Self-Help: Why Cicero’s 6 Mistakes Of Man Is All You Need
…and can have the greatest impact for positive change in your life.
Now, this article is really just my opinion but I think it’s pretty un-controversial and whether you agree or not, should at least provoke some thinking (which when it comes to self-help has to be a good thing).
What Are Cicero’s 6 Mistakes Of Man?
I love Cicero’s 6 Mistakes of Man. I will go on to tell you why, getting back to the title of this article, but first for those who have never heard of Cicero’s 6 Mistakes of Man, here they are:
“The Six Mistakes of Man
- The illusion that personal gain is made up of crushing others.
- The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
- Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
- Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
- Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and study.
- Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.”
– Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C. — 43 B.C.)
before I go on to talk more about these, I should thank Mitch Mitchell. I have long thought that the above are pretty much all the philosophy I need (which I accept could also be because I am too lazy to read much more in-depth study) and I have been intending to write an article about my love for this particular piece. That being said, today I stumbled across this article: Know Your Audience Part II on Mitch’s site and it reminded me to write this article (and what better time than right away – I have 20 minutes before we go out for a walk so hopefully I finish it & hit publish in time). Thanks Mitch.
Mitch’s article is basically about another example of Mistake #1 above.
What Do Each Of These ‘6 Mistakes Of Man’ Mean?
I was going to write a little about each one and perhaps what I personally think of each. The reason for this was that I felt I needed to add more rather than just post the list for your attention. I’ve changed my mind on that front. I am happy to share my thoughts. I am happy to write a longer post (I could easily write a part II to this – as I said, I genuinely love this particular piece of philosophy).
So why have I changed my mind? Well, the whole point of these is their simplicity. Hopefully they don’t need much explanation, each speaks for itself and I hope that reading them, like me, you can easily think of examples in your own experience that relate (like the one from Mitch’s site that reminded me to write this – I know I could easily find hundreds more of that one).
So Why Is This All The Self-Help You’ll Ever Need?
By the same token as I just stated above, I reckon that these 6 concepts are both powerful and fundamental enough to cover most self-help teachings that have followed. If you’ve read a lot of self-help books, my guess is they don’t say too much which is different to what Cicero told us above. At least a lot of the teachings will be variations on Cicero’s 6 mistakes. Please do let me know if you think different (and not just to prove me wrong, I haven’t exactly researched this, my point is just that I think this is pretty much all the self-help you need – what I’d like to know is, do you agree?)
When I was at a low point following a divorce, I was reading lots of “recovery” books, and after nearly a dozen, I came away with one a single piece of advice that I have used to get through many situations regarding how I proceed in a situation. It is what I have since passed onto all of my 5 children: “What you think of me is none of my business”. That advice, along with “This too shall pass”, and ” Bad situations (if too drastic) often make for good stories to be told later on” has helped me for over 50+ years. Not being a religious person, I formed my own moral compass by telling myself, “Don’t hurt anyone, either physically, or mentally”. It is what I consider before saying or doing anything.
Hi Bill,
thanks for leaving a comment & I’m sorry to hear about your divorce.
Everything you have said here is really great advice for anyone. I just bought my daughter a book called ‘The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz’ which I think you would relate to very well and is along the same line of thinking. The 4 agreements are:
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
2. Don’t Take Things Personally
3. Don’t Make Assumptions
4. Always Try Your Best
The 1st and 2nd I think relate directly to what you have already said and I have to say I really really struggle with #2 (effectively ‘what you think of me is none of my business’). If it is someone I care about, then I find it really hard not to care about and be extremely sensitive to what they think about me (particularly if I think point 3 is involved on their part).
So I reckon these 4 agreements are pretty awesome. Somebody recommended the book to me and my daughter asked me if I could recommend a book which was easy to read and kind of philosophical and psychological so I got her this and it’s been a hit.
I’m already a huge fan of Cicero’s 6 mistakes as I think these cover a lot of what many books have written a lot more about since in 6 simple sentences. I think Ruiz’s 4 agreements are similar, maybe even better.
Anyway, thanks again for the comment – all that to say I couldn’t agree with you more!!
All of the above as well as living in the present – (i.e. letting go of the past) but maybe that is also captured in Ruiz’s 3rd agreement.
They are not the Six Mistakes of Man by Cicero, they are the first six of “The Seven Mistakes of Life” by Bernard Meador, in Secrets of Personal Power and Business Power, published 1914.
Lol, very interesting.
Though given Cicero was around some years BC and you are saying that your guy published his work in 1914, I’m still feeling pretty comfortable citing Cicero as the original source.
Also very interesting that you have the handle CiceroLover, surely that should be MeadorLover or BernardLover though I have to say neither of these seem to have quite the same ring to them…
thanks for the comment.
I did some searching on Google books, and I believe CiceroLover is quite correct. I performed a search of Google’s scanned copy of the Complete works of Cicero. Searching for “six mistakes”, I got a single result:
“six legions! He is extra-ordinarily vigilant, extraordinarily bold: I see no limit to the mischief. … ‘Come,’ you will say, ‘don’t cry over spilt milk: even the leader himself, whom we are following, has made many mistakes”
Then I searched for Bernard Meador’s Seven Mistakes of Life, and found the full text for that as well. Meador enumerates seven rules (the first six of which correspond exactly to these “six mistakes”, exactly as CiceroLover said), and he does so without attribution, claiming them to be his own, with no attribution to Cicero.
Given that an attribution to the great Roman orator Cicero would have added significant weight to his claims, I believe the attribution to be false.