean post) of her 8 year old son scoring a touchdown, or a “bad hair day” selfie from the car, or a political rant full of nothing but foul language and insult?
Yes, yes you can.
The life we perceive is fake. The exaggerated, even farcical importance we place on another pair of new shoes, a good parking space, a reward for meeting a sales goal, a child with a talent to brag about, or a million other honors or a million other failures for that matter.
These things are only important because we make them so. We also allow others to assign undue importance for us on just about everything and then pursue it as if our lives depend upon it.
That’s the battle. Trying to achieve false achievements.
When what we seek is pure knowledge, contentment, enlightenment, and illumination our battles abate and peace takes root.
“He who sees with his eyes is blind. The invisible world is the most intelligible and the visible world is the least knowable and the most obscure.” ~Socrates, Philosopher and Plato’s guide, confidant, and teacher
MadeYouThink!
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