It's ugly out there. We don't have to be ugly.
People who lie. People who cheat. People who steal. Marcus Aurelius knew this well. He wrote:
“
The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly.
MARCUS AURELIUS
But it's important to understand that he didn't use this as an excuse. And most importantly, he didn't join them. As he says a few lines later, “No one can implicate me in ugliness.”
Marcus talks about not becoming like your enemies. People are the way they are. They will always be this way. We don't control that. We do control who we are. We control whether we let them drag us down, and whether we become like them.
It's ugly out there, but we don't have to be ugly. We can be kind. We can be honest. We can be decent. We can be good. We have to be.
TRY THIS TODAY
Pick the most difficult person you'll deal with today. Decide in advance one way you'll be decent to them, whatever they do.
Much of what I've learned about Stoicism comes from Ryan Holiday. Find more of his writing at dailystoic.com and ryanholiday.net.
While I have edited much of this content, there are some cases where I have taken Ryan Holiday's words directly. I've included them because I think they are powerful and will be helpful for you. They are also helpful for me, and I've put them here so I can learn and understand more myself.
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