Aristippus on Flexibility
"It is not circumstances themselves that trouble people, but their opinions about circumstances." Aristippus, the hedonist wanderer, cut through excuses before the Stoics ever showed up.
Unknown — "Mirror" (c. 470–460 BCE), CC0
The founder of pleasure with a backbone.
Aristippus of Cyrene, as recorded by Diogenes Laërtius, says: «Οὐ τὰ πράγματα αὐτὰ ταράττουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἀλλὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων δόγματα.» — "It is not circumstances themselves that trouble people, but their opinions about circumstances." Hedonism, but with teeth.
Choose your weather.
While Stoics sought virtue, Aristippus aimed for pleasure—but he wasn’t soft. His real lesson: control your attitude, not the world. If you master your perspective, no shipwreck or exile can sink you.
Flexible in luxury and loss.
Aristippus dined with kings and slept on the street—sometimes on the same day. He taught that adaptation, not stubbornness, is the highest freedom. It’s survival for the soul.
Long before 'mindset' was a buzzword, Aristippus argued for adapting to life’s storms instead of cursing the rain.
