Pericles warned the Athenians not try to try to expand their empire while fighting the war with Sparta. It seems, in fact, that he was right. They were trying to expand into Syracuse and all Sicily and that seems to have been the cause of their defeat.
It is hard to know when one is making a mistake.
People like me are prone to error. Often even people with an extra measure of intelligence seem to make serious errors in judgment. The Athenians themselves were aware of this, and felt that the best safeguard against mistakes in human affairs is discussion. But that did not seem to help in that case.
What I feel has helped me to a great degree has been discussion with family. People that you can depend on to have your best interests at heart. Discussion with friends that have supported you in times of crisis also counts.
I did this myself in times of stress. In Jerusalem, when I was going through a confusing period, I asked a group of my closest friends--(people that had previously stuck with me in times of crisis) -to gather together on every Wednesday night to discuss my problems and possible solutions.
After that when I was in NY and also going through a confusing period, I called my brothers often and discussed with them their opinions about my situation, and also I asked what they remembered from the basic approach of my parents--[which I had forgotten a lot of.]
This all was a new approach for me. Before that, I had thought the right thing to do in times of crisis was to ask religious leaders. At some point, I realized asking religious leaders is a guarantee for disaster.
[I might mention that to me this is already contained in the Torah itself in the command of "Honor your father and mother." As pointed out in books of Medieval Ethics (Musar) this means to obey your parents. This is also mention in the חידושי הגרנ''ט Reb Naphtali Troup, one of the great sages of Lithuania at the time of Reb Chaim Soloveitchik.
[I might mention that Moshe Israel noted a lot of times when family members are not good sources of friendship. He saw this in the USA and right here where I am now in the Ukraine right in my hospital room this came to my attention. One fellow I saw had no money for medicine and I helped him out a little and his wife told me after that how in their family right the last week there was some problem with inheritance. So I have to qualify my remarks about family as being prima facie. That is the way things are until proven otherwise.
In any case the main lesson to learn here is wherever you go for advice, never ever ever go to a religious leader.
It is hard to know when one is making a mistake.
People like me are prone to error. Often even people with an extra measure of intelligence seem to make serious errors in judgment. The Athenians themselves were aware of this, and felt that the best safeguard against mistakes in human affairs is discussion. But that did not seem to help in that case.
What I feel has helped me to a great degree has been discussion with family. People that you can depend on to have your best interests at heart. Discussion with friends that have supported you in times of crisis also counts.
I did this myself in times of stress. In Jerusalem, when I was going through a confusing period, I asked a group of my closest friends--(people that had previously stuck with me in times of crisis) -to gather together on every Wednesday night to discuss my problems and possible solutions.
After that when I was in NY and also going through a confusing period, I called my brothers often and discussed with them their opinions about my situation, and also I asked what they remembered from the basic approach of my parents--[which I had forgotten a lot of.]
This all was a new approach for me. Before that, I had thought the right thing to do in times of crisis was to ask religious leaders. At some point, I realized asking religious leaders is a guarantee for disaster.
[I might mention that to me this is already contained in the Torah itself in the command of "Honor your father and mother." As pointed out in books of Medieval Ethics (Musar) this means to obey your parents. This is also mention in the חידושי הגרנ''ט Reb Naphtali Troup, one of the great sages of Lithuania at the time of Reb Chaim Soloveitchik.
[I might mention that Moshe Israel noted a lot of times when family members are not good sources of friendship. He saw this in the USA and right here where I am now in the Ukraine right in my hospital room this came to my attention. One fellow I saw had no money for medicine and I helped him out a little and his wife told me after that how in their family right the last week there was some problem with inheritance. So I have to qualify my remarks about family as being prima facie. That is the way things are until proven otherwise.
In any case the main lesson to learn here is wherever you go for advice, never ever ever go to a religious leader.
