The Golden One - Marcus Follin - Stoicism - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Kind or Severe You Must Engage Your Fate
Aired: 2019-07-13
Duration: 06:07


=== Sir Gawain's Challenge (03:31) ===

[00:00:01]  Greetings, Laddingtons.
[00:00:03]  Today I thought to talk a bit about stoicism, but before I begin to do so, I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you and shout out to everyone who contributed both with music and with financial contributions.
[00:00:17]  I have ordered a microphone, so it will hopefully arrive any day now, and then it will start the project of Swedish history.
[00:00:27]  So again, thank you for that.
[00:00:31]  Now, I got this fine tome of knowledge from my lovely wife because she knows I'm a great fan of the Arthurian myth.
[00:00:40]  And it's called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and it's a poem from the Middle Ages.
[00:00:46]  I have made a video about the Green Knight with my friend Survive the Jaiba.
[00:00:50]  I will link it in the description box below as well, so you can hear his take on it.
[00:00:54]  But basically, what the story is about is a challenge being offered by the Green Knight.
[00:01:00]  He comes to the court of King Arthur and offers a challenge.
[00:01:04]  Only Sir Gawain has the courage to take up the challenge.
[00:01:07]  And basically, Sir Gawain can aim a blow with a sword at the Green Knight and he decapitates him.
[00:01:14]  The Green Knight doesn't die, but he takes up his head and rides off with his head, but survives.
[00:01:20]  And the challenge is that he, in turn, the Green Knight, can decapitate Sir Gawain the coming year.
[00:01:29]  And I will spoil the story, but he doesn't decapitate Sir Gawain, but he only nicks him in the neck, so it has a happy ending.
[00:01:37]  But I thought to read out two quotes from this book.
[00:01:41]  First and foremost, just an epic description of the Green Knight, because yeah, it's epic.
[00:01:46]  And then to the stoic quote, which is the main reason for making this video.
[00:01:52]  And also another note when I read these sort of things, I'm always on the lookout for epic quotes to motivate you all with and motivate myself with.
[00:02:02]  And also about the Green Knight, which I say in my previous video, the first time I got acquainted with the Green Knight was actually via Warhammer Fantasy, because the faction Britonia, which is basically somewhat based upon French Middle Ages and Arthurian legend, they have a character called the Green Knight also.
[00:02:22]  So if you have played either the tabletop game or Warhammer Total War, you might be familiar with the Green Knights.
[00:02:30]  Either way, I think it's a really cool character.
[00:02:32]  But here is how he's being described in this poem.
[00:02:37]  Anyway, I can say he was the mightiest of men and astride his horse a handsome knight as well.
[00:02:43]  But if he was broad of back and chest, his build mid-body was elegantly slender.
[00:02:48]  His face befitting his form, his bold lineaments cut clean.
[00:02:54]  But the view of his every feature stunned them, as could be seen.
[00:02:58]  Not only was this creature colossal, he was bright green.
[00:03:02]  And it's supposed to rhyme there as well because yeah, it's a poem.
[00:03:06]  But on to the main quote, I just wanted to quote that because it was epic.
[00:03:13]  So this is, in my view at least, in my humble opinion, a somewhat stoic quote.
[00:03:20]  So Gawain knows he will probably die the coming year because he will get the Green Knight will get a free shot at his neck basically.
[00:03:29]  So he says in a conversation, he says, Gawain put on a good chair.

=== Accept What You Can't Change (02:33) ===

[00:03:33]  Why should I hesitate?
[00:03:34]  He said, kind or severe, we must engage our fate.
[00:03:38]  And this goes into not a fatalistic mindset perhaps, but a mindset which approaches life, approaches any circumstance in a way that it is what it is.
[00:03:52]  The world looks the way it does.
[00:03:55]  It doesn't matter if you fall into despair, it won't change anything, it won't make anything better.
[00:04:00]  And the first time I got acquainted with stoicism was actually in the army.
[00:04:06]  An introductory speech by a major he said, get familiar with this mindset because there will come a lot of times where you are tired, hungry, you're cold, etc.
[00:04:17]  You are in a position which is not comfortable.
[00:04:20]  It is not comfortable at all, but it will certainly not be more comfortable if you actively think about it.
[00:04:27]  So, the best way to approach these uncomfortable situations, if you are tired, cold, hungry, wet, out in military exercise, for example, it doesn't get better if you think about it.
[00:04:40]  So, just accept it for what it is.
[00:04:43]  It's supposed to be that way, it's supposed to be in a certain way.
[00:04:46]  It's nothing you can change.
[00:04:47]  You can't change the weather.
[00:04:49]  You can make certain endeavors to get warmer.
[00:04:53]  You can do push-ups, for example, these sort of things, but the things you can't change, don't focus all too much about it.
[00:05:00]  And that's also a key principle of stoicism: focus on the things you can change.
[00:05:06]  If you can't change something, don't fret overly much about it.
[00:05:09]  Focus on the things you can change and do it to the best of your ability.
[00:05:13]  But for things such as the weather or the state of other things, maybe you can change a little bit.
[00:05:20]  Do so.
[00:05:21]  But if you can't change the whole world by yourself, don't let it consume you.
[00:05:26]  And this is especially important now when we have a lot of guys in the West who are blackpilled because of political repressions, because of censorship, because of the great replacement and everything like that.
[00:05:37]  Do the things you can change.
[00:05:40]  Do the things you can do, but don't stress overly much about the things you can't change.
[00:05:45]  So approach your fate with good cheer, because kind or severe, you must accept it.
[00:05:52]  So, anyway, I thought to share that little perhaps motivating quote from this fine tome of knowledge right here.
[00:06:02]  So, anyway, thank you for watching and have a great rest of your day.