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Moral Letters for Modern Times
On The Value of Work (Stoic Wisdom 031)
The true value of work is when it brings you not possessions, but self-possession, and knowledge of what is worth pursuing and what can be safely cast aside.
Deuteros, I see you clearly among the crowd. By your actions, you turn your potential into practice.
Keep along in this fashion, and you will be successful in the ways that matter most. You will learn self-knowledge and self-possession, and from these, you will know which things are to be valued and which are to be shunned.
Thus will you have the elements for a happy life.
Your progress is under constant threat, not least when you are in the presence of other people. They will push you and pull you, and exhort you to one course after another because that is the way of society.
The direction of travel does not matter so much as going along with the crowd, wherever it is headed. We can tolerate a foe in our midst more easily than a free thinker. The enemy’s purpose and maneuvers we understand, while the independent-minded is unpredictable and subversive.
If you do not wish to be a traitor to your own thoughts, you must remove yourself from the presence of those constantly trying to influence them.
During the 40-day period of Lent, Christians live simply and give up luxuries so as to bring themselves closer to God.
The month of Ramadan for Muslims similarly calls upon the faithful to fast from all food and drink from dawn to sunset. It is not just the body, but also the mind, that is to be sharpened by this rigor: avoiding anger, envy, and other failings.
There is wisdom here, Deuteros, but also folly. If we are put on the path to virtue by relinquishing vices and reflecting on what is truly important, why would we tread that path for but a fraction of our time? Is a man wise who is sober on Monday and mindless the rest of the week?
No, my dear Deuteros, if you want to maintain your happiness more than momentarily, you must be the permanent master of your thoughts. Having painstakingly snared a cage…
