Can A Stoic be Materialistic?

How to Own Possessions Without Them Owning You

Hello Friends,

This article is for my premium subscribers on Substack. However, a similarly themed podcast episode will be released in the future for those who are not premium subscribers. I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday (which is just as good as a Monday or a Friday to a Stoic :) ).

Stay Strong & Stoic,

Brandon

“For God’s sake, stop honouring externals, quit turning yourself into the tool of mere matter, or of people who can supply you or deny you those material things.”

Marcus Aurelius

The Western culture is ripe with materialism. We crave new trendy clothes, the latest iPhone, the newest car, the biggest house - the list is never-ending. The Stoics call all of these things “externals”, meaning they do not define who you are as a person.

This can be understood with the example of the rich person who has everything anyone could ever hope for and who is very arrogant and rude. Even though they have overflowing piles of material possessions (of externals), their character is far from optimal (that isn’t to say that all rich people are terrible people).