The Daily Stoic - Remember: You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But You Can’t Make It Drink

Episode Date: December 20, 2019

There is a fascinating statue of Seneca and Nero done by the Spanish sculptor Eduardo Barrón in 1904. Even though it depicts a scene centuries after the fact, it manages to capture the timeless elements of the two men’s characters. Seneca, well into old age, sits with his legs crossed, draped in a beautiful toga but otherwise unadorned. Spread across his lap and onto the simple bench is a document he's written. Maybe it's a speech. Maybe it's a law being debated by the Senate. Maybe it's the text of his essay and warning to Nero, Of Clemency. His fingers point to a spot in the text. His body language is open. He is trying to teach.  He is wisdom embodied, hoping to instill in his young charge the seriousness of the tasks before him. Nero, sitting across from Seneca, is nearly the opposite of his advisor in every way. He is hooded, sitting in a throne-like chair. A fine blanket rests behind him. He's wearing jewelry. His expression is sullen—both fists are clenched and one rests on his temple as if he can't bring himself to pay attention. He is looking down at the ground. His feet are tucked behind him, crossed at the ankles. He knows he should be listening, but he isn't. He'd rather be anywhere else. Soon enough, he is thinking, I won’t have to endure these lectures. Then I’ll be able to do whatever I want. Seneca can clearly see this body language, and yet he proceeds. He proceeded for many years, in fact. Why? Because he hoped some of it—any of it—would get through. Because he knew the stakes were high. Because he knew his job was to try, and he was going to die trying (indeed, he did) to teach Nero to be good. In the end, Seneca made only minimal impact on Nero, a man who was clearly deranged and had little interest in being a good emperor. Seneca lost much of his reputation in the process of working for Nero (criticism which has merit). But another way to see this exchange—and perhaps that’s what Eduardo Barron intended—is that it’s an illustration of a Stoic lesson: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. You control what you do and say, not whether people listen. All a Stoic can do is show up and do our work. And we have to keep showing up, even if we are rebuffed, scorned, or ignored. Because the work is important.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. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living 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. Remember, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. There's a fascinating statue of Sennaka and Nero done by the Spanish sculptor Eduardo Barron in 1904. Even though it depicts a scene many centuries after the fact, it manages to capture the timeless elements of the two men's

characters. Sennaka well into old age sits with his legs crossed draped in a beautiful toga but otherwise unadorned. Spread across his lap and onto the simple bench is a document he's written. Maybe it's a speech, maybe it's a law being debated by the Senate, maybe it's the text of his essay and warning to Nero on clemency.

His fingers point to a spot in the text. His body language is open. He's trying to teach. He is wisdom embodied, hoping to instill in his young charge the seriousness of the tasks before him. Nero seated across from Seneca is nearly the opposite of his advisor in every way. He is hooded, sitting in a thrown-life chair, a fine blanket rest behind him. He's wearing jewelry. His expression is so-and both fists are clenched and one rests on his temple as if he can't bring himself

to pay attention. He is looking down at the ground. His feet are tucked behind him crossed at the ankles. He knows he should be listening, but he isn't. He'd rather be anywhere else. Soon enough, he is thinking, I won't have to endure these lectures anymore, then I'll be able to do whatever I want. Santa could clearly see this language, and yet he proceeds. He's proceeded for many years, in fact. Why? Because he's hoping that some of it, any of it, will get through. Because he knows the stakes are high, because he knew that his job was to try and he was going to die trying, indeed he did, to teach Nero to be good. In the end,

Seneca made only minimal impact on Nero, a man who was so clearly deranged and had little interest in being a good emperor. Seneca lost much of his reputation in the process of working for Nero, criticism which of course has merit. But another way to see this exchange and perhaps that's what the sculpture intends, is that it's an illustration of a stoic lesson. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. You control what you do and say, not whether people listen. All a stoic can do a show up and do our work. We have to keep showing up, even if we are rebuffed, scorned or ignored,

because the work is important. Hey everyone, I just wanted to invite you to do the 21-day, new year, new you, daily Stoke Challenge that we're starting. We know, as Epic Tita said, that the real delight comes from focusing on our own improvement day to day on doing the work, on doing the training we know to be the person we want to be.

Well, you can do that with our new daily stoke, new year, new U Challenge. It started very soon, so check it out, dailystoke.com slash challenge. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts. Hey there listeners, while we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think you'll like. plus in Apple podcasts. with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduke Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Codopaxi, as well as entrepreneurs working to solve some of the biggest problems of our time, like developing technology that pulls energy from the ground to heat in cool

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