If we had been as earnest and serious about our work as old men in Rome are about their concerns, we too might perhaps have achieved something.
I know what was said to me by a man older than myself, who is now in charge of the corn supply in Rome, when he passed through here on his way back from exile; he ran down his former life and made great professions for the future, saying that when once he was back he would have no other interest except to live out the rest of his life in peace and tranquility, “For how little I have still left me”, said he.
And I said to him, “You will not do it; so soon as you sniff the air of Rome you will forget all your professions”; and I told him that if he got a chance of entering the Palace, he would thrust his way in and give God thanks.
“Epictetus,” he answered, “if you find me putting one foot in the Palace, believe what you like of me.”
Well, what did he do? Before he came to Rome, a dispatch from the Emperor met him, and as soon as he got it, he forgot all he had said and has gone on adding to his heap ever since.
I should like to stand by him now and remind him of the words he used as he passed through, and say to him, “How much more clever a prophet am I than you!”
I am regularly told that Stoicism is an unrealistic philosophy, a claim I also hear applied to any way of life that looks to the dignity of the person over the convenience of profit.
“Yes, it sounds nice as an idea, but who could ever manage to live that way? It’s easy for Epictetus to say that you should seek your virtue above all else, or for Jesus to say that you should sell all you have and give it to the poor, but there is no way you can put it into practice. They forget that we have to survive in the real world.”
At first, hearing such words would make me feel angry, and as I grew older, they would more often make me feel discouraged. Yet then I gradually realized how it was only my own attitude that was standing in the way of following through. The irony was that when people insisted that it couldn’t be done, my consequent resentment and fear themselves became the hindrance to a good life, in a self-fulfilling twist.
I should not confuse what is difficult with what is impossible, and, in turn, I should not attribute the difficulty to any external constraints. If I truly know it to be right and good, there is nothing stopping me from putting it into practice.
Look at all the people who sacrifice everything, exerting seemingly superhuman efforts, to win fame and fortune. If I care for wisdom and love just as much as they care for power and money, my goal is hardly beyond my reach.
“But no person can ever be that good! It’s just not part of human nature!”
Perhaps we are beginning with different definitions of human nature. If you see yourself only as a creature of appetite, then those appetites will rule you, and the freedom of your action is indeed now stifled. If I, on the other hand, see myself as also being a creature of reason and will, I have now given myself the opportunity to exercise free judgments. The passions do not determine me, unless I permit them to do so.
“But it’s too hard to do that! No one is that strong!”
You would be right to think that I cannot conquer the world, but you would be wrong to think that, with patience and commitment, I am unable to master myself. Far from being impossible, that is precisely what I was made for. The best things in this life are also the very things that demand the greatest effort; would not even the entrepreneur and the superstar agree?
“But you’ll get nowhere, because everyone else is busy gaining leverage and getting rich, and you can’t go against the force of all those people! That’s not how it’s done!”
Beyond my own desire to conform with the majority, what is keeping me from living as I think it best to live? Again, if I truly believe it to be best, then I will sacrifice anything and everything. I can go so far as to lay aside my life to protect my virtue, just as the grasping man will lay aside his virtue to protect his life.
When you say it is impossible, what you are really saying is that it isn’t important enough for you. That choice is your right, as my choice is my right. Only Providence, not either one of us, will be the final arbiter, and I suppose that only hard experience will tell us where true peace of mind shall be found.
I see the people who have already found their happiness by embracing character first, and they inspire me. I see the many more who are struggling to become better, and they encourage me. It all depends on what is valued the most.
Epictetus looks at the old Roman bureaucrat, and I take away three important lessons:
First, if only all those who say they love philosophy would apply themselves to increasing their understanding and love, as thoroughly as the civil servant applies himself to increasing his position in government, then the philosophers would begin to make a real difference.
Second, the old bureaucrat only said that he is done with the nasty life of politics because he figured that he was out of the game; as soon as he was back in the game, he returned right back to his old ways. Words are cheap, but actions are priceless. It is always necessary to examine what is deep in the heart and the mind, not what is subject to passing whims.
Third, as much as it might pain us, it is important that we be reminded of all the times we have only given our second-best. If it matters, we must stay the course, and if we are merely playing a game, we should hang our heads in shame. Pay your money, and then make your choice. Pardon my French, but no more bullshit.
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