Billionaires Live by Ancient Stoic Philosophy亿万富翁的人生之道：古代斯多葛哲学

萨姆·巴里

Staying humble and knowing that we don’t know everything are big success factors.保持謙虚，知道我们并非无所不知是成功的重要因素。

It all started around 304 BC when Zeno， a wealthy merchant and founder of Stoicism， sailed from the Mediterranean port of Piraeus， known for its notoriously stormy weather. Zeno was shipwrecked and lost everything， but when he finally arrived in Athens， he famously discovered philosophy.

Today the philosophy of Stoicism still lives on and is used by the rich， wealthy and powerful， though having wealth doesn’t mean that we need to drive expensive cars or wear expensive clothes. As investor and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss once put it， Stoic philosophy is “a simple and immensely practical set of rules for better results with less effort.”

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway， Warren Buffett is known for his frugality1. According to CNBC2， he never pays more than $3.17 for breakfast and still lives in the house he bought for $31，500 in 1958 （approximately $260，000 today）.

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad is the eighth-richest person in the world with a personal worth an estimated $58.7 billion， according to Bloomberg. For two decades， Kamprad drove a 1993 Volvo 240 GL. He only gave it up when his daughter persuaded him that driving it was dangerous.

The founder and CEO of Facebook， Mark Zuckerberg， drives a black Acura3 TSX， a car valued around $30，000. He says he prefers the choice because it’s “safe， comfortable and not ostentatious4.”

Why would Buffett， Kamprad and Zuckerberg spend very little money？ Instead of focusing on externals， these billionaires focus on the things that really matter. Let’s dive in to find out what truly matters to these billionaires.

Live below your means.

Lebron James has a net worth of around $440 million dollars but instead of paying for expensive subscriptions， he uses free WIFI and free music streaming services like Pandora. NBA player Trey Burke of the New York Knicks earns a million dollars a year but has allotted himself a $5，000 a month budget to live on.

Like Buffett who has been content in the same house for 60 years， James and Burke have cultivated spending habits below their means so that they can focus on what really matters to them. It just so happens that5 they are wealthy. Having clarity about what they value in the world gives them total freedom from their possessions. If they lost it all they would still have what matters to them most—their happiness.

Many business moguls6 and billionaires strategically use this strategy.

Amazon founder， Jeff Bezos built a culture around frugality and constraint. Why？ “I think frugality drives innovation， just like other constraints do，” he said. “One of the only ways to get out of a tight box7 is to invent your way out.”

Billionaire Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban knows about the power of frugality. “The more you stress over bills， the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. The cheaper you can live， the greater your options.”

Marcus Aurelius famously sold all of his palace furnishings to pay down the debt weighing down him and his people. Remember， the more we want and desire， the less we can focus on what truly matters to us —joy， freedom and living a good life.

Failure is the stepping stone to success.

Billionaires like Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett don’t claim to know everything， which is why they are voracious8 readers and learners. Staying humble and knowing that we don’t know everything are big success factors.

Epictetus （as well as modern college teachers） was annoyed by students who wanted to learn， yet thought they knew everything. You see this with many entrepreneurs today. As Socrates said， “All I know is that I know nothing.”

The billionaire investor George Soros says that “Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition， there is no shame in being wrong， only in failing to correct our mistakes.” And Einstein famously said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Doing the same thing over and over again is easy. It doesn’t take a new thought or any more effort， which is why most people do it.

But you can do more and be better. Learn from your failure.

“If you are defeated once and tell yourself you will overcome， but carry on as before， know in the end you’ll be so ill and weakened that eventually you won’t even notice your mistake and will begin to rationalize9 your behavior.”

Controlling your limited time.

Buffett instinctively knows that “you’ve gotta keep control of your time， and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life. The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” When you say no you’re protecting your time and energy so you can focus on the important things in life.

Seneca says that while we might be good at protecting our physical property， we are far too lax10 about enforcing our mental boundaries. “Property can be regained— there is quite a bit of it out there and some of it still untouched by man. But time？ Time is our most irreplaceable asset， and we cannot buy more of it.”

Today， when people try to steal your time and attention， remind yourself of what Ingvar Kamprad， the founder of IKEA， once observed： “You can do so much in 10 minutes’ time. Ten minutes， once gone， are gone for good. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible to meaningless activity.”

In the end， actively applying these three seemingly simple principles to our lives can transform us to new levels of health， wealth and happiness. The stoics call it Eudaimonia—The Good Life.

这一切始于公元前304年左右，当时富有的商人、斯多葛主义的创始人芝诺从地中海港口比雷埃夫斯出航，该港口以暴风雨天气而闻名。芝诺遭遇海难，失去了一切，但当他最终抵达雅典时，悟出了这种人生之道，并因此闻名。

如今，斯多葛哲学依然盛行并被权贵奉为圭臬，尽管拥有财富并不意味着我们需要名车代步或华服披身。正如投资者和企业家蒂姆·费里斯曾经所说，斯多葛哲学是“一套简单且十分实用的规则：以较小的努力获得更好的结果。”

作为伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的首席执行官，沃伦·巴菲特以节俭闻名。据美国全国广播公司财经频道报道，他早餐的费用从来没有超过3.17美元，并且仍然住在他1958年以3.15万美元购买的房子里（今天大约价值26万美元）。

据彭博社报道，宜家创始人英格瓦·坎普拉德是全球第八大富豪，个人身家约为587亿美元。20年来，坎普拉德一直驾驶着1993生产的沃尔沃240 GL。直到他的女儿说驾驶它不安全，他才换了一辆新车。

脸书创始人兼首席执行官马克·扎克伯格的汽车是一款价值约3万美元的黑色讴歌TSX。他说他更喜欢这款，因为它“安全，舒适，低调”。

为什么巴菲特、坎普拉德和扎克伯格花钱很少？这些亿万富翁不关注外部因素，而是专注于真正重要的事情。让我们深入了解对这些亿万富翁而言真正重要的事情是什么。

支出小于收入。

勒布朗·詹姆斯的净资产约为4.4亿美元，但他没有支付昂贵的订阅费用，而是使用免费WIFI和Pandora等免费音乐流媒体服务。纽约尼克斯队的NBA球员特雷·伯克每年赚100万美元，但他为自己分配的每月生活预算为5000美元。

就像巴菲特在同一所房子里住了60年一样，詹姆斯和伯克已经养成了支出低于收入的消费习惯，这样就可以专注于真正重要的事情。他们不过是碰巧有钱罢了。清楚地了解自己在世界上的珍视之物，使他们彻底不为财富羁绊。如果失去了所有财富，他们仍然拥有对自己而言最为重要的事情——幸福。

许多商业巨头和亿万富翁适宜地使用这种策略。

亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯围绕节俭和克制创建了一种文化。为什么？ “我认为节俭推动创新，就像其他克制行为一样，”他说，“摆脱困境的唯一方法就是找到自己的出路。”

亿万富翁、鲨鱼坦克投资人马克·库班了解节俭的力量。“账单压力越大，专注于目标就越困难。生活成本越低，选择就越多。”

众所周知，马可·奥勒留出售了宫殿内所有的家具，以偿还压在他和他的子民身上的债务。谨记：欲望越大、期望越多，就越无法专注于对我们真正重要的事情——快乐、自由和美好生活。

失败是成功的垫脚石。

像马克·库班和沃伦·巴菲特这样的亿万富翁从不会说自己无所不知，这就是他们如饥似渴地阅读和学习的原因。保持谦虚，知道我们并非无所不知是成功的重要因素。

爱比克泰德（以及现代大学教师）对渴望学习然而自认为无所不知的学生很是恼火。如今很多企业家都有这个问题。正如苏格拉底所说：“我只知道我一无所知。”

亿万富翁、投资者乔治·索罗斯说：“一旦意识到不能完全理解就是人类的真实状态，那么犯错便不是一件让人羞耻的事情，不能改正错误才令人羞愧。”爱因斯坦有句名言：“精神错乱的定义是，一遍又一遍地做同一事情而期待不同结果。”一遍又一遍地做同一事情很容易。它无须新思考或更多努力，这就是大多数人这样做的原因。

但你可以做得更多，做得更好，并从失败中学习。

“如果你失败一次，而后告诉自己会重整旗鼓，但却继续像以前一样，最终你知道自己会变得越来越糟，甚至无视自己的错误，并开始为你的行为找借口。”

掌控有限的时间。

巴菲特天生就知道“你必须掌控自己的时间，如果不去拒绝，你就无法掌控时间。不能让他人左右你的生活安排。成功人士和真正成功人士之间的区别在于，真正成功的人几乎对所有事情都说不。”拒绝（别人）时，你在保护自己的时间和精力，这样就可以专注于生命中重要的事情。

塞涅卡说，虽然我们可能善于保护自己的实物财产，但在树立精神边界方面过于疏忽。“财产可以重新获得——世间有相当多的财富，其中一部分仍未被人类触及。但是时间？时间是最无可替代的资产，我们无法购买更多时间。”

如今，当他人试图占用你的时间和精力时，用宜家创始人英格瓦·坎普拉德的话提醒自己：“10分钟可以完成很多工作。10分钟，一旦消失，就永远失去了。将生命以10分钟为单位进行划分，尽可能少地将时间浪费在无意义的活动上。”

最后，将这3个看似简单的原则积极地应用到生活中，可以使我們达到健康、财富和幸福新高度。斯多葛学派称它为幸福主义——美好人生。