“Won’t you be walking in your predecessors’ footsteps? I surely will use the older path, but if I find a shorter and smoother way, I’ll blaze a trail there. The ones who pioneered these paths aren’t our masters, but our guides. Truth stands open to everyone, it hasn’t been monopolized.”
SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 33.11
The quote for today in The Daily Stoic book is easy to understand, thankfully.
The wisdom of the past is great guidance for life, but it’s just that — guidance. It’s not a system of hard and fast rules. It was meant to be improved and iterated upon.
Surely there are universal truths that stand the test of time. But what were originally considered progressive ideas at some point in the past eventually and inevitably fade into old ideas that need updating. And that’s not wrong. Don’t be afraid to update them! Take old paths, but blaze new trails.
This is how thought moves forward. This is how philosophy evolves. Not by clinging obsessively to antiquated ideas and dogmas — that’s stagnation. But rather, by bravely accepting your own and others’ new ideas — that’s growth.
And as you blaze those new trails, remember to consider new wisdom from all sources, because there’s no monopoly on truth.
