This is from “The Daily Stoic”.
“Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington profited from slavery, but both knew it was wrong. Yet at the end of their lives, it was Washington who freed his slaves, not Jefferson, who had written far more eloquently about human equality as well as the eternal shame of slavery.
Why was that? It’s because Washington, far more disciplined and Stoic, could afford to manumit (release and free) his slaves. Early on he hadn’t been able to afford to run Mt. Vernon without them. But he was secure enough at the end to do what he obviously should have done and what his conscience knew he should have done years earlier. Jefferson, the Epicurean, was more than $100,000 in debt when he died. He ransacked Europe for antiques and finery. He had expanded Monticello multiple times, sparing no expense. He loved wine and the best foods. Now, he could not remotely afford redemption. He was scared of leaving nothing to his children. He could not afford to do the right thing.
Discipline, as a virtue, is related to the other virtues. By controlling our urges or wants or lifestyle, we’re actually in a better position to be courageous or just. Financial security, and independence, these things free us up in ways that other more irresponsible or conflicted people cannot be.
When one looks at the range of Stoic responses to the reign of Nero, this is played out. The more austere and disciplined Stoics–Agrippinus and Thrasea–did far better than the high-living Seneca (you can read about this story in Lives of the Stoics). But a far better example is found in John Adams, who like the other founders had read all the Stoics, and lived a far more frugal and laborious life than either the manor-born Washington or Jefferson. His self-discipline intersected with his ethics–he made an honest living as a lawyer and then a diplomat and then finally in elected office. He never owned another human being. He never exploited anyone. He didn’t crave fancy things or grand houses. And when he died on the same day as Jefferson, his estate was the exact inverse of his old friend: a $100,000 bequest to his family.
Discipline makes you better. In life and in death.”