Mocking Power, Finding Happiness, and Speaking Clearly
- A Little Wiser
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
This week, we’ve picked three short lessons that we think you’ll enjoy, from the folks over at A Little Wiser. Three times a week, they publish three short forays into interesting topics, designed to be read in around 3 minutes. Great for piquing your interest and gently widening the scope of your knowledge. As part of a newsletter swap we’re doing with them, here are three that we think you will appreciate. If you enjoy the ideas below, consider signing up for their newsletter by clicking here.
Idea 1: ✒️ Voltaire and the Power of Satire
Voltaire lived in an age when disagreeing with the wrong person could land you in prison, exile, or worse. Born François-Marie Arouet in 1694, he learned early that ideas were dangerous things. After mocking a powerful nobleman, he was beaten and thrown into the Bastille, an experience that permanently shaped his worldview. Voltaire emerged convinced that direct confrontation with authority was often suicidal. Satire, he realized, could slip past censors, embarrass tyrants, and expose absurdities without waving a flag of rebellion. In an era of absolute monarchs and unquestioned religious authority, laughter became his sharpest weapon.
On November 1, 1755, an earthquake struck Lisbon, killing between 30,000 and 60,000 people. The disaster fractured the philosophical foundation of the Enlightenment. For decades, Leibniz had argued this was "the best of all possible worlds," where even apparent evils served a greater good. Voltaire, then 61 and living in exile, saw proof that the world was governed by chaos, not providence. In December 1755, he composed a savage poem attacking optimism. Four years later, he published his answer simultaneously in five cities to outrun censors: Candide.
The book sold 20,000 copies in its first year despite being condemned by the Geneva city council and banned by The Vatican. The plot follows Candide, a naive young man tutored by Professor Pangloss, who insists "all is for the best" even as Candide experiences war, rape, earthquakes, and slavery. Pangloss is hanged, enslaved, and maimed, yet refuses to recant because "I am a philosopher." The novel ends with Candide rejecting grand theories, insisting that "we must cultivate our garden" instead. The power of Candide lies in what it ridicules, not what it argues. You can refute an argument, but you cannot un-laugh at a joke. Voltaire attacked religion, monarchy, and colonialism by wrapping radical ideas in adventure. Today, political cartoons, late-night comedy, and satirical journalism all trace a lineage back to Voltaire’s insight. In a world still crowded with certainty and authority, satire remains one of the most effective tools for reminding power that it is not sacred.
For a free PDF of Voltaire’s most celebrated work, Candide, click here. Enjoy!
Idea 2: ⚖️ Epicurus and the Ancient Blueprint for a Happy Life
Epicurus has been badly misremembered. Today his name is almost a synonym for luxury and indulgence, yet the real Epicurus lived more like a monk with a garden than a hedonist with a wine cellar. Born in 341 BCE on the island of Samos, he believed the universe was made of atoms, the gods were irrelevant to daily life, and happiness came from something far simpler than pleasure: the absence of fear and unnecessary desire. His school, ‘The Garden’, welcomed women and enslaved people and taught that most human misery doesn’t come from what we lack, but from what we wrongly think we need. To Epicurus, philosophy wasn’t an abstract exercise but rather therapy.
At the heart of his teaching was a simple, powerful equation that pleasure equals stability. Not the sugar-rush pleasure of feasts or parties, but the calm that comes when the mind is untroubled and the body is free from pain. He divided desires into three categories: natural and necessary (food, shelter, friendship), natural but unnecessary (fancy foods, luxuries), and empty desires (status, fame, limitless wealth). Happiness, he argued, came from fulfilling the first category, enjoying the second in moderation, and refusing the third entirely. Most of the suffering people inflict on themselves evaporates once they understand what actually brings lasting satisfaction. For Epicurus, the good life was built not on abundance, but on clarity.
His most radical idea at the time was that the highest human pleasure is friendship. Epicurus believed that a shared meal with trusted companions did more for well-being than any material success. Modern psychology agrees with Epicurus as studies show that strong social bonds predict happiness more accurately than income or career milestones. He also taught that fearing death was irrational stating that when death comes, we no longer exist to experience it, and while we exist, death is not present. Freed from that fear, people can focus on living well rather than clinging anxiously to more time. Epicurus never commanded armies or ruled empires yet two thousand years later his blueprint endures. Simplify your desires, nurture your friendships, quiet your fears, and happiness stops being a mystery.
Idea 3: 🗣️ A research-backed ‘hack’ for clear communication
Clear communication isn't just a stylistic preference, it's a neurological advantage. Studies in psycholinguistics show that people who speak with precision and minimal verbal clutter are perceived as more competent, trustworthy, and persuasive. Clarity lowers the listener’s cognitive load, allowing them to focus on the message rather than decoding the noise. When you speak clearly, you’re not just communicating better, you’re making it easier for people’s brains to understand you.
One of the simplest, most effective habits is a technique called Landing Phrases. Research finds that reducing filler words increases listener comprehension by up to 20%. Almost every filler word—um, uh, like—happens when your brain still needs a moment to think, but your mouth refuses silence and fills the gap with noise. The trick is beautifully simple: try to say “um” while inhaling. You couldn’t, could you? Filler words only happen on the exhale so the next time you're speaking, let yourself run out of breath at the end of a sentence. Instead of filling the gap with an “um,” your body will be forced to inhale, creating a clean pause that resets your thinking. That single inhale acts like a mental punctuation mark and gives you space to choose your next words rather than stumble into them.
Once your breathing and pausing work for you, not against you, structure elevates everything. Always begin with your core point as clarity increases when the listener knows where you're going. Using shorter sentences that carry one idea each helps the brain process them faster and with less strain. Similarly, use silence to your advantage. A deliberate pause signals control, allows your audience time to absorb your point, and gives you the chance to choose the next one intentionally. Breath creates rhythm, structure creates meaning, and silence creates authority. Put them together and your communication stops feeling improvised and starts feeling precise, confident, and unmistakably clear.
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