Living the minimalist life

A Stoic guide to minimalism

We are probably the most affluent people ever to walk on this planet. We own more stuff than ever, yet studies show we are no happier than those who lived fifty years ago with much less stuff. Could the problem be the stuff we acquire, thinking it will make us happy?

How much do we need to live well anyway? Sure, it is not easy to be happy if you are penniless, thirsty, starving, have nothing to wear, and have no place to sleep. But if we have something to eat, some clothes to wear, and somewhere to sleep, how much more do we need to be happy? Not that much more, said the Stoics.

Very little is needed to make a happy life. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.67

The two Stoics who were very vocal about this—Seneca and Musonius Rufus—were themselves affluent. Maybe it is easier to see that excess wealth and stuff don’t bring you happiness when you experience it first-hand. Musonius Rufus, the teacher of Epictetus, was the son of a Roman eques (the equivalent of a knight), a property-based class. Seneca was the wealthiest private citizen of his time—he would have been a billionaire by today’s standards.

Seneca, shipwrecked while travelling abroad, discovered the beauty of simple living:

The mattress lies on the ground, and I upon the mattress. There are two rugs—one to spread beneath us and one to cover us. Nothing could have been subtracted from our lunch; it took less than an hour to prepare, and we were never without dried figs, and if I have bread, I use figs as a relish; if not, I regard figs as a substitute for bread. Hence they bring me a New Year feast every day. - Seneca, Moral Letters, 87

He goes on to say,

The journey showed me this: how much we possess that is unreal; and how easily we can make up our minds to do away with things which after we do not feel. - Seneca, Moral Letters, 87

But, if you are looking for specific suggestions for a simple life, there is none better than Musonius Rufus. Here are some of his suggestions to simplify our life and make it better.

1. Choose inexpensive and easy-to-get food

One should choose inexpensive food over expensive food and food that is easily available over food that is difficult to get. - Musonius Rufus, Lecture 18

The purpose of food is to nourish your body and keep it healthy. Seasonal foods are fresh and, because they are abundant, cheap. Prefer commonly available foods. They are as healthy as exotic and expensive foods.

Expensive and difficult-to-get foods are likely non-seasonal foods and may come to us from halfway across the world. They were probably harvested before their time and kept looking fresh artificially. It is best to stick with simple, inexpensive, and widely available foods.

2. Choose food fit for a human being

What is suitable for us is food from things produced by the earth. - Musonius Rufus, Lecture 18

Grains and other plants can nourish a human being. So can food from domestic animals we don’t slaughter. The most suitable foods, though, are the ones we can eat without cooking: seasonal fruits, some vegetables, milk, cheese, and honey. They are very easy to get. Even those foods that need cooking—such as grains and some vegetables—are good for us. All these are proper food for a human being.

(Musonius Rufus also said we should prefer a vegetarian diet because meat “is too heavy and slows down mental activity.”)

3. Choose clothing that protects your body

You should protect your body in a modest way, not in an expensive, excessive way. You should use clothing and shoes in the same way as one would use armour: to protect the body, not to show off. - Musonius Rufus, Lecture 19

We should wear clean, simple clothes. They should protect our bodies without being ostentatious. We should not choose clothing that overprotects us because it will weaken our bodies. If your body is not exposed to the elements, it will become weaker. Covering the body should make it better and stronger, not weaker and worse. Your clothing should protect you but not make it weaker.

4. Choose functional furnishings

We can eat as comfortably from a wooden table as from a silver one. We can drink from a ceramic cup and quench our thirst as well as we can from a golden cup. Wine poured into a ceramic cup does not develop a tainted taste and, therefore, has a sweeter fragrance than wine poured into gold or silver cups. - Musonius Rufus, Lecture 19

We should prefer functional furnishings over ostentatious ones. In many cases, standard furnishings are as good as, or better than, fancy furnishings which are expensive and difficult to maintain. A simple bed is no worse than a silver or ivory bed. A simple white bed cover is as good as a purple or crimson bed cover. A cup of tea is the same whether you drink from a ceramic cup or an expensive china one. Why make your life more complicated by going after expensive things when they don’t add anything meaningful to your life?

Generally speaking, we can correctly judge what is good and bad in furnishings based on three criteria: how we get them, how we use them, and how we protect them. Get the easier things, use them for their intended purpose, and protect them with minimal fuss.

Why do people seek out expensive things?

Foolish people eagerly go after things that only seem good, just as insane people think black is white. So, foolishness is next to insanity. - Musonius Rufus, Lecture 19

Why do people seek out rare and expensive things rather than inexpensive and readily available things? It’s because things that are really good and readily available are not easily recognized. Foolish people eagerly go after things that only seem good, just as insane people think black is white. So, foolishness is next to insanity.

Guidelines for choosing

The suggestions above will get us started. However, we should be able to apply this in any area of our lives. To make this easier, Musonius Rufus offers some guidelines:

1. Prefer things that are fit for purpose. When we buy a house, we buy it to protect ourselves from the elements. When we buy food, we buy it to keep our bodies healthy. So, simplicity means using things that are fit for purpose and avoiding everything else.

2. Prefer things that are easier to get. Things that are hard to get, inconvenient to use, and difficult to protect are inferior. Things that are easy to get, a pleasure to use, and easy to protect are superior.

3. Prefer things that are easier to maintain. Easier to maintain means long-lasting, easier to clean, and easier to keep. So, when buying anything, consider how it looks and how easy it is to maintain.

4. Prefer inexpensive things. Inexpensive things are usually widely available, so they can be picked up, even when you are travelling. They don’t attract thieves, and if they are lost or stolen, you can easily replace them.

5. Avoid luxury items. Luxury items are expensive, difficult to maintain, and difficult to replace. While everyday items serve us, luxury items demand that we serve them.

We tend to buy things because we believe the expensive and exotic items we own tell others that we are wealthy. But real wealth is not having too many things but lies in having only a few wants.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. -Epictetus, Enchiridion, 44

Stoic simplicity is reducing your wants to a minimum while having everything you naturally need.

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