How to Walk Like a Stoic
Some Thoughts on Stoicism and Walking
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. — Nietzsche
A few years ago, one of my friends, “Scottish” Thomas, was nearly beaten to death by four youths who tried to mug him down by the Halifax Waterfront, in Nova Scotia. He told them to “Get lost!” (or words to that effect) and clung on to his knapsack, although there was nothing in it but some dirty laundry.
They stamped his face into the boardwalk, fracturing his jaw in several places.Thomas had reconstructive surgery, requiring several operations. After he’d been discharged from hospital he got into the habit of walking around town for hours more or less every day, even during the frigid winters, passing by the spot where he was attacked. He told me that he found it therapeutic: both physically and mentally. Sometimes, I’d go with him and keep him company.
We used to talk and joke, sometimes about Socrates and the Stoics, and it made me think about the role of walking in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. (At the time, I was working on my book about Stoicism: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.) Tommy reminded me of the Cynic, Diogenes of Sinope, albeit perhaps a softer, friendlier version. Diogenes was a “wanderer without a home” and a citizen of the whole world. He walked around Athens barefoot and…
