The Daily Stoic - You Have The Power To Straighten Your Back

Episode Date: November 26, 2019

One of the most inspiring themes in the history of Stoicism is how the Stoics responded to tyrants and to adversity. There was Cato, refusing to roll over and just let Caesar destroy the Republic to which Cato had dedicated his life. There was Thrasea defying Nero, “Nero can kill me, but he cannot harm me.” There was Agrippinus shrugging off exile, refusing to kowtow to anyone who wanted him to bow to the regime. There was Marcus Aurelius, who stayed in Rome even as it was ravaged by the plague, who served with great dedication even when his health failed in later years. There was James Stockdale in that prison camp in Vietnam, unbreakable, defiant, dignified despite all his powerlessness.  This is what Stoicism is about. It’s that iron backbone. That strength of conviction. The sense of duty and purpose that makes it impossible to do anything but stand up, that will never accept less than it’s due. People with that power end up changing the world, regardless of how entrenched or overwhelming their enemies are. Martin Luther King Jr. captured it perfectly. “Whenever men and women straighten their backs up,” he said, “they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent.” That’s the question for you today and for all of us fighting for something, trying to make change. Are we going to straighten up and stand up? Or are we going to bend and give in? Are we going to let them ride us or are we going to refuse to roll over?We have the power. Let’s use it. 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. You have the power to straighten your back. One of the most interesting themes in the history of stoicism is just how the stoics responded to tyrants into adversity. There was Cato refusing to just roll over and let Caesar destroy the Republic to which Cato had dedicated his life. There was Thrasia, defying Nero. Nero can kill me, but he cannot harm me, he said.

There was Agrippinus shrugging off exile, refusing to kneel to anyone who wanted him to. There was Marcus Aurelius, who stayed in Rome even as it was ravaged by the plague, who served with great dedication even when his health failed in later years. There was James Stockdale in that prison camp in Vietnam, unbreakable, defiant, dignified despite all his powerlessness. This is what stoicism is about. It's that iron backbone, that strength of conviction, that sense of duty and purpose that makes it impossible to do anything, but stand up that will never accept less than it's due.

People with that power end up changing the world regardless of how entrenched or overwhelming their enemies are. Martin Luther King Jr. captured it perfectly when he said, whenever men and women straighten their backs up, he said, they are going somewhere because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent. That's the question for you today and for all of us fighting for something trying to make change. Are we going to straighten up and stand up, or are we going to bend and give in? Are we going to let them and stand up or are we going to bend and give in? Are we going to let them ride us or are we going to refuse to roll over? We have the power.

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