Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.34

Receive wealth without arrogance, and be ready to let it go.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 8 (tr Long)

I will regularly get flak for encouraging Stoic thinking, sometimes because I’m not explaining it properly, but at other times because people choose to misunderstand it. I no longer know how many times, for example, I’ve been told that Stoicism is cold and emotionless, or that Stoicism denies pleasure, or that Stoicism simply means not caring.

I can only remind myself that Stoicism has allowed me the greatest pleasures, and helped me to embrace my emotions, and demanded of me that I care for others as deeply as I care for myself.

Another one of these misconceptions is that Stoics despise wealth, or renounce possessions, or condemn worldly prosperity. Not at all. The sincere Stoic, at least of the traditional variety, is instead indifferent to these things, because they are not the measure of a good life. He neither desires them for their own sake, nor rejects them for their own sake. To be indifferent to something in the Stoic sense is not to consider it worthy or unworthy in itself, but to find worth either in its presence or its absence.

I squirm a bit when I see hipster Stoics use indifference as a way to be dismissive, and then I must correct myself by fixing my squirming instead of trying to fix anyone else.

A man is not better or worse because he is rich or poor; his character will shine through under either condition.

Has Fortune given me opulence and luxury? Yes, I will take it, and I may even prefer it or not prefer it, but I will not allow it to define me. It is an occasion, like any other, to practice the art of living well.

Has Fortune given me simplicity and poverty? Yes, I will take it, and I may even prefer it or not prefer it, but I will not allow it to define me. It is an occasion, like any other, to practice the art of living well.

I have known poor men who want to be rich, and rich men who want to be poor, even as every good man I’ve ever known will be content with either condition. Yes, this is foolishness to the man who merely lusts for himself. It is also wisdom to the man who truly loves himself.

If something comes my way, I should accept it with humility. When something is taken away, I should continue as if nothing was different, with no resentment or demands. What I have is not who I am. Who I am should make noble use of anything I have, as much as of anything I do not have. 

Written in 4/2008