Does fighting lead to the good life?

Ancient philosophers loved to fight:

- Plato wrestled
- Pythagoras boxed
- Xenophon was a soldier

They knew that combat made STRONG bodies and SHARP minds

Here's how fighting makes you virtuous, according to ancient philosophy

Virtue needs Courage

Thucydides stressed philosophers must be fighters:

“The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.”

Fighting builds fortitude

Virtue needs the courage of a fighter

Learn harmony

Kalokagathia was a virtue of harmony between body and soul

Aristotle wrote that fitness creates this harmony:

“Beauty varies with each age. In a young man, it consists in possessing a body capable of enduring all efforts”

Strong bodies make harmonious minds

Conquer death

Aeschylus, who fought at Marathon, wrote on the wisdom of death:

It would be better to die than to suffer pain for all one's life... There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain

Fighting destroys cowardice

You must love virtue more than you fear death

Ignore Mockery

At 16, Pythagoras signed up to box in the Olympia

He was mocked for his boyish looks, but ignored the naysayers, knowing he had trained hard:

He won the gold with ease...

Your path to greatness will have plenty critics

Fighting teaches you to trust yourself

Discover Glory

Xenophon, who led 10,000 men in war, wrote how strength breeds glorious acts:

"It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength."

Strong bodies are the foundation of glory

Sharpen Your Mind

Plato was a competitive wrestler and fitness advocate:

“Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human... methodical physical exercise saves it”

Weak bodies distort strong minds

You need fortitude to think sharp, clear, and prudently

Study like a Boxer

Marcus Aurelius loved boxers:

"be a boxer, not a gladiator… The gladiator takes up his sword only to put it down again, but the boxer is never without his fist"

Boxers embody their weapons

You must study virtue like a boxer - embody it into your soul