You Don’t Have Ten Thousand Years

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 4.17

Marcus Aurelius offers a wake-up call—both poetic and piercing. He reminds us that time is not a guarantee. We often move through life as if we’re immortal, postponing purpose, withholding kindness, waiting for the “right time” to act. But death, he says, hangs over you. That’s not a morbid thought—it’s a motivating one.

The real Stoic insight here lies in the second half: “be good.” Not successful. Not perfect. Not celebrated. Just—good. Do what you can, while you can. This is a call to live deliberately, ethically, and urgently. Because the moment to do good is not tomorrow. It’s always now.

Entrepreneurs often live in the future: funding rounds, product roadmaps, exit strategies. But Marcus’s words cut through the fog of “someday.” You don’t have ten thousand years to build your vision. Act like time is precious—because it is.

This doesn’t mean rushing decisions. It means refusing to waste days in fear, indecision, or ego games. Make the hard call. Ship the imperfect version. Tell your team what you admire in them. Apologize. Innovate. Begin.

And in “be good,” Marcus sets the highest entrepreneurial standard. Build ethically. Lead with integrity. Don’t wait for scale to care about people. Right now, in this moment, you have the power to act—and to act well.

Start there. Stay there.