If you don’t know, know this today: Truth has always been expensive. It costs comfort, it costs popularity, and it almost always costs approval. Yet every generation produces those rare souls who are willing to pay the price, not because they seek conflict or applause, but because their conscience will NOT let them live any other way.
Marcus Aurelius, writing in his Meditations, reminds himself: “If it’s not right, don’t do it; if it’s not true, don’t say it.” Simple words! Hard practice! Because truth is not just about accuracy; it is also very very much about moral courage. And courage, when it is most needed, is most times rarely applauded.
The Weight of Truth
The Stoics knew what we often forget: That truth, in itself, has a burden. When you speak it, you invite resistance; when you live it, you threaten the comfortable illusions that others depend on. To say what is right in a world that rewards silence is to carry a cross that few are willing to bear.
Cato the Younger, the Roman senator who stood against Julius Caesar’s corruption, did not just speak truth; he embodied it. And it cost him everything: his position, his allies, even his life, but he died free in conscience, which is more than can be said for those who sold their souls for safety.
And that is the essence of truth: It frees you, even when it isolates you. It may lose you friends, but it restores your integrity; it may invite pain, but it builds peace, the kind that can not be faked or bought. And this reminds of an article I wrote:
You see we talk about death as though it is the ultimate evil; the one fate to avoid at all costs, and so we fight it with medicine, with wealth, with denial. We idolize longevity and fear the unknown on the other side, but take a moment with me to ask: What if our obsession with staying alive is blinding us to something far more dangerous?
The Stoic philosopher Seneca didn’t see death as the worst thing that could happen; what disturbed him more was the things people were willing to do in order to avoid dying. In his writings, and as communicated in the podcast that inspired this reflection, Seneca points out how humans driven by fear and self-interest often trade their deepest values for a few more breaths: We lie, cheat, steal. We betray loved ones. We abandon what we know is right and sometimes, as the podcast states, we even sacrifice the well-being of future generations just to preserve our present comforts.
And what is even worse is that we call this survival, but what kind of life is it, really, honestly, what kind of life is it, when it is bought with compromise? A life that costs us our character, our conscience, and our clarity is a life already half-lost. As Seneca put it, better to be in a coma on a ventilator than to be awake and aware of the disgraceful things you have done simply to stay alive and that is precisely what I want us to talk about: That there are things worse than dying and if we are not careful, we might be living them now, especially because we fear death.
Continue Reading: Things Worse Than Dying
Why People Avoid The Truth
The hard reality is that most people avoid the truth because it is inconvenient; it forces reflection; it exposes hypocrisy, and it demands change. Psychologically, we resist it because the ego craves preservation, not transformation. We build narratives that protect our identity, even if those narratives are false. And that is why truth-tellers are rarely popular; they act as mirrors, and most of us prefer fog; we want affirmation, not awakening; we want to feel right, not be right.
As Seneca observed, “Truth is the only thing that stands the test of time.” But standing with truth many times means you will have to stand against the crowd, and this is very much precisely why whistleblowers are shunned before they are celebrated, prophets are stoned before they are quoted, and reformers are crucified before their truth echoes through time.
The Duty of Truth Over Approval
Marcus Aurelius, a man with absolute power, still reminded himself daily: “Do what’s right. The rest doesn’t matter.” His words echo deeply through both moral and philosophical thought; that the measure of life is not how well we are liked, but how faithfully we fulfill our duty.
In the Christian reflection, this is the very path Christ walked. He spoke the truth not for applause, but for redemption, and it cost Him approval, reputation, and ultimately His life. Yet that sacrifice became the greatest act of love the world has ever known.
So we are reminded: Truth and love often walk hand in hand through the valley of rejection. The question is not whether others will understand you, but whether you will have the courage to stay true when they don’t.
The Daily Stoic Podcasthas come be one of my favorite podcast to listen to and just recently I listened to on of the episode that has got me thinking ever since I did, and you have already seen from the title, the topic is “Don’t Sell Out”
The episode started with a question Epictetus asked in one of his discourses: “Your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word, your freedom. For what would you sell these things?”
Like I have come to love asking my readers, take a moment to think about it, you, yes you! Take a moment, take it personal because I’m asking you, so again to you my friend: “Your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word, your freedom. For what would you sell these things?”
And just as the Ryan Holiday went further to state that; the answer, too often, is “for pennies on the dollar.” We trade our word for a small edge in business. We mortgage our self-respect for fancy friends or fleeting fame. We auction our freedom for jobs that drain our souls or relationships that chip away at our dignity.
Continue Reading: Don’t Sell Out, Don’t Be Cheap
Embodying The Truth Today
In a world of noise and opinions, where truth is bent for convenience and diluted by fear, choosing duty over approval is a radical act of faith. It is refusing to flatter when honesty is required; it is holding to conviction when compromise is easier, and it is choosing to be right with God and your conscience, even if it means being wrong with everyone else.
Because my dearest reader, at the end of the day, truth does not need a crowd to stand; it only needs a conscience willing to kneel before it.
Read Also: What is Objective Truth: Is Truth Even Objective or Subjective?
Read Also: Seeking And Facing The Truth Above All Else
Read Also: Be Strict With Yourself, Forgiving With Others: The Lesson of Marcus Aurelius
Conclusion
The cost of truth will always be high; it asks for humility, courage, and endurance, but the reward is higher still: Peace of soul, clarity of purpose, and the quiet strength of knowing you did what was right, even when no one applauded.
Approval fades, but integrity endures, and Christ reminds us that: The duty to live truthfully is not optional. It is the very essence of a life worth living.
