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Vaniver comments on Overly convenient clusters, or: Beware sour grapes - Less Wrong Discussion

22 Post author: KnaveOfAllTrades 02 September 2014 04:04AM

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Comment author: Vaniver 02 September 2014 09:43:23PM *  6 points [-]

I actually think the Serenity Prayer is pretty valuable and wish it were reclaimed in some fashion.

So, one option is to take one of the precursors, like Epictetus's:

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Some things are up to us and some things are not up to us. Our opinions are up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions-in short, whatever is our own doing. Our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, our reputations, or our public offices, or, that is, whatever is not our own doing

But, obviously, this is not optimized for actually repeating it. The Mother Goose rhyme is optimized for repeating:

For every ailment under the sun There is a remedy, or there is none; If there be one, try to find it; If there be none, never mind it.

but seems less on point (it seems to help to specifically call out serenity, courage, and wisdom).

One could just modify the front:

May I have the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other

Comment author: Raemon 03 September 2014 04:52:57AM 4 points [-]

I just went with the "modify the front" version, which I think works fine. Anything more accurate loses more potency than its worth IMO.