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The End Does Not Justify The Means
If you don’t believe me, believe Seneca
I’ve recently started despising the common phrase:
The end justifies the means.
It’s because this statement is focused on the final destination instead of the journey one takes to arrive there.
I’m not here to preach that life is all about the journey. While I do believe that to be true, you’ve heard it a thousand times already.
Instead, I’m here to tell you why the only thing that matters is who you become along the way.
Seneca’s sage advice
In Letters from a Stoic, Seneca says:
“Where you arrive does not matter so much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there.”
Who you become is everything.
What good is there in arriving at your dream life if you’ve become a terrible person along the way?
All of the riches, attention, and power in the world cannot make up for a flawed character.
This is why the end does not justify the means.
The means is your story, your human experience, the reason you are here.
