Why I'm a Pathological Thief (and you should be too)

Author

Jamil Vanheyningen
August 25, 2024

I’m a thief.

It’s true. And what’s worse is that I steal most from the people I love.

But it’s not my fault — history’s greatest men and women were all thieves, so why shouldn’t I be?

Some of the things I steal include:

  • Stories

  • Mannerisms

  • Character traits

Is this all a bit corny? Probably, but it’s true!

No one is original. We are all amalgamations of the people around us and the content we consume, whether we realize it or not.

Artists have figured this out better than anyone else, and they lean into it wholeheartedly.

It’s why the book Steal Like an Artist has sold nearly a million copies!

But this kind of theft shouldn’t just be for artists — everyone benefits from stealing!

Marcus Aurelius, the great philosopher-king, realized this 2,000 years ago.

In his classic Meditations, he begins with a chapter titled “Debts and Lessons”. In this chapter, he lists all the people that are important to him. Under each name, he shows gratitude for each person and states specific things he’s grateful for in each of them.

“MY GRANDFATHER VERUS… Character and self-control”

“MY FATHER… Integrity and manliness.”

“MY MOTHER… Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability to not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the simple way she lived — not in the least like the rich.”

Later in Meditations, Marcus explains the thought process behind this exercise:

“When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one’s energy, that one’s modesty, another’s generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we’re practically showered with them.”

Marcus Aurelius (Meditations)

In other words, he’s stealing from the people he’s seen up close and under pressure repeatedly.

In a world of social media, it’s easy to look up to people boasting millions of followers and money, but it’s a trap.

YOU DON’T KNOW THEM.

More importantly, you don’t know what kind of sacrifices celebrities have made to attain their success, whether they feel fulfilled or not, or even if the things they boast are real.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t model some of your behaviors from great people — I certainly do— but I am saying to choose wisely and try not to have too many distant heroes.

After all, there are plenty of “heroes” right next to you that you do know intimately. These are people who likely steal from you, and would be happy to let you steal a few things in return.