Oh, you’ve read the works of Heidegger? You finished all of Infinite Jest? You made it through all of Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning, all of Faulkner’s lesser works, Finnegan’s Wake and Ulysses?
You must be pretty proud of yourself.
Epictetus once spoke with a student who was pretty proud of themselves for the same reason. They had managed to make their way through a particularly dense work by the Stoic philosopher Chryssipus. They expected Epictetus to be proud. Instead he looked at them and said, “You know, if Chryssipus was a better writer, you’d have less to brag about.”
This is an important Stoic expression for two reasons. One, it reminds us that the Stoics valued clear, straightforward writing. It’s not impressive to use big words or complicated sentences that go over the reader’s heads. In fact, it’s a failure. But two, it’s a reminder to us as readers: There’s also nothing impressive about grunting our way through this bad writing. Life is short. We can quit bad books. We can spend our time and money on writers who respect their audience, who know how to communicate effectively.
To the Stoics, it wasn’t that we read. It’s what we read. We should seek out books that make a difference in our lives…not ones that win prizes. What matters is what we think of the books, not what other people think. What’s impressive is what we get out of them, not how they look on our shelves or that they might impress certain types of company.
Read widely. Read aggressively. But don’t be a glutton for punishment.