The Daily Stoic - Be Good To Each Other

Episode Date: December 11, 2018

“Man’s inhumanity to manMakes countless thousands mourn.”It is a verse from the poet Robert Burns. It was a favorite of Ulysses S. Grant as well as Winston Churchill, two men who witnessed the absolute worst of what people can do to each other. The line itself may have been borrowed from a similar observation by a 17th century German philosopher, who remarked that “more inhumanity has been done by man himself than any other of nature’s causes.” It also echoes some of the darker observations from Marcus Aurelius, who wrote most of his Meditations while at the front with the Roman army, where he regularly saw decapitated and desiccated bodies.Our ability and tendency to forget that we are all brothers and sisters is partly what allows this inhumanity to happen. Marcus said he was a citizen of the world...yet he saw huge swaths of the population of that world as barbarians simply because they were different than him. He saw the Christians, with their very different beliefs, as something dangerous and unnatural. In a way, he forgot his own teachings, even as he was writing them down on a nightly basis as reminders and cautions to himself.“The universe made rational creatures for the sake of each other, with an eye toward mutual benefit based on true value and never for harm,” he wrote.In another spot, “Human beings have been made for the sake of one another. Teach them or endure them.”And another still, “Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe. For in a sense, all things are mutually woven together and therefore have an affinity for each other—for one thing follows after another according to their tension of movement, their sympathetic stirrings, and the unity of all substance.”The Stoic concept of sympatheia, that we are all connected and unified and made for one another, should never be far from our minds (in fact, you can carry a reminder of it in your pocket if you like). We should be humane to each other because we are all human, all part of the same larger body. We spring from the same soil and will each return to it alike one day. When we forget this, it not only hurts other people—makes countless millions mourn—but it hurts us as well.Be good to each other today!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. Or each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. Be good to each other. Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands more. It's a verse from the poet Robert Burns. It was a favorite of

Ulysses S. Grant, as well as Winston Churchill, two men who witnessed the absolute worst of what people can do to each other. The line itself may have been borrowed from a similar observation by a 17th century German philosopher who remarked that more inhumanity has been done by man itself than any other of nature's causes. It also echoes some of the darker observations from Marcus Relius, who wrote most of his meditations while at the front with the Roman army, where he regularly saw decapitated and desecrated bodies. Our ability and tendency to forget that we are all brothers and sisters is partly what allows this inhumanity to happen. Marcus said he was a citizen down on a nightly basis, as reminders and cautions to himself.

The universe made rational creatures for the sake of each other, with an eye toward neutral benefit based on true value, and never for harm, he wrote. In another spot, human beings have been made for the sake of one another, teach them or endure them. And another still meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe. For, in a sense, all things are mutually woven together and therefore have affinity for each other. For one thing follows after another

according to their tension, movement, their sympathetic stirrings, and the unity of all substance. The stoic concept of simpothia that we are all connected and unified and made for one another should never be far from our minds. In fact, you can carry a reminder of this in your pocket, just go to dailystilic.com slash store. We should all be humane to each other because we are all human, all part of the same larger body. We spring from the same soil and we'll each return to it alike one day. When we forget this, it not only hurts other people, makes countless millions more, but it hurts us as well. So be good to each other today. Be good to each other always. And again, if you want to check out our

Sympathéacoin, you can do that. Just go to dailystowic.com slash store. It's beautiful. It's got the blue marble photo of the earth from the distance of space. It's got that stowag word on it. And then on the back, it's got a quote from Marcus Reilius that I think best encapsulates this idea of sympathy that we were made for each other that we should do works for the common good that we should help each other that good characters what matters in this sort of bigger picture and bigger system I carry one with me everywhere I go be sure to check it out go to dailystoic.com slash store.

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