I

August  23rd

IT’S    IN  YOUR    SELF-INTEREST

“Therefore, explain why a   wise    person  shouldn’t   get drunk—not   with    words,  but by  the facts   of

its ugliness    and offensiveness.  It’s    most    easy    to  prove   that    so-called   pleasures,  when    they    go

beyond  proper  measure,    are but punishments.”

—SENECA,    MORAL   LETTERS,    83.27

s there a less effective technique to persuading people to do something than haranguing them? Is there
anything that turns people off more than abstract notions? That’s why the Stoics don’t say, “Stop doing
this, it’s a sin.” Instead they say, “Don’t do this because it will make you miserable.” They don’t say,
“Pleasure isn’t pleasurable.” They say, “Endless pleasure becomes its own form of punishment.” Their
methods of persuasion hew the line in The 48 Laws of Power: “Appeal to People’s Self-Interest Never to
Their Mercy or Gratitude.”
If you find yourself trying to persuade someone to change or do something differently, remember what
an effective lever self-interest is. It’s not that this or that is bad, it’s that it is in their best interest to do it a
different way. And show them—don’t moralize.
And what happens when you apply this way of thinking to your own behavior?