{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "collectionId": "roots-and-wings-external-wisdom",
  "title": "Roots & Wings external wisdom source library",
  "language": "en-AU",
  "libraryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/",
  "editorialPolicyUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/sources/",
  "collectionBoundary": "External historical philosophy only. Matt’s original numbered insights are excluded.",
  "contentNotice": "Summaries and modern interpretations are editorial paraphrases, not quotations, clinical evidence or personalised advice. Preserve their labels, source references and limitations when citing them. Linked source editions have their own rights and terms; this export does not grant rights to bulk-copy those works.",
  "entries": [
    {
      "id": "epictetus-agency",
      "title": "Distinguish your actions from the outcome",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#epictetus-agency",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Epictetus",
        "work": "Enchiridion, section 1",
        "edition": "Elizabeth Carter translation, Internet Classics Archive",
        "url": "https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html",
        "checked": "2026-09-19"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Epictetus distinguishes our own actions and judgements from things such as reputation and possessions that are not wholly ours to determine.",
        "interpretation": "Separate what you can do next from what requires someone else’s cooperation. Choose one action within your reach without pretending you control the result.",
        "limitations": "A philosophical perspective, not a scientific finding. It does not mean that illness, hardship or another person’s harmful behaviour is your fault.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "analects-learning-reflection",
      "title": "Let learning and reflection work together",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#analects-learning-reflection",
      "tradition": "Confucian philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Confucius, as recorded in the Analects",
        "work": "Analects, Book II, chapter XV",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 3330",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3330",
        "checked": "2026-09-19"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "This passage pairs learning with thought, warning against relying on either alone.",
        "interpretation": "Before making a decision, gather a relevant fact and take time to consider what it changes. Reading more is not the same as understanding more.",
        "limitations": "A modern application of a historical philosophical passage, not a quotation or a universal decision rule.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "analects-knowing-limits",
      "title": "Be honest about what you do not know",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#analects-knowing-limits",
      "tradition": "Confucian philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Confucius, as recorded in the Analects",
        "work": "Analects, Book II, chapter XVII, address to Yu",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 3330",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3330",
        "checked": "2026-09-19"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "The passage treats acknowledging both knowledge and its limits as part of knowing.",
        "interpretation": "Write down what you know, what you suspect and what you need to ask. Saying “I don’t know yet” can create room for a better answer.",
        "limitations": "A philosophical invitation to intellectual honesty, not proof that a particular belief is correct.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "epictetus-pause",
      "title": "Make room before responding",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#epictetus-pause",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Epictetus",
        "work": "Enchiridion, section 20",
        "edition": "Elizabeth Carter translation, Internet Classics Archive",
        "url": "https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Epictetus advises gaining time before being swept into a reaction to provocation.",
        "interpretation": "If it is safe, delay the reply. Decide what you want your response to achieve before sending it.",
        "limitations": "This adapts the passage’s pause, not its claim that harm is merely opinion. Abuse and violence are real; safety and support come first.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "epictetus-commitment",
      "title": "Consider what a commitment will require",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#epictetus-commitment",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Epictetus",
        "work": "Enchiridion, section 29",
        "edition": "Elizabeth Carter translation, Internet Classics Archive",
        "url": "https://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Using athletic training as an example, Epictetus asks readers to consider preparation and consequences before undertaking a pursuit.",
        "interpretation": "Before saying yes, name the time, practice and trade-offs involved. Choose a realistic first step rather than relying on initial enthusiasm.",
        "limitations": "Historical philosophy, not a demand to persist with an unsafe or unsuitable commitment. Reconsidering with new information can be sensible.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "marcus-reconsider",
      "title": "Change your mind for a good reason",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#marcus-reconsider",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Marcus Aurelius",
        "work": "Meditations, Book IV, passage on revising an opinion",
        "edition": "George Long translation, Internet Classics Archive",
        "url": "https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.4.four.html",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Marcus pairs acting for human benefit with revising an opinion when someone offers a convincing correction, rather than for popularity.",
        "interpretation": "Ask what evidence would change your view. Treat a useful correction as help with the problem, not a contest to win.",
        "limitations": "An editorial application of historical philosophy. A confident assertion is not automatically evidence, and agreement is not owed under pressure.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "marcus-necessary",
      "title": "Make space for what matters",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#marcus-necessary",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Marcus Aurelius",
        "work": "Meditations, Book IV, passage on necessary activity",
        "edition": "George Long translation, Internet Classics Archive",
        "url": "https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.4.four.html",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Marcus questions unnecessary activity while retaining the duties of a social human being.",
        "interpretation": "Review one overloaded day: what is necessary, what can wait, and what is habit rather than responsibility?",
        "limitations": "Not an instruction to abandon care, work obligations or needed help. Some demands cannot be removed by personal choice alone.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "analects-reciprocity",
      "title": "Consider the other person’s experience",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#analects-reciprocity",
      "tradition": "Confucian philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Confucius, as recorded in the Analects",
        "work": "Analects, Book XV, chapter XXIII in this edition",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 3330",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3330",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "In answering Tsze-kung, the passage presents reciprocity as a principle for conduct towards others.",
        "interpretation": "Before acting, consider how the treatment might feel from the other side. Ask about their needs rather than assuming they match yours.",
        "limitations": "A modern application, not permission to disregard consent or personal boundaries. Chapter numbering differs between editions.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "analects-evaluate-words",
      "title": "Evaluate the idea as well as the speaker",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#analects-evaluate-words",
      "tradition": "Confucian philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Confucius, as recorded in the Analects",
        "work": "Analects, Book XV, chapter XXII in this edition",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 3330",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3330",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "The passage warns against judging a person solely by words, or dismissing useful words solely because of their speaker.",
        "interpretation": "Separate whether an idea is supported from whether you like its source. Check both the claim and the speaker’s relevant reliability.",
        "limitations": "Not a reason to ignore manipulation, conflicts of interest or a harmful pattern of behaviour.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "dao-small-beginnings",
      "title": "Begin with a manageable step",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#dao-small-beginnings",
      "tradition": "Daoist philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Laozi, traditional attribution",
        "work": "Tao Teh King, chapter 64, paragraphs 1–3",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 216",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/216",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Small beginnings and sustained care are recurring images in this passage.",
        "interpretation": "Choose a modest first step, then give the finishing steps equal attention.",
        "limitations": "A modern application, not a guarantee of success or a demand to continue an unsuitable project.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "dao-useful-space",
      "title": "Leave room for what a thing is for",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#dao-useful-space",
      "tradition": "Daoist philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Laozi, traditional attribution",
        "work": "Tao Teh King, chapter 11",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 216",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/216",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "A wheel, vessel and room illustrate the usefulness of unoccupied space.",
        "interpretation": "Leave some capacity unfilled: a blank page, an unbooked interval or room to listen.",
        "limitations": "An editorial analogy, not advice to neglect essential responsibilities.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "dao-water-service",
      "title": "Help without making everything a contest",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#dao-water-service",
      "tradition": "Daoist philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Laozi, traditional attribution",
        "work": "Tao Teh King, chapter 8",
        "edition": "James Legge translation, Project Gutenberg eBook 216",
        "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/216",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Water exemplifies benefit without contention; the passage also values appropriate timing.",
        "interpretation": "Ask what would help, rather than what would win recognition.",
        "limitations": "Not a reason to accept mistreatment or erase your own needs.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "seneca-digest-reading",
      "title": "Give one useful idea time to settle",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#seneca-digest-reading",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Seneca",
        "work": "Moral letters to Lucilius, Letter 2, sections 2–5",
        "edition": "Richard M. Gummere translation, Wikisource transcription",
        "url": "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_2",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Seneca contrasts hurried movement between books with attending closely to selected ideas.",
        "interpretation": "After reading, put one useful thought in your own words and consider where it applies before opening another source.",
        "limitations": "Not an argument against broad learning, checking other perspectives or changing your mind. The letter’s medical analogies are not medical guidance.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "seneca-trust-carefully",
      "title": "Let trust be considered, not automatic",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#seneca-trust-carefully",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Seneca",
        "work": "Moral letters to Lucilius, Letter 3, sections 2–4",
        "edition": "Richard M. Gummere translation, Wikisource transcription",
        "url": "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_3",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Seneca distinguishes considered friendship from indiscriminate trust or total suspicion.",
        "interpretation": "Look for consistent behaviour over time before sharing something important. Trust can grow gradually and remain specific to the situation.",
        "limitations": "This adaptation rejects the letter’s suggestion that suspicion causes another person’s betrayal. You are not responsible for someone else’s deception; boundaries may change.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "seneca-work-rest",
      "title": "Make room for activity and rest",
      "entryUrl": "https://rootsandwings.guide/wisdom/#seneca-work-rest",
      "tradition": "Stoic philosophy",
      "source": {
        "author": "Seneca",
        "work": "Moral letters to Lucilius, Letter 3, sections 5–6",
        "edition": "Richard M. Gummere translation, Wikisource transcription",
        "url": "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_3",
        "checked": "2026-09-20"
      },
      "editorial": {
        "summary": "Seneca distinguishes restless bustle from useful activity and argues for both action and repose.",
        "interpretation": "Notice whether today needs a useful task or a genuine break. Being busy is not the only measure of a worthwhile day.",
        "limitations": "Not a judgement about disability, exhaustion or caring demands. Rest does not have to be earned through productivity.",
        "isQuotation": false
      }
    }
  ]
}