Seneca tells the story of a pretentious but lazy Roman. He wanted to be able to impress his educated friends, so instead of reading for hundreds of hours or enrolling at a school and doing the lessons, he purchased a set of well-read slaves. One knew Homer by heart. Another knew Hesiod. He had a slave for Sappho, another for Pindar, and one for Simonides—one for each of the ancient Greek poets that an upper-class Roman was supposed to know inside and out.
He thought he was getting away with it, having these men feed him lines at dinner parties, on hand whenever he needed to look something up, until a friend suggested that he take wrestling lessons. "But I am weak and frail," the man replied. "Don't say that," his friend teased. "Consider how many perfectly healthy slaves you have!"
Who hasn't been tempted to find a shortcut? To look for tricks and cheat codes? Whether it's outsourcing your reading to AI summaries, listening to podcasts on 2x speed, or falling for the 'hacks' or formulas of some guru who promises you total and complete mastery—we've all tried at one point or another to find a way to bypass the incredible amount of effort wisdom requires.
But alas, from Seneca's time to ours, wisdom has only ever been earned the hard way—slowly, painfully, patiently. "No man is able to borrow or buy a sound mind," Seneca said. Wisdom cannot be delegated. It cannot be bought. There is no app that will make you wise. No technology that can walk the path for you. No guru or graduate school program who can give it to you in a dose or a degree.
The path to wisdom is a lifelong journey, one that even the wisest among us never complete. Consider Marcus Aurelius who, as an aging emperor, was spotted leaving the palace. "Where are you going?" he was asked. "To see Sextus the philosopher," he replied, "to learn what I do not yet know." How remarkable, it was said, that this wise powerful man was still taking up his tablets and going to school like a kid well into his old age.
Each day offers chances to question, learn, and grow. Some lessons come easily, others through painful experience. This is what makes wisdom precious—it must be earned over time through consistent effort and reflection. Even with natural gifts or prestigious education, wisdom isn't guaranteed. As Seneca wrote, "much toil remains," and to grow wiser, we must lavish all our waking hours and all our efforts toward this goal.
In short, wisdom takes work. Lots of it. For a long time.
That's why Ryan Holiday's new book Wisdom Takes Work, the fourth and final book in the Stoic Virtues Series, is not so much a book of wisdom but about the methods and the effort and the commitment required to get it.
Like the other virtues, wisdom emerges from consistently making good decisions over time. It's learning from mentors, studying history, and immersing yourself in books. It's stepping outside your comfort zone and engaging in deep conversations. It's acknowledging mistakes, challenging preconceptions, and embracing humility—always fighting to remain a student, no matter how old or accomplished we are.
You can preorder Wisdom Takes Work here now. We've also put together some exciting bonuses to thank you for preordering, including a signed and numbered page from the original manuscript, two full bonus chapters, and an invitation to a dinner with Ryan in Bastrop, Texas.
No comments:
Post a Comment