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February 21st

WISH NOT, WANT NOT

“Remember that it’s not only the desire for wealth and position that

debases and subjugates us, but also the desire for peace, leisure,

travel, and learning. It doesn’t matter what the external thing is,

the value we place on it subjugates us to another... where our

heart is set, there our impediment lies.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.4.1–2; 15

urely, Epictetus isn’t saying that peace, leisure, travel, and learning are
bad, is he? Thankfully, no. But ceaseless, ardent desire—if not bad in
and of itself—is fraught with potential complications. What we desire
makes us vulnerable. Whether it’s an opportunity to travel the world or to
be the president or for five minutes of peace and quiet, when we pine for
something, when we hope against hope, we set ourselves up for
disappointment. Because fate can always intervene and then we’ll likely
lose our self-control in response.
As Diogenes, the famous Cynic, once said, “It is the privilege of the
gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.” To want nothing
makes one invincible—because nothing lies outside your control. This
doesn’t just go for not wanting the easy-to-criticize things like wealth or
fame—the kinds of folly that we see illustrated in some of our most classic
plays and fables. That green light that Gatsby strove for can represent
seemingly good things too, like love or a noble cause. But it can wreck
someone all the same.
When it comes to your goals and the things you strive for, ask yourself:
Am I in control of them or they in control of me?