Together Straight and True
Maybe is Powerful Motivation
Sophia: Tell me, Epicurus, you've spoken much on the nature of a good life. There's a curious strength you find, not in the hand that is extended, but in the certain knowledge that the hand would be extended.
Epicurus: Indeed, Sophia. Consider the individual facing a great task or a moment of distress. They might be alone, physically. But if they possess the confident assurance that their true companions stand ready, willing, and able to assist, a profound shift occurs. They are no longer struggling just with the problem; they are lifted by the potential of aid.
It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.
— Epicurus (341-270 BC)
Sophia: The "maybe" of help, then, transforms into an immediate and very real source of motivation. It suggests that the most powerful thing our friends give us is not the specific relief of their action, but the stability they lend to our very footing.
Epicurus: Precisely. Actual help is like a medicine we take when we are ill. But the certainty of available help is like a robust immune system. It allows us to face difficulties with less anxiety, to move forward with a lighter step. The mind is eased of the worst fear—that of total abandonment. This easing, this deep-seated confidence, is what empowers us to endure and often, to succeed without ever needing to call for the rescue. We're driven by the internal promise of safety, and that promise is an immense strength in itself.
Sophia: A beautiful observation, Epicurus. The truest form of support, it seems, is the kind that inspires us to not need it, precisely because we know it’s there. The potential, the "maybe," is the fuel.
What do you think is the modern-day equivalent of this confident knowledge—where do people find that stabilizing assurance now?
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Heraclitus
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