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March 27th

PAY WHAT THINGS ARE WORTH

“Diogenes of Sinope said we sell things of great value for things of

very little, and vice versa.”

—DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF THE EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS, 6.2.35b

ou can buy a Plume Blanche diamond-encrusted sofa for close to two
hundred thousand dollars. It’s also possible to hire one person to kill
another person for five hundred dollars. Remember that next time you hear
someone ramble on about how the market decides what things are worth.
The market might be rational... but the people who comprise it are not.
Diogenes, who founded the Cynic school, emphasized the true worth
(axia) of things, a theme that persisted in Stoicism and was strongly
reflected in both Epictetus and Marcus. It’s easy to lose track. When the
people around you dump a fortune into trinkets they can’t take with them
when they die, it might seem like a good investment for you to make too.
But of course it isn’t. The good things in life cost what they cost. The
unnecessary things are not worth it at any price. The key is being aware of
the difference.