sean

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sean
npub1rpct...ywyw
#bitcoin
January 31st: THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF STRENGTH "Remember that your ruling reason is what is invincible when it withdraws into itself and is satisfied with itself, doing nothing other than what it wills... This is why a mind free from passions is a fortress. For a person has no stronger place of refuge. To fail to see this is ignorance. To see it and not take refuge is misfortune.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.48 Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Fortress of Mathematical Truth Your ruling reason, your conviction in Bitcoin, is invincible when it withdraws into itself—into the logic of the protocol. When it is satisfied with the mathematical truths of the system, it is a fortress. It does nothing other than what it wills: it validates, it secures, it transacts, unswayed by the passions of the outside world. To fail to see the strength of this decentralized, mathematical refuge is ignorance. To see it, and yet to leave your wealth in the hands of a trusted third party, is misfortune. Take refuge in the fortress. #bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 30th: DON’T ABANDON YOUR POST "A person’s station is the post they have been assigned in life. And it is their duty to hold that post and not to desert it.” —PLATO, APOLOGY, 28d Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: Hold Your Post on the Network You have been assigned a post. If you are a developer, your post is to build. If you are a writer, your post is to educate. If you are a merchant, your post is to accept Bitcoin. If you are a user, your post is to run a node and hold your own keys. This is your duty. Do not desert your post when the market turns, or when the media narrative is hostile, or when it becomes inconvenient. The strength of the network depends on each individual holding their post. Hold yours. #bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 29th: ON BEING A GENIUS OF THE GOOD "Let your motto be, ‘I am a genius of the good.’ And what is a genius of the good? One who has trained their mind to be free from the passions.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.3 Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: A Genius of Low Time Preference Let your motto be, "I am a genius of low time preference." And what is a genius of low time preference? One who has trained their mind to be free from the passions of the market. Free from the fear of a price drop. Free from the greed of a bull run. Free from the envy of another’s gains. The genius is not the one who perfectly times the market, but the one who calmly stacks sats, week after week, year after year, unswayed by the passions that consume the masses. #bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 27th: THE STOIC IS A WORK IN PROGRESS "Show me a Stoic, if you know of one. For by the gods, I’d love to see one. But you can’t show me a fully formed one. So show me at least one who is in the process of forming, one who is headed in that direction.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.19.24–25a Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Bitcoin Maximalist is a Work in Progress Show me a perfect Bitcoin maximalist. You cannot. Everyone has a moment of doubt, a lapse in security, a compromise on privacy. But show me one who is in the process of forming. Show me the person who is learning to run a node, who is experimenting with CoinJoin, who is reading the technical documents, who is striving to be more sovereign every day. That is the person to admire. Do not be discouraged by your imperfections. We are all works in progress, headed in the direction of decentralization. #bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 20th: OUR JUDGMENTS MAKE THINGS WORSE "If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.47 Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The FUD is in Your Head Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) are not external forces. They are judgments. A headline is just a headline. A tweet is just a tweet. It is your judgment—"This is bad for Bitcoin"—that disturbs you. But is it? The network remains secure. The code remains open. The community remains active. It is in your power to wipe out the judgment. See the external event for what it is: noise. And see the protocol for what it is: signal. The FUD is not in the world; it is in your head. #bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 4th: THE BIG THREE "All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 9.6 Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: Perception, Action, Will 1. Perception: See the world as it is. Recognize the inherent fragility and injustice of the fiat system. Judge with clarity the soundness and necessity of a decentralized alternative. 2. Action: Act for the common good. Run a node to strengthen the network. Practice self-custody to reduce systemic risk. Share your knowledge to empower others. 3. Will: Accept with gratitude the reality of this invention. Embrace the volatility as a necessary trial. Find peace in the protocol’s immutable logic, for it is a force of nature beyond any single person’s control. #bitcoin #stoic #nostr #plebchain
January 3rd: BE RUTHLESS TO THE THINGS THAT DON’T MATTER "How many have laid waste to your life when you weren’t aware of what you were losing, how much was wasted in pointless grief, foolish joy, greedy desire, and social amusements—how little of your own was left to you. You will realize you are dying before your time!” —SENECA, ON THE BREVITY OF LIFE, 3.3b Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: A Fiat Critique on Wasted Time The fiat system is designed to waste your life. It manufactures an endless stream of pointless grief (market crashes), foolish joy (speculative bubbles), and greedy desire (leveraged trading, altcoin casinos). These are not features; they are bugs in your soul. Every moment spent on these social amusements is a moment stolen from your true purpose. Learn the power of saying "No." No to the noise. No to the distractions. No to the manufactured desires that keep you tethered to a dying system. Be ruthless in protecting your time and attention, for they are the only resources you truly own. #bitcoin #stoic
"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.5.4–5 Bitcoin-Centered Interpretation: The Citadel of Self-Custody The first principle of the Bitcoin Stoic is to draw a hard line between what is external and what is internal. The decrees of central banks, the panics of the legacy market, the pronouncements of regulators—these are externals, beyond our control. They are noise. Our good and evil are not found in the market’s fluctuations, but in the choices that are truly our own. The choice to hold your own keys is the first and most fundamental of these. It is the act of defining the walls of your sovereign citadel. Inside, you have control. Outside, you have only influence. Do not mistake the two.