- The Stoic Ledger
- Posts
- January 24
January 24
Day 24/365: Epictetus on non-sequiturs
Logan
January 24, 2025
Welcome to The Stoic Ledger, a daily money meditation from one of the Stoic sages.
24/365: Epictetus on non-sequiturs
“The following are non-sequiturs: ‘I am richer, therefore superior to you’; or I am a better speaker, therefore a better person, than you? These statements, on the other hand, are cogent: ‘I am richer than you, therefore my wealth is superior to yours’; and ‘I am a better speaker, therefore my diction is better than yours.’ But you are neither wealth nor diction.” – Epictetus
Epictetus shines light on a simple yet profound truth: our possessions don’t make us better than anyone else; we are not our possessions.
He is saying that it does not logically follow that more wealth means a superior stance over someone with less; that there’s no logical merit in a claim that you’re better than someone because you possess more of something. It simply means you have more of it—that’s the only truth you may draw out.
We can count wealth. We can judge the ability to speak or write. But we cannot make a judgement as to the quality of person from these things.
Epictetus reminds us that we are separate from our possessions; that virtue comes from within.
Reply