Welcome to your Renaissance

“The inexperienced in wisdom and virtue, ever occupied with feasting and such, are carried downward, and there, as is fitting, they wander their whole life long, neither ever looking upward to the truth above them nor rising toward it, nor tasting pure and lasting pleasures. Like cattle, always looking downward with their heads bent toward the ground and the banquet tables, they feed, fatten, and fornicate. In order to increase their possessions they kick and butt with horns and hoofs of steel and kill each other, insatiable as they are.”

Plato
The choice of Hercules is a depiction of a critical moment in the life of young Hercules. He is approached by two women; the first offers him a lie of easy abundance and pleasure (she is the life of leisure and pleasure); the other, offers him a life of trial and tribulation, but ultimately also a life of greatness (she is the life of VIRTUE). It illustrates an important decision that we all face: the life of virtue and greatness, or the life of pleasure and mediocrity.

If you feel like there is something missing in life, if you feel that the pursuit of new technology and designer clothes and the perfect body aren’t quite fulfilling you, if you believe that there is a purpose to life that is beyond human understanding, or if you simply feel that you aren’t living up to your own potential, then welcome to Renaissance Wisdom.

Renaissance Wisdom: How to Flourish in the Modern Day is a book about a powerful set of beliefs and philosophies that revolutionized the world and caused a flourishing of human achievement known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a rebirth of interest in classical learning: architecture, art, philosophy, literature, poetry, history, and many other fields of study and practice blossomed during the Renaissance and the humanist movement promoted and restored the idea that to the individual all things were possible with careful practice and study.

Today’s world has become dominated by lust; lust for: possessions, wealth, fame, sex, leisure, and gluttony fuel our passions in today’s ever more consumer driven world; but not that long ago, societies flourished when they placed emphasis on personal development, learning, wisdom, and morality. It’s no coincidence that though our standard of living today is leaps and bounds beyond what it was for the average citizen during the Renaissance, yet we are more depressed and downtrodden than ever before. The world is rife with people using medications (prescribed or non prescribed) and immediate gratification to “cure” what ails them, but it seems right after the buzz wears off, we feel just as empty as before.

Renaissance Wisdom is a book and a movement, it is the idea and belief that wisdom should be reborn in our world. It is not the answer, but it can guide us on our own personal search for wisdom. Wisdom only comes to the person who searches, who is curious, who seeks after truth and a better way, no book can give you wisdom, but it can certainly show you where and how to find it. 

Many philosophers throughout history have gained mystical fame and renown. Some have given their lives or been put to death for their views, and yet they maintained stoic calm and resolve facing even what most of us fear most: death. What gives the sage his power? What makes the philosopher appear to be some sort of God that remains untroubled even in the face of certain destruction? What is the answer to your troubles? What can free you from fear, doubt, misery, pain, suffering, needless longing, and a feeling of emptiness? Wisdom

Wisdom is defined as: the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise. Wisdom is the key to everything that we do. It guides us through life, strengthens us, revitalizes us, teaches us when to fight and when to run, it enlightens us and shows us what matters and what really doesn’t. Wisdom is the key to a better world, and philosophy (at least in its ancient Greek roots) is the study of and love of wisdom. A philosopher is little more than a lover of wisdom, and more lovers just might be the actual “cure” for the sickness of our modern day.

If the words that you have read spoke to you in any way, then you are in the perfect place. Whether or not you are ready or not to call yourself a philosopher, the spirit of philosophy is already alive within you and the heartbeat of the Renaissance is pounding inside of your chest. Now is the time for action, now is the time for rebirth. Remember this in all that you do from this day forward: seek wisdom, and seek to use that wisdom to live wisely.

The unexamined life is not worth living

-Socrates

Wisdom is more than a word, it is a way of life.

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