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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.