or Maslow vs. Aristotle Maslow and the pyramid he never drew Maslow’s pyramid of needs is one of the most fetishized, romanticized concepts in psychology. This is despite the fact that none of Maslow’s published works included a visual representation of the hierarchy. …

A squire had dozed off under a tree. Next to him the loose horses were grazing the lawn. His sleep was disturbed only by a bee that occasionally went to rest on his nose. Until, the third time, the squire slapped his nose to chase the bee away. Spirit: Squire…

If Camus and Bukowski met at a bar, it would go like this. Charles Bukowski enters a bar on Hollywood Boulevard, staggers to one of the stools by the counter. There is a jukebox playing, the music mixing with the sound of a fan that doesn’t move the air that…

Or a necessary and basic dishonesty about oneself and one’s whole situation — The more you go on in life, the more you start to think what your end game is. For a good part of my life, I thought mine was to “live a comfortable life,” succeed in academics and work, and generally abide to a self-projection I had formulated in my…

or the Ethical and the Aesthetical in Kierkegaard — Some time ago I wrote about the difference between being a maximiser and a satisficer. In praise of satisficers A rational approach to contentment and some thoughts on stoicismvincenzoelifani.medium.com In a nutshell: 1. happiness is a state only attainable in relation to the idealized version of ourselves. …

Happiness seller (HS): “Happiness! Happiness for everyone! Buy the new manual on how to become a better man and finally conquer happiness! Full of practical advice by the noblest stoic minds to make you a better person for the new year! Results guaranteed!” Passerby (P): “Happiness precepts for the New…

or On the Grand Scheme of Things — At the first morning lights, a wild cock comes scurrying into the market of a village, screaming, shouting and generally looking out of his mind. No one in the village seems to pay too much attention to the cock, nor the peculiar aspect of his nature; besides possessing the use…

or On the Superabundance of the Inner Life — A knight who had travelled over most of the earth, and had lived in many different lands, found himself one day walking by a creek in the heart of a forest. Since he had been riding his horse for quite some time and since he felt rather tired, he decided…

Or On Death Part 1 — On Death “Let us learn to meet it steadfastly and to combat it. And to begin to strip it of its greatest advantage against us, let us take an entirely different way from the usual one. Let us rid it of its strangeness, come…