Topic

Change

9 essays on change from the Consilium journal. Featuring Erich Fromm, Maya Angelou, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Each pits three thinkers against one hard question.


Relationships

What Do You Do When One of You Has Changed and the Other Hasn't?

One person grows; the other stays put. Fromm says love must keep growing or it dies. Angelou says you cannot unlearn what you have learned. Wittgenstein asks what the silence is doing.

Erich FrommMaya AngelouLudwig WittgensteinChangeGrowth

Career

What Do You Do When You've Built the Wrong Life?

Three thinkers on regret and redirection. James says the self is made of habit and can change. Machiavelli says look for the actual leverage. Woolf asks if any of it is yours.

William JamesNiccolo MachiavelliVirginia WoolfRegretChangeIdentity

Loss

What Do You Owe to the Person You Used to Be?

Three thinkers on identity and change over time. Wittgenstein says the earlier self spoke a different language. Hurston says they carried you here. Aristotle asks if the change represents growth.

Ludwig WittgensteinZora Neale HurstonAristotleIdentityGrowthChange

Identity

How Do You Know If You're Evolving or Just Escaping?

You changed jobs, cities, relationships. Three thinkers disagree on whether you moved forward or just moved. Montaigne examines. Wittgenstein dissolves. Musashi acts.

Michel de MontaigneLudwig WittgensteinMiyamoto Musashichangeself-discovery

Career

Am I Staying for the Wrong Reasons?

Three thinkers on staying in a job out of fear. Tolstoy asks if the life you're winning is worth living. Epictetus asks what's in your power. Schopenhauer asks what you're really chasing.

Leo TolstoyEpictetusArthur SchopenhauerPurposeCourageChange

Identity

Is It Too Late to Start Over?

Three thinkers disagree about reinvention. Camus says stop waiting for resolution. Angelou says use what was done to you. Erikson says check the schedule first.

Albert CamusMaya AngelouErik EriksonReinventionCourageChange

Career

Should I Quit My Job?

Three thinkers disagree about whether to leave. Seneca says the discontent may follow you. Thoreau says the job is quiet desperation. Frankl says ask what it is for.

SenecaHenry David ThoreauViktor FranklPurposeCourageChange

Loss

How Do You Let Go of Someone You Love?

Three thinkers disagree about letting go. Joan Didion says you cannot force it. Marcus Aurelius says it was always on loan. Kahlil Gibran says you never owned it.

Joan DidionMarcus AureliusKahlil GibranLetting GoGriefChange

Relationships

How Do You Know When a Relationship Is Over?

Three thinkers disagree about when to leave. Esther Perel asks what died. Rumi says you already know. Simone de Beauvoir says stop pretending you have no choice.

Esther PerelRumiSimone de BeauvoirLetting GoCourageChange

Related

Albert Camus Aristotle Arthur Schopenhauer Epictetus Erich Fromm Erik Erikson Esther Perel Henry David Thoreau Joan Didion Kahlil Gibran Leo Tolstoy Ludwig Wittgenstein Marcus Aurelius Maya Angelou Michel de Montaigne Miyamoto Musashi Niccolo Machiavelli Rumi Seneca Simone de Beauvoir Viktor Frankl Virginia Woolf William James Zora Neale Hurston Courage Grief Growth Identity Letting Go Purpose Regret Reinvention self-discovery

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