Moral Letters for Modern Times
On Stoic Virtues (Stoic Wisdom 066)
Today I want to talk with you about the Stoic virtues, and how to value the pursuits that people seek
The outward appearance of a person tells you nothing of their inner value.
Consider Stephen Hawking who, though immobilized in his wheelchair, roved the limits of the universe and greatly expanded human understanding. Would you say his broken body was worth less than the perfect specimens gracing this year’s fashion week?
And when their perfect figures have become disfigured from the passage of time, will you then consider them to be worth less than when they were parading down the catwalk?
Today I want to talk with you about the Stoic virtues, and how to value the pursuits that people seek. This is not only not a trivial question, Deuteros, it is the only question that matters. The lack of clear answers drives people to distraction, and to seek happiness in things that can never deliver it to them.
So what then should be a person’s highest pursuit? How do they best live their lives? Let me describe what the Stoics believed.
The Stoics tried to distinguish between different types of pursuits and counted the first…
