The Daily Stoic - Pity Is More Appropriate Than Anger
Episode Date: November 23, 2022At the beginning of Meditations, Marcus Aurelius laments the kind of people he’s going to meet each day—the bitter, the stupid, the jealous, the petty. Throughout the book he mentions oth...er undesirables—the shameless, the evil, the greedy, the ignorant, the manipulative. Today, we could add still others— racists, polluters, rage profiteers, trolls and on and on.These people are frustrating. They make the world less safe, less productive, less collaborative. They poison the common good. They destroy any semblance of common understanding or commonality, period.But instead of getting angry at them, try pity first.✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailCheck out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom
designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom every day life.
Each one of these passages is based on the 2, 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women.
For more, you can visit us dailystow.com.
Pity is more appropriate than anger.
At the beginning of meditations, Marcus Aurelius laments the kind of people he's going to meet
each day, the bitter, the st stupid, the jealous, the petty.
Throughout the book, he mentions other undesirables,
the shameless, the evil, the greedy, the ignorant,
the manipulative.
And today we could add still others,
anti-vaxxers racist, polluters, rage profiteers,
reality television shows, trolls, and on and on.
These people are frustrating.
They make the world less safe, less productive,
less collaborative.
They poison the common good.
They destroy any semblance of common understanding
or commonality period.
But instead of being angry at them, try pity first.
As we've said before, these people aren't actually
having a good time.
Nor in most cases are they avoiding the consequences
of their own actions.
In some cases, they suffer the most.
You know this is true, even if it doesn't always seem so obvious.
After all, you could be like them if you wanted, yet you choose not to be.
Why?
Because it's a shameful way to live.
Because it's not a good way to live.
Virtue isn't just some arbitrary, purposeless standard
voisted upon us from on high. No, according to the Stoics, Virtue in all its forms is essential
to happiness, to security, to tranquility, and to meaning. These people who frustrate us
are cut off from that. They have been led astray, or they have chosen to go astray. And
that's something to pity.
And look, the Stoics have some of the smartest, most applicable lessons about getting your anger contained
because they struggled with it,
as you struggle with it, as I struggle with it.
And if anger is something you specifically struggle with,
it doesn't mean you have an anger problem,
but if anger is a problem for you,
I think you like tame your temper at the 11-day Stoic guy
to controlling anger. It's 11 days of challenges, exercises, tame your temper at the 11-day Stoic Guide to controlling anger.
It's 11 days of challenges, exercises, video lessons,
and bonus tools based on Stoic philosophy that will help you
deal with anger in a constructive manner.
And you can learn more at dailystoic.com slash anger.
You can get this challenge, and all our challenges totally
for free if you sign up for dailystoiclife.com,
which I hope you do.
And anyways, try not to be too triggered or pissed off
by frustrating difficult people.
Because again, pity is more appropriate than anger.
So much for listening.
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We appreciate it and I'll see you next episode.
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