👋 Hey phi-lazy-phers
I didn’t plan it this way, but this issue’s topic lines up perfectly with my own life as I’m going through a couple of changes at the moment: moving apartments and starting a new job (yesterday was actually my first day).
It’s only April, but I’d wager most of you have also experienced some change already—whether good or bad, large or small—since the new year began in January.
Heraclitus said, “The only constant in life is change.” Of course, change can mean many things: a new living situation, changing your plans when a loved one receives a grim diagnosis, changing your mind about a particular belief you’ve held for years, changing your habits, etc. Some changes are in our control and some are not.
Change is usually a difficult thing to experience. But, thankfully, history’s best minds have shared a lot of wisdom on this subject, so let’s see what we can learn from them.
George Bernard Shaw
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
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Alan Watts
You are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.
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Lao-Tzu
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.
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Heraclitus
No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.
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Victor Frankl
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
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C.S. Lewis
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different.
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Courtney C. Stevens
If nothing changes, nothing changes. If you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting. You want change, make some.
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Henry George
We should be ready to change our views at any time, and slough off prejudices, and live with an open and receptive mind. A sailor who sets the same sails all the time, without making changes when the wind changes, will never reach [their] harbor.
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Leo Tolstoy
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
Again, there is change we can’t control or expect. But if we’re unhappy in our lives and we know there is something within our control we could change and we don’t…well, as Courtney C. Stevens said, if nothing changes, nothing changes.
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Thanks for reading this issue—it’s my hope Lazy Philosophy will provide you with real value each week. If you have topics you’d like to see covered in future issues, reply to this post or DM me on Twitter.
✌️Until next week, happy philosophizing.
Fun Announcement
To keep with this week’s theme, I’m excited to introduce a fun, new change to Lazy Philosophy: we now have a wonderful logo and visual style, check it out here. This was created by my talented friend Jason Walkow.
Upcoming Issues:
Suffering
Life
Silence