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August 19th

CORRALLING THE UNNECESSARY

“It is said that if you would have peace of mind, busy yourself with

little. But wouldn’t a better saying be do what you must and as

required of a rational being created for public life? For this brings

not only the peace of mind of doing few things, but the greater

peace of doing them well. Since the vast majority of our words

and actions are unnecessary, corralling them will create an

abundance of leisure and tranquility. As a result, we shouldn’t

forget at each moment to ask, is this one of the unnecessary

things? But we must corral not only unnecessary actions but

unnecessary thoughts, too, so needless acts don’t tag along after

them.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.24

he Stoics were not monks. They didn’t retreat to the sanctuary of a
monastery or a temple. They were politicians, businessmen, soldiers,
artists. They practiced their philosophy amid the busyness of life—just as
you are attempting to do.
The key to accomplishing that is to ruthlessly expunge the inessential
from our lives. What vanity obligates us to do, what greed signs us up for,
what ill discipline adds to our plate, what a lack of courage prevents us
from saying no to. All of this we must cut, cut, cut.