“Wisdom is a right understanding, a faculty of discerning good from evil, what is to be chosen and what rejected.” - Seneca, On the Happy Life

Stoicism teaches that wisdom is not an abstract idea, but a way of living well in the world.

Wisdom as our response to every challenge

For me, Stoic wisdom has become less about big insights or awakenings and more about learning how to respond to everyday challenges. The practice takes shape in the small choices: whether I allow worry to dominate my mind, whether I dwell on what is beyond my control, or whether I approach others with fairness and clarity. Each of these choices requires attention, discipline, and a willingness to use the tools that philosophy places in my hands.

Wisdom and the pursuit of justice

Wisdom also requires that I examine how I choose to act in pursuit of justice. As a person working in government—where speeches are frequent and audiences are eager to hear good things—it could be tempting to treat justice as a performance. It could easily become a space where I assume a posture that shows others my concern without requiring me to take on the harder work of acting justly.

True justice, however, demands that I align my actions with fairness, not merely my sound bites, meeting notes, or appearances. The Stoics understood that wisdom and justice are intertwined: without wisdom, justice is blind sentiment; without justice, wisdom is empty calculation. With this in mind, I need to be willing to occasionally disappoint others in what I say about the work I do. I need to be able to act wisely and say the just and honest thing—even if it is not what people might want to hear.

While social movements might rely on rhetoric without action, or even blame and shame to motivate change, those approaches cannot build any kind of lasting transformation. So even in the midst of difficult times, wisdom teaches me that justice must be constructive. That means offering tools, education, and community—not empty promises or blame. Justice paired with wisdom allows me to move beyond performance and toward genuine change.

In my daily life, when engaging with others—whether through work or other relationships—this also means striving to listen carefully, to act with integrity, and to avoid rash judgment or empty gestures. Wisdom calls me to remember that every person carries their own burdens and expectations, and that justice asks for expressions of wisdom as an act of compassion. And while this can be difficult at times, the rewards are worth the effort.

Wisdom and the practice of joy

The practice of wisdom is also, for me, the practice of joy. Living in accordance with nature, as the Stoics urge, means accepting what unfolds without bitterness and working in harmony with the order of things. This often means recognizing that my power lies not in reshaping the world to my demands, but in reshaping my responses to it. To live wisely is to live lightly: not free of responsibility, but free of needless agitation.

Wisdom must be cultivated and practiced

I believe that wisdom, then, is not innate in the sense of being fully present from birth—but the capacity is certainly there. It must be cultivated, practiced, and tested against the challenges of daily life over the duration of our lives. I continue to work at this myself. At best, I am a student of wisdom—still learning, still stumbling, still returning to the discipline each day. But even as a constant student, I have found Stoic wisdom to be a steady companion. It guides me away from worry toward presence, away from performance toward justice, and away from chaos toward joy.

I believe that wisdom is lived, not theorized. It is a way of walking through the world with reason, attuned to justice, and grounded in the present. Each day offers the chance to practice. Each moment is an opportunity to be guided by virtue—and to discover that in practicing it, life becomes not only more bearable, but more beautiful.

“…if virtue promises good fortune and tranquillity and happiness, certainly also the progress toward virtue is progress toward each of these things. For it is always true that to whatever point the perfecting of anything leads us, progress is an approach toward this point.” - Epictetus, Discourses, 1.4.1

Andi Sciacca serves as the Chief Academic Officer and as the Director of Accreditation & Assessment for the European Graduate School. She is also the Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator for the FEED MKE Program for the City of Milwaukee.

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