consigliere on Nostr: "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." 💀 General Philopoemen, even in ...
"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."
💀
General Philopoemen, even in times of peace, never stopped thinking about war strategies.
It is said that, while walking through the countryside with friends, he would often stop and ask them:
“If the enemies were on that hill and we were here with our armies, who would have the advantage? How could we engage them while maintaining our formation? If we wanted to retreat, how would we do it? If they were to retreat, how would we pursue them?”
Thus, he would consider all possible scenarios of a battle in that situation. He listened carefully to the opinions of other commanders and shared his own, supporting them with reasoning and examples.
When leading his armies, Philopoemen never encountered a challenge he hadn’t already anticipated or a problem for which he didn’t have a predetermined solution.
According to Seneca: “What is quite unexpected is more crushing in its effect, and the unexpected magnifies the weight of a disaster.”
This is why there’s a Stoic exercise called *Premeditatio Malorum*: “The premeditation of evils,” which involves reflecting on what might happen in the future, deciding what actions should be taken, and considering the worst possible outcomes. It’s about preparing for all of this, thereby reducing anxiety and avoiding being caught off guard by anything that might occur.
“This is one reason to ensure nothing surprises us,” Seneca continued. “We should project our thoughts forward at every moment and consider all possible outcomes, rather than merely following the normal course of events. [...] Every aspect of human experience should be present in our minds.”
The wise man does not view this act of negative visualization as pessimistic, but rather as a feature of his confident optimism: “I am ready to face whatever happens and to do the necessary work now to ensure it doesn’t happen.”
This will make him a more decisive and less anxious person because, as the philosopher concluded: “If you don’t want a man to falter when a crisis arrives, train him before it does.”
Thank you for reading this far, dear friend!
If this message helped you in any way, consider leaving your glass “🥃” as a token of appreciation.
Cheers to our family!
💀
General Philopoemen, even in times of peace, never stopped thinking about war strategies.
It is said that, while walking through the countryside with friends, he would often stop and ask them:
“If the enemies were on that hill and we were here with our armies, who would have the advantage? How could we engage them while maintaining our formation? If we wanted to retreat, how would we do it? If they were to retreat, how would we pursue them?”
Thus, he would consider all possible scenarios of a battle in that situation. He listened carefully to the opinions of other commanders and shared his own, supporting them with reasoning and examples.
When leading his armies, Philopoemen never encountered a challenge he hadn’t already anticipated or a problem for which he didn’t have a predetermined solution.
According to Seneca: “What is quite unexpected is more crushing in its effect, and the unexpected magnifies the weight of a disaster.”
This is why there’s a Stoic exercise called *Premeditatio Malorum*: “The premeditation of evils,” which involves reflecting on what might happen in the future, deciding what actions should be taken, and considering the worst possible outcomes. It’s about preparing for all of this, thereby reducing anxiety and avoiding being caught off guard by anything that might occur.
“This is one reason to ensure nothing surprises us,” Seneca continued. “We should project our thoughts forward at every moment and consider all possible outcomes, rather than merely following the normal course of events. [...] Every aspect of human experience should be present in our minds.”
The wise man does not view this act of negative visualization as pessimistic, but rather as a feature of his confident optimism: “I am ready to face whatever happens and to do the necessary work now to ensure it doesn’t happen.”
This will make him a more decisive and less anxious person because, as the philosopher concluded: “If you don’t want a man to falter when a crisis arrives, train him before it does.”
Thank you for reading this far, dear friend!
If this message helped you in any way, consider leaving your glass “🥃” as a token of appreciation.
Cheers to our family!