Why Statues Matter

Nobody cared more about statues than the Greeks and the Romans. In fact, the only reason we know what many of the Stoics looked like is because they were preserved in marble by sculptors many thousands of years ago. The Stoics knew that statues were important. Aristocreon, a nephew of Chrysippus, put up a statue of his uncle—to honor his memory and his role in the founding of Stoicism. The grandfather of Cato was once asked why there was no statue of him. His answer: I’d rather people ask why there isn’t a statue of me than why there is. The idea for the Greeks and Romans was to put up these statues so that we might look up and be inspired by the deeds and the principles of the great men (and women) who came before us. But today, what statues do we put up? Last year, Michigan became the home of a new statue of Robocop. Most people can agree that statues of Confederate generals (see: traitors) are not appropriate to maintain with public funds. That’s as far as we’re able to go though. We’re not building new statues, that’s for sure. We can hardly agree on who we admire enough to capture in stone or bronze. That’s really sad and really scary. Because each generation needs guidance. We need to be called to honor the greatness of our past (and in the case of some monuments, reminded of the failures and mistakes civilization has made). We need to see—in tangible form—the principles that we as a people hold dear, that we are aspiring to mirror in our own lives. A nation—an era—is judged by the monuments it erects just as a home is judged by the art that hangs on its walls. So that’s the question for the world and for you as an individual today: What statues are you putting up? And are you living by the example they stand for? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com. Why statues matter? Nobody cared more about statues than the Greeks and the Romans. In fact, the only reason we know what many of the Stoics looked like is because they were preserved in marble by sculptors many thousands of years ago. The Stoics knew that statues were important.

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  A nephew of Chrysippus put up a statue of his uncle, one of the early Stoics, to honor his memory and his role in the founding of Stoicism. The grandfather of Cato was once asked why there was no statue of him. His answer: "I'd rather people ask why there isn't a statue than why there is." The idea for the Greeks and Romans was to put up these statues so that we might look up and be inspired by the deeds and the principles of the great men and women who came before us. But today, what statues do we put up? Last year, Michigan became the home of a new statue of Robocop. Most people can agree

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  that the statues of Confederate generals, or traders, are not appropriate to maintain with public funds, but that's as far as we're willing to go. We're not building new statues, that's for sure. We can hardly agree on who we admire enough to capture in stone or bronze. That's really sad and scary, because each generation needs guidance. We need to be called to honor the greatness of our past, and in the case of some monuments, reminded of failures and mistakes and tragedies that define us. We need to see in tangible form the principles that we as a people hold dear, that we are aspiring to mirror in our own

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  lives. A nation, an era, is judged by the monuments it erects, just as a home is judged by the art that hangs on its walls. So that's the question for the world and for you as an individual today. What statues are you putting up? Are you living by the example they stand for? Please check out the Daily Stoic store, where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these Stoic lessons to the next level. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.