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In 2024 I read 95 books; although I didn't think I'd ever top that, in 2025 I somehow managed to read 116 books (more than two a week and almost ten a month). The downside is that for various reasons I didn't write my book on Aristotle, which I thought would absorb most of my energies. Instead I read a bunch of jazz biographies, historical tomes on American culture, some classic American literature, all the ancient Greek tragedies, philosophical treatments of various topics in ethics and aesthetics, and the usual smattering of poetry. Highlights were three original works of philosophy by Walter Kaufmann, three early novels by Willa Cather (my new favorite writer of fiction!), and wide-ranging explorations in music and aesthetics (especially Roger Scruton's Beauty, the collected nonfiction of Albert Murray, and Ellen Dissanayake's ethological analyses of art as a behavior in What Is Art For? and Homo Aestheticus).
What will 2026 bring? Because in the last few months I haven't been emotionally inclined to fiction (these things come and go with me), I expect I'll continue my research into music and aesthetics, which has been informing both my musical compositions and my reflections on artistic creation as a path to wisdom. I'm also excited to report that my best friend and I will soon start a pair reading of the Iliad and Odyssey in ancient Greek, which I'm expecting will be a time-consuming but richly-rewarding endeavor (no doubt focused initially on relearning Greek grammar and vocabulary as well as the subtleties of dactylic hexameter). The Homer project is highly relevant to the epic poem I'm slowly composing about Pyrrho and Alexander the Great, so I might also dive into my huge reading list of related works in history, philosophy, and poetics. Finally, for edification and amusement I'll yet again read the essays of Montaigne, since I've started on them recently with much enjoyment and see no reason to stop.
History
Literature
Music
Philosophy
Various
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In this third and last installment of my Soul Workout, I address the two remaining questions derived from my reading of Eric Hoffer's book The Passionate State of Mind:
I soon discovered that the exercise of trying to answer these two closely-related questions can be quite a challenge; after all, one of the trickiest aspects of self-deception is simultaneously knowing something about oneself yet not wanting to know it to the depth of actually spelling it out.
Thinking it through, I did more squarely face one somewhat unpleasant truth that's been pointed out to me in the past: I can be too nice, sweet, adaptable, accommodating, acquiescent, and what the personality psychologists call agreeable. That might sound like false modesty or humble bragging, but the behavior has produced negative consequences; for instance, in my career days it sometimes prevented me from obtaining salary increases, plum assignments, promotions, recognition for my contributions, and the like. My attitude was always that I would do whatever my employer needed me to do, even if it didn't obviously or immediately advance my career. I happen to have been comfortable with this approach because I accepted the tradeoffs, and in the end I did well enough financially that I was able to retire at age 55; yet I'm also aware that a few of my employers and managers took advantage of this trait to their own benefit. So be it.
Because this exercise is so difficult, I'll likely add it to my soul workout routine and revisit it from time to time. Hopefully no deep, dark secrets will come to the surface...
(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)
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Continuing my Soul Workout, I've been reflecting on this question: "Am I less tolerant than I could be of other people's behavior and opinions?"
I've been pondering this topic for a long time, partly in reaction to the judgmental attitude that my parents had toward other people. Although in my younger years I too could be quite judgmental, I didn't like that behavior in myself, nor did other people appreciate it! Throughout my adult life I've continually reflected on my interactions with friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors, and the folks I've run across in my day-to-day activities. Although it seems to me that determinism is a fantasy, this practice of observation and reflection has led me over time to an inkling of something akin to fate, in that as a matter of biological inheritance and environmental influence most people don't have that much control over who they are, what they think, and how they behave. Yes, there is some control at the margins, but it's less pervasive and fine-grained than we might think; indeed, the operative word might not be "control" but something closer to guidance or steering of a ship whose underlying direction was set long ago. (Do note that these thoughts are speculative: I don't mean to imply that I have a settled theory about human nature, let alone univeralist prescriptions, because it's a subject of high complexity and likely beyond my ken.)
Putting these reflections into practice - which is what matters, after all - has led me to be more tolerant of other people's behavior and opinions. Do people have control over what they think? If they do - and if you believe that there's one true opinion that all people would hold if only they were smart or wise or knowledgeable or teachable enough - then in my experience it's all too easy to get frustrated or even angry with those who see things a different way. If, on the other hand, you recognize that our human reality is irreducibly complex and that there are many valid if partial perspectives on the human condition, then compassion is a virtue, agreement is overrated, and pluralistic tolerance is not merely a necessary evil but a positive good.
For the most part, the same goes for behavioral differences. Naturally, there are limits. I feel no compassion for dictators, thugs, thieves, or murderers, and I feel no guilt over that lack of compassion. My attitude is similar with regard to backstabbing co-workers, nasty neighbors, abusive relatives, and false friends (yes, I've experienced them all). Beyond a certain point my goodwill fractures and tolerance is replaced by damage control, avoidance, and forgetting (but not forgiving - a topic for another day). However, that's the exception; within the limits of civilized discourse and behavior I find that tolerance is the best policy, and it's one that I've actively put into practice over the years.
(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)
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Following up on my post about a Soul Workout, I've hit the spiritual gym and done some reflective reps on my personal practices. So far I've focused on three of the six questions I gleaned from Eric Hoffer's book The Passionate State of Mind:
Hoffer connects these questions with susceptibility to both flattery and calumny. On reflection, I'd say that I don't seem to be overly governed by what other people think of me, which implies that I don't tend to be swayed by other people's opinions about me, whether positive or negative. In fact this has been my way for a long time, perhaps out of personal stubbornness (a family trait on my mother's side!) or perhaps out of agreement with the Epicurean maxim to live unknown.
As to that last point, self-deception appears to be an occupational hazard for anyone who pursues fame, power, status, influence, or importance. Yet if you can accept that your actions will have no impact on present-day society or the course of history, and even accept that at the end of your life you will quickly pass out of human memory, then most people's opinions of you won't matter. Personally I honor the opinions only of the dear people (φίλοι) who truly care about me. In general this doesn't necessarily solve the problem - after all, one could be surrounded by flatterers or fault-finders - but it does limit the scope. Moreover, although I strive to be gracious about receiving praise and open-minded about receiving criticism, I also tend to keep my own counsel about my own worth.
With my recent turn toward an ever-deeper personalism in mind, it strikes me that the foregoing practices are essentially a private application of the principles of intellectual honesty that Walter Kaufmann enunciated in his book The Faith of a Heretic. However, I find that they're not always easy to follow, even for someone like me who seems to be constitutionally quite immune to outside influence.
(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)
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While reading Eric Hoffer's book The Passionate State of Mind, I came across some thought-provoking aphorisms about self-knowledge, self-deception, and personal identity. Here are the key sentences, which I've extracted and strung together for my own purposes:
Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know. (§58)
To most of us nothing is so invisible as an unpleasant truth. (§59)
The weakness of a soul is proportionate to the number of truths that must be kept from it. (§61)
Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all that is said about us. (§128)
When we are not governed too much by what other people think of us, we are likely to be tolerant toward the behavior and the opinions of others. So, too, when we do not crave to seem important we are not awed by the importance of others. (§134)
As noted recently, although Hoffer had a powerful nose for generalizations about the foibles and failings of humanity, I prefer to translate such pronouncements into the personal, the particular, and (I might add) the positive.
Thus I ask myself:
The attempt to answer these questions will require so much self-discipline that it'll be like a workout regimen for the soul! If I make any progress (perhaps with a little help from my friends, or even from Shakespeare), I'll report back...
(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)
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Sometime in the next few weeks my friend Adrian Lory and I will hold a Substack Live video conversation about philosophy and psychology as complementary paths to wisdom and fulfillment. In preparation, I've been thinking up some questions about the relationship between philosophy and psychology, as well as their respective contributions to the good life. Here's what I have so far:
Stay tuned for details about the Substack Live session and be sure to subscribe to Adrian's Substack so that you can see what fascinating questions he's been thinking up. :-)
(Cross-posted at Beautiful Wisdom.)
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