4 Stoic Star Wars Moments
A Stoicism reading guide for Star Wars fans | Marcus Aurelius' Meditations
There’s a great moment in an interview between Ryan Holiday (Daily Stoic) and Mick Mulroy, the former Deputy Asst. Secretary for Defense for the Middle East, where Mulroy observes that we don’t really teach philosophy to young kids like was done in previous generations.
Mulroy: “I think one of the reasons people are coming to Stoicism is because it’s completely part of our culture, it’s part of our history,” says Mulroy. It’s not an invention of self-help authors like Holiday. “It started at the same time democracy did (Greece), it’s infused in our civilization.”
Holiday: “It feels familiar because you’ve been steeped in it without even knowing it.”
“Steeped” indeed. They’re talking about how interwoven Stoicism is with our culture. Such as how the works of Seneca changed George Washington’s life when he was 16 years old. The writings of Epictetus shaped John Adams and prepared him for the struggle of the Revolution. Thomas Jefferson famously dies with Seneca on his bedside table. They didn’t find these thinkers at used bookstores. It was part of their formal education. We don’t really do this anymore, outside of private schools and learning at the college level.
What we like to remind people of here at Geeky Stoics is that while this is mostly true, what Holiday and Mulroy are outlining above, it does miss where Stoicism is still handed down to us in the popular culture. Kids may not be learning Meditations in 4th grade, but they are learning its core ideas through….Star Wars, among other great modern myths.
Right now on YouTube, a video is premiering where I lay out four intersections between Star Wars and Stoicism, specifically the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This video started with the goal of utilizing Seneca and Epictetus also, but I opted to save that for a few follow-up videos. I’ll also share these crossovers below in writing for you to read and have handy, including citations so you can find them for yourself.
How To Start Stoicism (Begin With What You Know)
Nature is good, and nature is change
Star Wars: Shmi Skywalker says to a young Anakin in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, before he leaves Tatooine to train as a Jedi….
“You can’t stop the change, any more than you can stop sun(s) from setting.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [Book 7, Verse 18]
“Frightened of change? What can exist without it? What is is closer to nature’s heart.”
But we’ll go one step further and emphasize that what both these quotes are about is: nature. Don’t try to control what happens or the way the earth turns. Marcus talks a lot about nature in Meditations. In fact, more than just talking about control, I think arguing for a love of nature is Meditations main theme.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [Book 5, Verse 4]
“I walk through what is natural, until the time comes to sink down and rest.”
Death is life
Star Wars: Yoda says to an older Anakin Skywalker in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith about his dreams of death and loss….
“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [Book 2, Verse 17]
“Above all, accept death in a cheerful spirit, as nothing but the dissolution of the elements of each living thing is composed.”
We are more than our bodies
Star Wars: Yoda counsels Luke Skywalker in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and aims to remind him that the Force is within him….
“Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter (Luke’s arm). You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [Book 2, Verse 2]
“As if you were dying right now, despise your flesh, a mess of blood, pieces of bone, a woven tangle of nerves, veins, arteries. Consider what the spirit is …air, and never the same air.”
Yoda’s line is much more bumper-sticker friendly. Well done, George Lucas. But both say the same thing in different terms. All the graphic terminology by Aurelius about the body can be simplified by “crude matter” and each is pointing to the body as nothing more than a means to experience a higher truth beyond our reach.
The best vacations are free
This one I’ll start with Stoicism instead of Star Wars. How many times have you spent a bunch of money on a vacation to get away and reset your mind? Did it work? I’ve experienced expensive vacations where I didn’t recharge one bit, and one’s where I succeeded. People had this same problem 2,000 years ago. They weren’t that different.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [Book 4, Chapter 1]
“People try to get away from it all, to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You wish you could too. But you can get away at anytime you like. By going within. Nowhere you can go is more peaceful. Even a quick visit should be enough to ward off trouble and send you back ready to face what awaits you.”
I don’t have a quote for this from Star Wars. But you know what they say about words? Actions speak louder.
My favorite Jedi is Qui-Gon Jinn. The reasons are many. Every year I appreciate his final moments more and more. When he’s up against Darth Maul in the “Duel of the Fates”, Qui-Gon gets an opportunity for rest as he’s separated from Maul by an energy field. Maul is fueled by anger and aggression. Qui-Gon is a servant of the Force. So he takes a minute to reconnect with it. He meditates in the midst of a battle. He retreats within.
Nowhere you can go is more peaceful.
Even a quick visit should be enough to ward off trouble and send you back ready to face what awaits you.”
Obviously, Stoicism doesn’t corner the market on meditation as a means to recharge. What I love about philosophy is how you can find traditions like this on every corner of the globe, being written about at the same time within cultures that had never interacted. To me, that reveals the inward journey as a truth of the human experience, and a superpower we have been given.
Will you use it?