WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

I don't remember ever hearing that word from my parents. And yet, for me, it's the word I've cherished since I was twenty.
When I discovered that this word is made up of two words, in Latin
 "Philo" = friend and "Sophos" = wisdom, the philosopher becomes « the friend of wisdom´, and this is the direction, if not The Duty, that I promised myself I would follow.

To better understand our subject, let me define what a philosopher is:
It's a person who studies philosophy, who strives to discover the principles of science, morality and life in general, and who tries to organize his knowledge into a coherent system. It's a person who is even-tempered, who endures everything with serenity. To be a philosopher is to be wise, tolerant and serene.

I realize that we are the result of several interventions throughout our lives. The first come from our parents, followed by elementary school. High school and university only solidified our first learning.

In my youth, friends around me were thinking of physical jobs, bricklayers, carpenters, others, accountants, lawyers, some preferring to work for the government, becoming civil servants and thus securing a fixed income for the long term. I had none of this, as I was going to the Ecole Normale, which prepared us to be teachers, that was the only profession I had in mind.

Philosophy came to me when I couldn't teach. I was discovering a new world, answers to the questions I'd been asking without any answers. My life was changing day by day, taking me further away from my first beliefs. I used to read philosophers rather than novels, the latter being sympathetic and full of crazy images, whereas philosophical books were down-to-earth, making me realize what life had to offer if I applied myself.

Days, months and years went by and everyone had a job, whether they liked it or not. While I was supposed to be a teacher, found myself to be  a salesman.  It wasn't an exciting title, but it changed my life. I put my heart and soul into it and made a good living out of it. The slightly bewildering thing was that customers often did ask me if I was a teacher.

Back to philosophy. Talking to the world, I was always trying to influence people to think, a quality we forget. I'd talk to them about things they didn't know about and  they liked it. I'd ask them to argue, to reason, to discuss something.

Yes, I'd opened  their eyes and they realized that I was right. I liked all this. And of course, thanks to my way of doing things, my sales increased and so did my income.

Philosophy doesn't require much. You just have to stop your daily routine for a while and look beyond. Ask yourself if you're feeling well, and if not, find a way to remedy to this rather unpleasant state. There are always answers when you put your mind to it, rather than just letting it happen. In fact, it's this laissez-faire attitude that makes so many people unhappy.

I'll admit that in my case, I've replaced religion with philosophy, and this discourages those around me.  It's my business and it doesn't matter what people say about me. I am who I am. On the other hand, by reading philosophers, some, such as Paul Valéry, criticizes it  for being useless, while Albert Camus finds that "those who lack courage always find a philosophy to justify it". Louis Pasteur had to laugh when he said "There's more philosophy in a bottle of wine than in books".

In conclusion, philosophy is a branch of knowledge that aims to study principles and causes, as well as the foundations of moral values, by organizing knowledge.
And this word from the famous Epitectus: «  The essence of philosophy is that a man should live in such a way that his happiness depends as little as possible on external causes ».