Great Moments in Practical Philosophy: Impressions

“It is only in isolationthat we gain, almost automatically, a certain discrimination in ideas, desires, longings,that we learn which are ours, and which are anonymous, floating in the air, falling onus like dust in the street." — José Ortega y Gasset, España Invertebrada

“Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, ‘Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you.’” --Epictetus, Book II, ch. 18

"We all have monkey brains. We think terrible things sometimes. Quitting, abandoning something important to us. But don't let that disturb you too much, because it happens to everyone. Really, who you are is your second or even third thought."—Master Chief Will Guild, 27 year veteran of the Navy SEAL Teams, Men’s Health magazine, June 2008


In all of self-improvement, there is no more important principle than recognizing the principle of and acting upon the belief that we have a choice in the opinion we hold of things. If our opinion is that work, losing weight, or any other task we desire is truly out of our reach than we have lost the battle before it has begun. This is simple. This is obvious. This is also something that we ignore every day to our everlasting detriment.

If we all know that we can do something we want to do, what holds us back? I believe the answer that history teaches us is that we fail to manage our impressions correctly.

Read the above quotes again, please. These three men, a Spanish political writer from the thirties, an ancient Roman philosopher, and a modern day Navy SEAL have all looked at the human mind and perceived a single truth. Ideas present themselves in our mind, which are not of us and harmful. Then, the truth is also that we have a choice about where to place our focus. No matter how strident an impression is upon our minds, and no matter how severe our initial reactions to it are, we experience a moment of choice where we can assent to the impression, or we can redirect our minds to the object where we truly desire it to be.