Is Ego A Virtue?

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

Education, 694393, Daily Stoic, Society & Culture, Stoic, Stoicism, Self-improvement, Business, Stoic Philosophy, Philosophy, Ryan Holiday

4.6 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2019

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2017, Good Morning Britain anchor Susanna Reid presented her co-anchor (actually she calls him her TV husband), Piers Morgan, a gift. It was a copy of the book Ego is the Enemy. She thought he could use the book because Piers was “irritating, annoying, divisive, over-opinionated,” and “ready to start a fight in an empty room.” She meant it both as a compliment and as good natured (and true) feedback because anyone who has ever watched Piers Morgan on TV knows he has a big ego.

Piers replied that he had no disagreement with her assessment but that he did resent the idea that ego was anything but a virtue. “Ego is your friend,” he said. “If you don’t believe in yourself folks, nobody else will.”

Is he right? Is Ego a virtue? It almost feels petty, by way of an answer, to point out all the times Piers’s ego has gotten him in trouble. One notable time is, when interviewing an activist protesting Donald Trump’s forced separation of immigrants, he repeatedly tried to speak over her, and asked why she would protest against this when Obama had also deported immigrants. Instead of allowing her to explain he, egotistically, assumed he had her all figured out (indeed he called Obama her “hero”). It set the activist up for the perfect comeback: “I’m a communist, you idiot.”

Believing you’re right is not the same as having your facts straight. As many of us embarrassingly learn.

The mistake Piers (and a lot of people make) is that they conflate confidence and ego. Confidence is something you earn, by putting in the work, doing the research, by taking risks, and being effective when it counts. Remember Seneca’s line about how a person who has never gone through adversity is to be pitied, because they have no idea what they are capable of? What he was basically saying is that on the other side of difficulty is a gift—confidence. Simply believing that you’re capable of things you’ve never actually done or experienced, simply believing that you’re special and important without any evidence? Folks, that’s not your friend. That’s delusion!

So let’s put this misconception to bed. Ego is the enemy. Confidence is the key. Evidence is better than belief, facts better than dreams. When you figure that out, you’ll be better at whatever you do in life, and probably piss fewer people off!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:13.6	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 the good life.
0:23.3	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.
0:36.3	Is ego a virtue? In 2017, Good Morning, Britain anchor Susanna Reed presented her co-anchor, actually she calls him her TB husband, Pierce Morgan, with a gift.
0:48.3	It was a copy of the book, Ego is the enemy. She thought he could use the book because Pierce was irritating, annoying, divisive, and over-opinionated and ready to start a fight in an empty room.
1:00.3	She meant it as both a compliment and as a good nature and true feedback because anyone who has ever watched Pierce Morgan on TV knows that he has a big ego.
1:09.3	Pierce replied that he had no disagreement with her assessment, but that he did resent the idea that Ego was anything but a virtue.
1:16.3	Ego is your friend, he said. If you don't believe in yourself, folks, nobody else will. Is he right? Is Ego a virtue and almost feels petty by way of an answer to point out all the things Pierce Ego has gotten him in trouble? And it's true, it has a lot.
1:32.3	And this is a mistake that Pierce was making and it's a common one. He is conflating confidence and ego. Confidence is something you earn by putting in the work, by taking risks, by being effective when it counts.
1:44.3	Remember, Sena Kaslian about how a person who has never gone through adversity is to be pitted because they have no idea what they are capable of.
1:52.3	What he was basically saying is that on the other side of difficulty is gift, confidence. Simply believing that you are capable of things you've never actually done or experienced.
2:02.3	Simply believing that you're special and important without any evidence. Folks, that's not your friend, that's delusion.
2:09.3	So let's put this misconception to bed. Ego is the enemy, confidence is the key. Evidence is better than belief, facts, better than dreams. When you figure that out, it will be better at whatever you do in life and probably piss fewer people off.
2:27.3	Hey, just a heads up, we are running another daily stoic challenge. This one is a 10 day spring forward challenge. Spring is here. I hope you get ready. I hope you seize this opportunity. Our 10 day challenges filled with all sorts of actionable stuff.
2:44.3	Within 15,000 words of original content, custom video messages from me, challenges every day that will help you simplify your life, gain control of your time, face your fears, expand your point of view, ban and harmful habits. Do more with this existence you've been getting.
3:00.3	Marcus Aurelius's line was you could be good today instead you choose tomorrow will choose today. Sign up for the 10 day spring forward daily stoic challenge at daily stoic.com slash challenge.
3:14.3	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily stoic early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today or you can listen early and add free with Wondering Plus in Apple podcasts.

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