All You Can Do Is This | Ask DS
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures
4.5 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2023
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Life is unpredictable. Events are uncertain. What can go wrong will. Nice guys sometimes finish last, bad things happen to good people. So much is outside our control.
These realities are all well-known to a Stoic. As Seneca said, fortune behaves as she pleases. So why did they try then? Why did they work hard on stuff when it might not work out? Why did they invest and sacrifice?
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And in today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan answers questions as part of the Daily Stoic Stoicism 101 course, addressing topics which include how to manage our own expectations of other people, why it is important not to thrust your own standards onto other people, and when it is helpful and healthy to remove people from your life.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast, where each day we read a passage of ancient wisdom |
| 0:07.7 | designed to help you in your everyday life. |
| 0:10.3 | Well on Thursdays, we not only read the Daily Meditation, but we answer some questions |
| 0:14.2 | from listeners in fellow Stoics, we're trying to apply this philosophy just as you are. |
| 0:20.2 | Some of these come from my talks, some of these come from Zoom sessions that we do with |
| 0:25.6 | Daily Stoic Life members, or as part of the challenges. |
| 0:29.8 | Some of them are from interactions I have on the street when there happen to be someone |
| 0:33.5 | there recording. |
| 0:34.5 | But thank you for listening, and we hope this is of use to you. |
| 0:45.2 | All we can do is this. |
| 0:47.4 | Life is unpredictable, events are uncertain, what can go wrong will, nice guys sometimes |
| 0:52.0 | finish last, bad things happen to good people, so much is outside of our control. |
| 0:58.8 | These realities are well known to a Stoic, as Seneca said, fortune behaves as she pleases. |
| 1:04.3 | So why did they try then? |
| 1:06.0 | Why did they work hard on stuff when it might not work out? |
| 1:08.6 | Why did they invest in sacrifice? |
| 1:10.6 | Why did they form relationships and attachments, set goals or make plans? |
| 1:15.0 | Especially when success and rewards were so uncertain? |
| 1:18.4 | As to quote a line from the famous play about Cato, one that was often quoted in the uncertain |
| 1:22.8 | days of the American Revolution by Washington and Adams, we cannot ensure success, but |
| 1:28.8 | we can deserve it. |
| 1:30.7 | The former is outside of our control, the latter is not. |
... |
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