Harden Your Character, Not Your Heart

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Harden the character, not the heart. — 2013–09.09

The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it. — John Ruskin, English critic, essayist, & reformer (1819–1900)

τέλος και τέχνη (Telos And Techne)

While human sense of success and satisfaction may differ, the driving factors have common denominators —

1. personal excellence (with autonomy), 
2. personal significance, 
3. the assurance of meaning, and 
4. the desire of mutual love with reciprocity.
Intent and technique - tyche (Τύχη) and automaton (αὐτόματος), they form the mechanics of chance.
Phronesis (φρόνησις) is not simply a skill (technē), however, as it involves not only the ability to decide how to achieve a certain end, but also the ability to reflect upon and determine good ends consistent with the aim of living well overall. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

Fundamentally, they all rest on the foundation of eudaemonia.

There are 3 things to work out daily — in terms of priority:
1. character
2. intelligence
3. physical strength

Learning may be nothing more…