Quote: Real power

“Power isn’t having the world at your fingertips; it is having the world at your fingertips and being able to give it up!” – Tarek Saab, Gut Check

It’s a big misconception that just because we do what we want, we are “free” or “empowered.” It far more often means we are simply enslaved to our wants. It is not nearly as common to struggle with doing what we want as it is to struggle with doing what we ought. And that is very clearly because it is often much harder to do what we ought than to do what we want.

Doing what we ought takes real power. Doing what we want simply requires opportunity. Doing what we ought builds virtue. Doing what we want builds vice. And of course, having opportunity to do whatever you want and then still doing what you ought is real virtue – and real power.