\u201cThe unrestricted person, who has in hand what they will in all events, is free. But anyone who can be restricted, coerced, or pushed into something against what they will is a slave.\u201d
\n\u2014EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.128b\u2013129a
\nTake a look at some of the most powerful, rich, and famous people in the world. Ignore the trappings of their success and what they\u2019re able to buy. Look instead at what they\u2019re forced to trade in return\u2014look at what success has cost them.
\nMostly? Freedom. Their work demands they wear a suit. Their success depends on attending certain parties, kissing up to people they don\u2019t like. It will require\u2014inevitably\u2014realizing they are unable to say what they actually think. Worse, it demands that they become a different type of person or do bad things.
\nSure, it might pay well\u2014but they haven\u2019t truly examined the transaction. As Seneca put it, \u201cSlavery resides under marble and gold.\u201d Too many successful people are prisoners in jails of their own making. Is that what you want? Is that what you\u2019re working hard toward? Let\u2019s hope not.
\nRyan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman. \u201cThe Daily Stoic.\u201d
\nMatthew 6:19-21
\n19 <\/b>Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
\n20 <\/b>But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
\n21 <\/b>For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe unrestricted person, who has in hand what they will in all events, is free. But anyone who can be restricted, coerced, or pushed into something against what they will is a slave.\u201d \u2014EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.128b\u2013129a Take a look at some of the most powerful, rich, and famous people in the world. Ignore the trappings …<\/p>\n