Why You Should Read Biographies

<p>“I don’t have time to read a book that long,” you might say when someone recommends one of those epic volumes from the <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/dpheh0hz/aHR0cHM6Ly9nZW5pLnVzL09BcDBuVQ=='>Ron Chernows</a> and <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/e5uph7h9/aHR0cHM6Ly9nZW5pLnVzL3RKcVZuMjA='>Robert Caros</a> and <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/78i7h8hv/aHR0cHM6Ly9nZW5pLnVzL2l4SlQ='>Stacy Schiffs</a> of the world. And Alban Butler’s <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/opfkhqh3/aHR0cHM6Ly9nZW5pLnVzLzZtRWdxUWE='><em>The Lives of the Saints</em></a><em>?</em> Or <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/zvtghnh9/aHR0cHM6Ly9nZW5pLnVzL0JXbkZM'>Plutarch</a>? Who has time to read that dusty old collection about <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/pnceh9hk/aHR0cHM6Ly9kYWlseXN0b2ljLmNvbS9zdHVkeS10aGUtbGl2ZXMtb2YtdGhlLWdyZWF0cy8='>the lives of the ancient Greeks and Romans</a>?</p><p>The answer is that <em>you do.</em> Or rather, that you <em>should</em> <em>make time</em> to study the greats of history.</p><p><a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/xksph6h8/aHR0cHM6Ly9kYWlseXN0b2ljLmNvbS9tZWRpdGF0aW9ucy1tYXJjdXMtYXVyZWxpdXMvP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9Y29udmVydGtpdCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWNvbnZlcnRraXQmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXJlYWQtYmlvZ3JhcGhpZXM='>In Book Four of <em>Meditations</em></a><em>,</em> Marcus writes::</p><p>“And then you might see what the life of a good man is like—someone content with what nature assigns him, and satisfied with being just and kind himself.”</p><p>What’s the “if” that came before the “then” he is referring to? We can only guess. That is the entirety of his writing on this point. But not unlike a Jeopardy answer with multiple possible questions, this one fits:</p><p>What is it to study history and biographies?</p><p>Marcus and <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/60aeh8hv/aHR0cHM6Ly9kYWlseXN0b2ljLmNvbS9zZW5lY2EvP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9Y29udmVydGtpdCZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWNvbnZlcnRraXQmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXJlYWQtYmlvZ