Stoicism in The Shawshank Redemption
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- Опубліковано 27 лют 2018
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The Stoic Philosophy of The Shawshank Redemption, presented in a few brief meditations based on the writings by Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus and Chrysippus.
Primary sources:
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations: amzn.to/2t28sqt
Seneca - Letters from a Stoic: amzn.to/2CMT6Wk
Epictetus - Enchiridion: amzn.to/2GQ5VRZ
Secondary sources:
Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman - The Daily Stoic: amzn.to/2CPf4Ii
Music;
Beethoven - Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61 - II. Larghetto (Performed by the US Marine Chamber Orchestra)
Whitesand - Get Busy Living / @whitesandcomposer
Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro: Act IIIe (Performed by the European Archive)
I went with a slightly different approach on this one; instead of spelling everything out I thought it would be interesting to present a few meditations on Stoic philosophy (see description for sources) and juxtapose them with visual hints and quotes from The Shawshank Redemption; in doing so leaving it up to you to interpret how exactly it all ties into each other. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Like Stories of Old How did you come up with this idea?@?!
Really enjoy your channel. You do a very good job. Would love you to review Nocturnal Animals and an old Spielberg movie Empire of the Sun.
I second Nocturnal Animals!
Brilliant work. I`m following your channel for a while now (saw all videos) and this slightly different approach combines your strongest assets: love for movies, your inquisitive intellect, knowledge and the skill to create a cohesive flow of thoughts (mirrored by the excellent scene selection), aimed at the fundamental questions of life. And you do find answers. Grounded in your findings (from your own life) and supported by your aesthetic choices which also makes this not only an educational journey but also an example of art. Thank you.
Do you have a written version of this? I would really like to be able to read this.
" it is better to direct your actions towards a goal with an uncertain outcome than to experience the fear that arises from a life without a purpose" DAMN!!
Comas Vivas That one stuck with me as well.
"Virtue, even just attempted virtue, brings light. Indulgence brings fog." - CS Lewis
I will admit I've been the latter, but oh so trying to fix such nonsense ✌ Thx for your comment!
Indeed! That was powerful!
That's my take home line too ... powerful and striking statement.
This film saved my mother's life. My father died, and she retreated into drunken stupors. Nothing could reach her. She told me afterwards, while watching this film in a drunken stupor, she was hit like lightening by the line of Andy: "...I guess it comes down to a simple choice....get busy livin' ....or get busy dyin' ".
THAT'S GODDAMN RIGHT.
Thank you for sharing this. It does make one wake up. I hope that she’s better now.
I dont get this line ...can anyone explain me?
@@jawadahmed2520 Stop feeling sorry for yourself thinking that you can't do anything about your situation. Either do the best you can with what you've got or give up pretending that things are going to change by themselves.
@@jawadahmed2520 I believe it was another Stoik philosopher who said: You always have the option to say "I quit" and leave the game. But if you stay, don't complain and play it well."
@@jawadahmed2520ou have two choices in life ,when everything is working against you. You either get on with living life or wither away and die, basically you give up. You make the choices.
The protagonists in Shawshank go through so much suffering, and I need a belief system to make the chaos of life meaningful. It took a me a long time to accept that the world was just unfair, that sometimes so much senseless injustice happens to good people, and that sometimes bad people get away with their crimes. I think Stoic philosophy helps me not to put excessive judgements on reality, wanting to always change the world for a utopia it could be, and instead truly emotionally accepting how things really are. Psychologically I think one component of stoic philosophy can be translated into the following: Allow yourself to feel negative emotions without judging yourself, and allow yourself to feel positive emotion without the desire to cling to it. Thanks for the upload.
tots agree
That's a great way to put it!
If you want to change the world into a utopia, you will always fail. Instead, one should focus upon things one can change and pursue that with the understanding that it would take a lot of effort, time and energy and even then nothing may be achieved or a very diluted form of it is achieved.
Your attitude towards change and utopia can also be used to justify inaction in the face of injustice since the world is unfair, so why bother. I hope it doesn't take you down that path.
Jessica Jones the scripture "astavakra gita " will help you more
Learning about stoicism helped alleviate chronic heartburn for me.
I've lost count of the number of times I've come back to this video. Thank you
This channel is the elixir of life for me.. After suffering for ages from the venom of post-modern worldview... The stories of the old are salvaging my fractured identity. I have nothing but immensely passionate gratitude to offer you, sire.
Much wisdom to be found in the stories of old, in case you haven't seen him in the media recently look up Jordan Peterson, he is a wealth of knowledge on the subject, in addition to being an astute interpreter, and great orator.
Rick MacDonald Thank you so much for the mention. Indeed, I am aware of Jordan Peterson and his prowess in the subject. I also enjoy Terrence Mckenna's rhapsodical monologues too. The labrynthine nature of his wisdom and insight about the human condition, flowing out in a lyrical, melodic, fashion pacifies my anxious mind.
Samir Patnaik change your thoughts and change your world !
deano dog Indeed a great idea. But how does one go about changing thoughts?
Samir Patnaik read and absorb the correct books and change is inevitable !
"To love someone is within your control. The judgement that this love should be returned and it should be so forever is not".
Absolutely beautiful.
Yeah I feel doubtful about that one....is it really in our control to love someone or not? Not sure
@@YOSOYLADISCO .....yes it is.....
@@memoranda1 great argument professor.....
@@YOSOYLADISCO 😁😁😁😁😁
10 and a half minutes of pure wisdom.
Every month I watch this video..
@@piglet2548 I should do the same. I really needed this today.
Me too...
Marcus Aurelius was way ahead of his time , his writings will touch and have a lasting impression on the mind for centuries to come
I just experienced a personal existential crisis today which weighed me down considerably and the nihilistic feelings emerged again...and then this video popped up in my feed and brought me back from the threshold of that abyss, thank you.
A good reminder of what you have
I'm glad you found something which helped bring you down friend.
from your existential crisis that is!
Same thing happened to me and this video appeared. I thank the owner of this channel.
Look up Jordan Peterson if you haven't already.
When life dishes out injustice, heartache and pain in your life, don't be a victim and don't be bitter...strive to find happiness and purpose in your life and try to make this world a better place
"Embrace the beautiful foolishness
of acting without expectation"
Wow! I think the most beautiful quote of this masterpiece video essay actually belongs to the narrator. Well done LSOO, as close to perfect as a UA-cam clip can ever be. Congratulations and thank you, thank you very, very much.
I think this is the aspect of childhood that we are meant to keep, and some folks develop it again with old age --- the foolishness of "being" just for being's sake. No need for an outcome, just delighting in little things that we get to do.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
You always manage to make me rethink my philosophies that I live by. I find that watching your videos gives me this sense of calmness and understanding of how we should treat each other, including ourselves. Thank you for such beautiful videos that always take me on a trip inward.
re: rethinking. on your trip inward[how do i treat others/myself] suggestion
......do what dr. carl jung did....... ask yourself......... what myth am i living? when you know please share it.
What got me was 8:15 "stress instead about the virtue of your commitment and embrace the beautiful foolishness of acting without expectation" (Marcus Aurelius).
Disclaimer: you'll have to watch at least twice to understand the ultimate context.
P.S- such gripping voice. Beautiful lessons.
Hey I didn't expected you here, you also follow stoicism?
I think that this film might be my pick for most inspirational of all time, and this video really captures that for me. I'm forever impressed by your willingness to explore new formats and try different things with your videos. Congrats on 50K subs, I'm sure soon you'll have ten times that amount my friend.
Film Radar How do you compare The Shawshank Redemption to A Beautiful Mind? In terms of inspirational themes?
180k 4/2019
PAPILLION HAS GREAT CONCEPTS.
Based on Alexander Dumb-ass.. sorry, Dumàs's 'The Count of Monte Cristo.'
It's nice to read a comment like this and see that the number mentioned has been swelling many times over. I'd like to add: Great narration and a real gem of a channel. Thank you for choosing to do this.
This is why being in the school system for so long is detrimental to the soul.
Fraser Waldron you could have gotten that education with a free library card
RealBigfootFilms , oh yeah. You said it
RealBigfootFilms amen. School is used to brainwash us to be obedient followers.
Mike Smith , yes, you’re better off in a library, however, even public libraries are heavily censored and controlled. A “college course in philosophy” is really a stranglehold on thought. You can fool yourself in believing you are “expanding your mind” in class, but stray too far to the fence and you’ll suffer the consequences.
@@DoomerDad Interesting viewpoint
I heard this everyday when I was in my personal prison; this got me through some hard times, and I still revisit this to keep up with the lesson learned
Absolutely right. Prisons aren't just physical, and I think that's why Shawshank is loved by many.
I come back to this everytime I hit a road block! You don't know how you have helped me :) Thank you !
If I had known there's a channel like this I would have spent my life searching for it. Pure goodness. Love you creator.
the movie is about being aware of the system, being bullied by the system and escaping the system to take control of your life....
A lot like cuckoo's nest. Although that was more self imposed.
I think its about escaping but still have stoicm to survive stay grounded and not let anything put you down
@@richardsantanna5398 cuckoo's nest is metaphorical and more complicated since it deals with traumas which were imposed on us by the egos of others and the system we live in.
@@OZ88 ego is ego constant variable,no vacuum
for you. for me it is about hope.
Beautiful, man. You took one of my favorite stories and made it stunningly relevant to my life. Thank you, sincerely.
This video LEGIT helped me lost 130lbs. I came back to it so many times. Wrote the quotes out. My transformation is in my UA-cam channel if anyone cares. But most importantly yeah this video essay is in my heart. Thank you.
Stoicism-Advaita Vedanta-Buddhism-Taoism
4 gems of the world!
Yeah.. haha It all ends in the front of Nihilism -- The terminus of all
Stoicism is already . part of Advaita Vedanta, Its called being a "Stithpragya". One that Krishna sought Arjun to become
one thing I learned from this movie is "hope is dangerous thing, keeping faith is good"
Sorry can you please explain how hope is different from faith?
Shankar Choudhary when you hope,it means you are expecting. when that expectation not happens your heart brokes but when you have faith, it doesn't expects nothing
@@winstonraksham4416 faith action,hope expectations
Hope: You expect something
Faith: You know something will happen, just don’t know what or when.
There’s one saying in Islam (maybe even in other abrahamic religions) “Musa (Moses) didn’t know what would happen when he was in front of an ocean with the pharaohs soldiers following him, but he knew that God would not let him go.”
Faith.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies".... You may wanna rewatch the movie...
I loved it! A year a go I got really inspired by the stoic philosophy and I adapted it in to my life. I have to say that it really changed everything, my relationships, my goals, my interests and the type of choices I was making but especially the way I saw the world. I read a lot of Marcus Aurelia's at the time, I loved meditations. Honestly both your videos and nerdwriter1 are inspiring me to make my own video. Cheers and thanks for the video.
How did you implement it? I don't know how to do it.
There is something magical about this video. It calms me soul.
i agree. the magical thing about this video is..is you. no one can take it away
I gotta give it to the Stoics, they did a great job defining enlightenment from a western perspective. I wonder if it was simply an ideal, or if they were able to truly live up to that ideal.
They had to define it the way a western mind can understand. The eastern definition (Buddha) is too elusive for the western mind.
Art Melnikov ancient sages who lived once, their beliefs are already too much for modernmen to understand. To grasp Buddha's enlightenment is pure wishful thinking.
Stoicism is a pragmatic personal philosophy based on maintaining personal virtue and not imposing unrighteousness judgement upon others or nature around you, simply because you didn't will it to be that way.
There are many thinkers, rabbinical philosophers and synodic bishops in that Hellenistic time, +/- 350 AD, that said the same for your everyday existence, even though they may have said other things about your greater existence. Often their wisdom is dismissed because they seem too familiar or they are not novel to the modern person.
As to the Buddah, it is an enlightenment discipline that is fundamentally existential, but it does not truly deal with creating a better world through community interaction, however an escape from temporality to an atemporal enlightened bliss of the one. Some other philosophies and existential religions of the era try to accomplish improvements in both.
What's tragic is that despite all of Markus' strength in character, wisdom, martyrdom, and influence over his world, his son rebelled and became a monster and a foolish disgrace to his name.
If I remember right it was Seneca who said that if we were able to see a true stoic, he would not look human to us, he would be beyond .
I am so glad I found your channel. The timing couldn't be more perfect. Some of what I have watched already are the exact things I needed to hear in this moment in time.
I watch this movie once every month or so. Movies like this, inception, interstellar, Batman trilogy, lone survivor, saving private Ryan, sea of trees.. I’m sure I’m forgetting others but I can’t explain my love for these films
@Olson _ I’ve been meaning to get around to that one for awhile I just don’t stream movies often enough to ever consider it when I am on
I've known this channel for a good while and I've read several books on stoicism. It took me quite long to discover you've done this video and I must say it's absolutely brilliant. Thank you!
I thank you from the core of my heart. You have shown me hope in this difficult time of mine. Every word, every quote was a respite from the harshness of life, like a guide showing me the direction and the correct way to tread the path of life. Thank you again ! Take care.
Man, finally ❤️ my personal best movie of all time gets covered by you in such a beautifully deep way. I actually love this format, although on first minutes I was confused because it is unusual of you. But your selection of Stoic quotes and the way you recite them.. man! Awesome!
Thank you so much for this! You brought me to tears, and again you showed me that every wise person in the world essentially has the same message. Over times, places, cultures, it's all the same wisdom forever. Why then is it so hard for us to grasp it?
What a great movie! A true masterpiece.
Best channel in youtube by far. Your wisdom has enriched my soul so much, for that I thank you.
This presentation is a straight up masterpiece. I think it’s perfect
dude you're fucking brilliant! I can't get enough of your videos! never stop doing what you're doing right now.
A bath of sage teachings
that purges much illness that effects any soul, and reconciles the light as the healer and ancient of all ages, all our days written in our very essence.
A kindness is paid with the same vocation, thank you for these videos which can make all the difference in the world, even if it were only one, that one wouldn't be forsaken, its clear truth that we are never really alone. Blessing for Blessing to your house prospers as such, an overflowing Spring of primordial waters.
Sometimes I lose my way, but you are a reminder to me how I want to live my life. Well done sir.
Going through an incredibly tough time the last 12 days, videos like this give me hope, one of my favorite movies, you did this video Justice great job thank you again you gave me the perspective I needed after 12 days in the Darkness
Mike az don’t give up people are there for you always even if you may not see it that way
Wonderful format! The video essay part of youtube is getting very inflated and stale so new ideas like this is exactly what is needed to stick out, keep it up!
This video is beautiful & I'm not ashamed to say tears were streaming down my face by the time it ended. Amazing work!
This has been my #1 film since I first saw it. And whenever it appears on TV, no matter how late it is, I cannot help but sit and watch. Thank you for this thought provoking video essay on a brilliant, emotionally effective film.
I've watched this video 20+ times since 2020
Me too brother! Me too!
@@piglet2548 now that I'm here, gotta watch again
I have only recently discovered your channel and I have to say it is the best thing I have watched on YT. Thought=provoking, insightful, moving and many other wonderful qualities.
I am starting to work my way through your catalogue.
Deep and sincere thanks LSOO.
Blair.
I've only recently discovered your channel. I am currently going thru your library and these past 2 days am starting to feel a strange calm. I think I found your content just in time. Thank you!
Wow. This is one of the few films that gets better over time. It really nails the potential of the human spirit.
One day you will have more subscribers than you will know what to do with :) I'll be there to see it :)
Very un-stoic of you sir :P
Beautiful. I am not having the best of time in my life at the moment, but this really offered some perspective on how to possibly make things better.
I've watched this video 200+ times now. I come back to it every time I need some inspiration
I find myself watching movies just so I can watch the LSOO breakdown. Never disappointed!
your videos always make my eyes swell with tears, but your channel title makes me smile as it makes me reminisce of Denethor to Faramir "...like a king of Old" .. just beautiful
Great concept! Love seeing you experiment with what video essays can achieve.
This channel is pure gold. Keep it up man, you re doing an amazing job!
I loved this movie. Also Marcus Aurelius is so advance of his time and his book of Meditation is one of the best book I read for a while.
25 years of shawashank redemption.
One of the best things I love about the movie and learned from it is the awareness of Andy Dufresne about the opportunities around him. He always stays inspired for living his life and never loses hope.
Stunning. One of the best UA-cam videos ever made. Thank you. I feel I am a better person for watching.
This is a great video. I’ve watched it at least 20 times in the last 2 days. Thanks for posting
"this will go as they must, man lives within it" that is beautiful
Lsoo... you have no idea the profound help that this 2 part series has provided me. thank you, from the bottom of my heart
When I was a child watching this film I would say to myself, this characters are really serious.......this is a serious movie, it must be good (it was really good)
Plz tell the nam of movie
@@pradeepkharta5953 waynes world
@@pradeepkharta5953 Shawshank Redemption!! It will be one of the greatest stories you've ever seen. I use to fall asleep to it for years
Added this to my list of favourite videos. Beautiful. Just... Beautiful.
This is just so uplifting & beautiful, it really brought tears to my eyes. This ancient wisdom is a source of inspiration & hope, and it reminds all of us to just enjoy life, be courageous, follow our conscience, not stress about society's expectations & ultimately not worry about those things that we can't control. We can't control the world but we can control ourselves & how we feel & act. We can't prevent greed, injustice & evil in the world, but we can prevent it in ourselves. Balance & honesty, in all things, is so important. So much unfiltered truth & wisdom in this wonderful video, it's such a pleasure to watch this channel. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, much respect, love & admiration to you!
I’ve never imagined I could be this moved by a YT video. Thank you for such beautiful collaboration!
This is beautiful, I might even consider making my own video essay breaking this down in my own interpretation.
Haha I would love to see that!
Living without a purpose is one of my biggest fear and I'm feeling that now.
I’m here filled with emotions. Your channel is exceptional. A hidden gem.
I’m surprised you don’t have over a million subscribers. Keep up the incredible education you offer to your subscribers.
Thank You "Like Stories of Old",
Your channel has helped alot through the darkest times of my life, taught me to how to keep living with the worst of all odd comings in life.
I often used to confuse myself with Expectation and Hope, which aren't in anyway same things to look upon.
Inevitable curcumstances always made do things that i don't want to do, more like something on the inside rejects the very doing of it but still it's inevitable to do it anyways.
"Without Expectations" - so true,
But With Hope, and always there will be, a little spark of it is enough to satisfy the mind's eye and soul to move forward.
Hope can be a dangerous thing, it can drives a man crazy enough but still it's a good thing, no good thing shall ever dies, even in the abbys.
Mastering thyself is far greater than controlling over things those are not in my control.
A free man who is master of himself can always live up with this dangerous thing called Hope.
Thank you again, Sir...
Amazing! I was so excited to see you were doing a video on Shawshank and then doubly excited when I saw that you were integrating it with the philosophy of stoicism.
Truly superb job!
this video is part of my daily routine.
Great idea. Thank you.
I can't seriously be the only one that routinely cries by your videos. The quotes and authors that you draw from to support your messages are incredibly inspiring. Do you happen to have any favourite reads that you could recommend?
Always good to have these videos. They feel like gifts. I don’t know how to feel for this, but these videos provide a bit of a calm feeling where I feel some hope for once. Thanks for that. Thanks so much.
I was taken by a pleasant surprise :)
Stumbled upon a beautiful and one of the most enlightening video .
I love this channel, thank you for your words of knowledge within basis on insightful films
Absolutely incredible. This video is more emotionally charged than a lot of movies I see. Please keep up the good work!
I love the narrator on this - I could swear I’m listening to the late Bruno ganz.
Brilliant , profound content too. Great job & thank you.
What a great channel, glad to have stumbled upon it
Beautiful. I practice stoicism. Thanks Marcus Aurelius
I cry in joy every single time I watch this video. Thank you.
I feel like with every new video your editing gets better and better
Keep up the great work!
The Shawshank Redemption is always a win. Merci.
In France We call this Movie : Les Évadés. But I prefer the original title : The Shawshank Redemption. ;)
+Steve McBride ;)
Truly. Redemption is such a beautiful word. If I maybe so bold, I could go a step further and add that Redemption is the father of Hope.
Andy was redeemed in the Shawshank prison and the resulting feeling was a profound optimism of hope.
It was the two major theme the movie was woven around. The film was a masterpiece!
In Romania we call it Închisoarea îngerilor (prison of angels)
In Greece it's called Last exit: Rita Hayworth :)
In German it is Called Die Verurteilten wich just translates to the Convicted. Not a good Title for this movie in my Opinion so I stick with the Original Titel as well.
Beautiful video. I made these discoveries for myself sometime ago and find all of this to be accurate. Nice choice of classic movie to blend with Stoic philosophy.
I have so many adjectives to tell your purity but I'm simply speechless!!
I wish you luck to continue LSOO to the eternity!!
First time here, and all I see was perfection! The movie clips, the overtones and the quotations just nailed it!
What about the work of Arthur Schopenhauer’s, “On the Sufferings of the World”? Or "Discours de la servitude volontaire" by Étienne de La Boétie?
dude , you , Now You See It and The Discarded Image in the same day?
my skull is going to burst after my brain finishes processing all three videos in a row
AND NOW JUST WRITE!
This is still one of the most beautiful and insightful videos i literally have ever seen. Thank you for analysing a philosophy that grows all the more relevant, especially in these trying times, through possibly one of the most beautiful movies ever made. I really feel enlightened, thank you.
As a writer, I am finding so much inspiration from your video's...everything from character development...to world-building., and towards life in general, your missives are confirming many of my thoughts and beliefs in how life should be viewed and shared. Thank you so very much.
i love hearing Elmur Fudd talk about movies and philosophy
03:49 "The task then is to align our opinions with the transformations of the universe, to let the things beyond our control become exactly those things we desire."
05:42 "We can find happiness in love and beauty as long as we experience it without desiring more than is within our control."
Aren't these statements at odds? Can someone clarify what LSOO means?
Wow, this was powerful. I wasn't expecting to become emotional watching this but I did. I love this movie and you've made it even more powerful. Thank you.
Holy moly my man! What insights you've plucked out to staple to such an amazing film. You've coupled them with these selected segments of the film in such a way that the two magnify each other and the entire video played slow and sweet. Just thoroughly diggable. Thanks for that. I'm gonna keep an eye out for you ;D Keep it up!
work hard, and live in your current circumstances with presence and diligence, fulfillment is yours.
"expecting nothing", well that's kind of impossible. When you walk on the ground, you expect it to be stable and not trip you or stab you. If you fall into a sinkhole, trip face-first, or step on a lego and not feel some annoyance at the breaking of your expectations, you may not be human. As an ideal, I understand that Aurelius is saying that we should not hold our expectations to things which are beyond our control. You can try to live up to it but to be it fully is impossible.
From a more pragmatist perspective in the vein of Charles Sanders Peirce, expectation or belief is the entire basis for any action we take in our lives, and without them you are incapacitated.
You need to watch this channel's video about the film "Mr Nobody". You might reconsider your position.
the problem is not having expectations, but the inability to handle life when it goes in a different direction than our expectation
Another line that Red said which hit me hard-
" These walls are funny. First you hate em..... then you get used to em... Enough time passes... you get so you depend on em... "
So relatable- There are some things in life which are harder first, repeating same things makes it mundane, we get habitual - turning it into a habit.. which inturn becomes a part of our life, our personality, our behavior- it maybe a good thing or it may be a bad thing.
Even other lines in the movie are so intense- i literally had to hear them on loop 🔁 to understand it's deep meaning.
Simple words but the meaning deep as hell 🙂
This movie is surely without a doubt -The Best Movie made! 💯
My confidence in the virtue of man is bolstered by your work. Thank you. This video is genius.
This is the greatest thing since slice bread
Stoicism is the perfect philosophy for those suffering from our current seemingly postmodernist society. You will come out on top while others flounder asking others to fix their situation for them
Somehow your videos continuous to overwhelm me with insight, I love it; keep up with what you do since it's what you seem to love.
Discovered this channel day before yesterday...... The best gift I could give myself this year.