Premeditatio Malorum
Premeditatio malorum is Latin for "the premeditation of evils." In plain words, it means deliberately imagining bad things before they happen, not to frighten yourself, but to drain those possibilities of their power to blindside you. This week you will learn why that practice is not morbid pessimism but one of the most honest and liberating things you can do with your mind. Each day builds on the last, moving from the basic idea through its traps and tests, toward a way of living that is genuinely less afraid of the future.
Passage
In the first place, they are wrong in forbidding men to premeditate on futurity, and blaming their wish to do so; for there is nothing that breaks the edge of grief and lightens it more, than considering, during one's whole life, that there is nothing which it is impossible should happen; or, than considering what human nature is, on what conditions life was given, and how we may comply with them. The effect of which is, that we are always grieving, but that we never do so; for whoever reflects on the nature of things, the various turns of life, and the weakness of human nature, grieves, indeed, at that reflection; but while so grieving he is, above all other times, behaving as a wise man: for he gains these two things by it; one, that while he is considering the state of human nature he is performing the especial duties of philosophy, and is provided with a triple medicine against adversity: in the first place, because he has long reflected that such things might befall him, and this reflection by itself contributes much towards lessening and weakening all misfortunes; and, secondly, because he is persuaded that we should bear all the accidents which can happen to a man, with the feelings and spirit of a man; and lastly, because he considers that what is blameable is the only evil; but it is not your fault that something has happened to you which it was impossible for man to avoid.
— Cicero, Tusculans 3.34
Reflection
Cicero gives premeditatio malorum its most complete philosophical defense. He argues that reflecting on human fragility is not a gloomy indulgence but the proper work of a wise person, and it brings three distinct benefits. You suffer less because the blow is not a surprise. You bear what comes with the dignity that fits a human being rather than collapsing as though something impossible has occurred. And you are freed from self-blame for what no person could have prevented. Notice how much lighter that is than anxious dread. The practice transforms 'what if something terrible happens to me?' into 'I have thought about what it means to be human, and I am ready to live that honestly.'
Go deeper
Think of a past hardship that hit you harder than it needed to because you had refused to consider it in advance: what would have been different if you had given yourself even one honest moment of preparation?
Practice
The Three Benefits
Write down one difficulty you are currently facing or expect to face. Then write three short responses, one for each of Cicero's benefits: 'I have considered this possibility before, so...' then 'I can bear this with the steadiness of someone who knows what being human involves, which means...' then 'If this happens, it is not my failure because...' Keep each response to two or three sentences.