Thread by @WhatIsStoicism

𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙔 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀👇
Cleanthes & Deschamps: The Water Carriers

Before a game between @ManUtd & @juventusfcen in 1996, Utd’s Eric Cantona sparked a row with Juve’s Didier Deschamps.

“He gets by because he gives 100% but he will never be more than a water carrier,” said Cantona.

“The water carrier” was also the nickname given to Cleanthes (born 330 BC), who literally had the job of transporting water in Athens.

Cleanthes was noted for continuing his manual labours even after becoming a well-known Stoic philosopher.

Cantona’s implication was that Deschamps lacked ability and was only capable of doing “dirty work.”

Deschamps response was simple:

“A water carrier? Yes, that’s exactly what I am. Great teams are not just created by the architect but also by bricklayers and hod carriers.”

When a king asked Cleanthes why he continued to draw water, he said:

“Is drawing water all I do? What? Do I not dig? What? Do I not water the garden? Or undertake any other labour for the love of philosophy?”

When Utd and Juve met in the @ChampionsLeague in 1996, it was Deschamps’ team who prevailed, going on to finish runners-up.

Deschamps won Europe’s top club competition twice in his career.

He also went on to win the @FIFAWorldCup with @FFF as both a player and a coach.

Cleanthes, initially derided for his workmanlike approach, slowly gained respect and admiration.

Throughout it all, he held himself to the highest standards.

He went on to become, following it’s founder Zeno, the second head of the Stoic school.

Deschamps wasn’t the gifted player that Cantona was but he was the player coaches could always rely on to work hard.

At the end of the 20th century @francefootball voted for their French Player of the Century.

Deschamps came 9th. Cantona came 10th.

Not bad for a water carrier.

Diogenes wrote the following eulogy of Cleanthes, who lived to be 100 years old:

“I praise Cleanthes, but praise Hades more,
Who could not bear to see him grown so old.
So gave him rest among the dead,
Who’d drawn such a load of water while alive.”

Not bad for a water carrier.

TLDR:

Don’t be afraid to carry water.

Hold yourself to the highest standards, no matter the task.

Hard work is the great leveller.