Stoic practices for encouragement and stripping away illusion

Executive overview

We inflate the value of things through language, and we lose ourselves to desires, status symbols, and fear because of it. Marcus Aurelius countered this by describing things in their bluntest, most literal terms — grape juice, shellfish dye, Toyota with fancier branding.

He also fought discouragement by cataloguing the virtues of people he admired, using their example as fuel.

Strip the legend from things, and they lose their power over you.

Using others' virtues as encouragement

• Marcus devoted nearly 10% of Meditations to reflecting on what he learned from influential people in his life
• In Book 6 he writes: think of the qualities of those around you — energy, modesty, generosity — and shower yourself in their virtues
• He was writing to encourage himself during trying times, not for an audience
• Surrounding yourself mentally with admired people's virtues can reinforce good character under pressure

The freedom of contempt

• Language embellishes the value of things; calling them by their literal components deflates that power
• Marcus described fine wine as "grape juice" and his imperial purple cloak as wool dyed in shellfish blood
• The practice: describe what you desire in the most unvarnished, unsympathetic language possible
• Seeing how something is made — the sausage factory view — strips its hold on you
• The goal is not to eliminate enjoyment but to turn down the "deceit" around things
• Cuts impulses of envy, lust, fear, and intimidation without dismissing the thing entirely

Applying it today

• A Lexus is a Toyota with fancier branding
• A $300 pair of Nikes likely came from a sweatshop
• A billionaire's wealth says nothing about their intelligence
• An elite degree comes from an institution with its own record of corruption and bad ideas
• The exercise works on people too: somewhere, someone is tired of the person you envy