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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.