The Daily Stoic - Is This What You Spend Your Life For?
Episode Date: February 5, 2021“Early on in Address Unknown, a haunting novel about the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s, two German entrepreneurs write to each other with much affection about their business succe...ss. One line, written from the entrepreneur Max to his friend Martin, stops us cold in the way that truth, rendered in fiction, occasionally can.”Ryan discusses the cost of the things and experiences that we chase after, and why we must spend our time wisely, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow Daily Stoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wundery's podcast business wars.
And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target.
The new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward.
Listen to business wars on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.
on music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stood Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom
designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom every day life.
Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoward.com.
Is this what you spend your life for?
Early on in address unknown, a haunting novel about the rise of fascism in Germany in the
1930s, two German entrepreneurs write each other with much affection about their business
success.
One line written from one character to the other via letter
stops us cold in the way that truth rendered infection occasionally can.
Is it for this we spend our lives, he says, to scheme for money and then to strut it publicly?
Boom.
Isn't it? Isn't that what so many of us are doing?
Seneca reminds us that success and wealth are often one at the cost of life.
He speaks with great pity of the Romans, who slave away, managing their slaves,
who accumulate great fortunes, which they then spend in ordinent amounts of time trying to find ways to display and fritter about.
Marcus Aurelius himself, a possessor of great wealth and power would write to himself, especially when he felt self-important, are you afraid of death because
you won't be able to do this anymore? Remember that every dollar you earn costs you time
and energy, every minute you spend puffing yourself up or crafting an impressive profile
to cut for others is time you can't get back. Think of the richest people who ever lived. In the end, what did their money get them? Who lives in their estates now? Does
anyone even care about the art they bought or the monuments they commissioned for themselves?
No. These things come at the cost of life at the expense of our most precious resource.
So spend it wisely.
And look, obviously that's the message of the idea of
momentum or you could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and
think. I carry that momentum or even down into my pocket, as I've said before, which
you can check out at store Stoic early and add free on Amazon Music,
download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery
Plus in Apple Podcasts.
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