November 29th
Pragmatic And Principled
"Wherever a person can live, there one can also live well; life is also in the demands of court, there too one can live well."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.16
William Lee Miller, in his unique "ethical biography' of Abraham Lincoln, makes an important point about this famous president: our reverence for the man makes a point to pretend he wasn't a politician. We focus on his humble beginnings, his self-education, his beautiful speeches. But man downplay his job, which was politics. Doing so misses what was so truly impressive about him: Lincoln was all the things he was compassionate, deliberate, fair, open-minded, and purposeful -
while being a politician. He was what many admire while working in a profession most believe to be filled exclusively with the opposite type of person.
Principles and pragmatism are not at odds. Whether you work in the snake pits of Washington, D.C., live among the materialism of Wall Street, or grew up in a close-minded small town, you can live
well.
