Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.33

All that you see will quickly perish, and those who have been spectators of its dissolution will very soon perish too.

And he who dies at the most extreme old age will be brought into the same condition with him who died prematurely.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 9.33 (tr Long)

There are all sorts of things in life that we are convinced we need, though it usually turns out that we only want them. I find that the distinction is far too often overlooked, and that Stoicism can help us to rightly understand it.

For the Stoic, virtue is the only absolute and unconditional good of human nature, because it is our own thoughts and actions that are distinctly our own. All other things are good for us in a relative and conditional way, in that they are only of benefit to us when they assist us in being virtuous.

Accordingly, it is said that we should be indifferent to anything other than our moral worth, free to prefer certain circumstances if they do not conflict with out character, while also immediately willing to let them go if they do conflict with our character. I may want to be rich or popular, but all of that should be secondary to my need to be good.

As soon as he was old enough to carry on a proper conversation, my son started wondering why so much of the advertising on television was about things we didn’t really need. 

Yes, I am simultaneously proud of him and fearful for him. 

One particular time when we were watching a show together, he said that the ads seemed to be directed at older people. I asked him why he thought that, and he immediately pointed out that they were about selling drugs to help us live longer.

I couldn’t resist throwing out a further question. “Well, is that something we need, or something we just want?”

He thought for a moment, and then offered an observation. “Some nice people don’t live long at all, and some mean people live for a really long time.” I do so wish that were a more common insight.

In the end, the difference between a longer life and a shorter life is not that great at all, but the difference between a virtuous life and a vicious life is quite great. We are made to be here only for a very brief time, but we are made to live well while we are here. It reflects the priority of quality over quantity, and more specifically the quality of what is inside of us over the quality of what is outside of us.

Or put another way, we will all end up in the same state, though what we did before that end will make all of the difference. 

Written in 1/2016

IMAGE: Angelo Caroselli, Allegory of Youth and Old Age (c. 1615)