Look for the Smooth Handle | Balance the Books of Life Daily
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures
4.5 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 30 November 2020
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1811, a 68-year-old Thomas Jefferson sat down to try to put down some advice that he could pass along to his 12-year-old granddaughter Cornelia. His advice survives to us as “Canons of Conduct,” 12 rules for living.
Ryan discusses the importance of one of Jefferson's rules, and reads over the week's guidance from the Daily Stoic Journal, on today's Daily Stoic Podcast.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members. You can listen to the Daily Stoic podcast early and add free on Amazon music download the app today |
| 0:10.4 | Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast each day. We bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics |
| 0:17.5 | Illustrated with stories from history |
| 0:19.5 | Current events and literature to help you be better at what you do and at the beginning of the week |
| 0:24.3 | We try to do a deeper dive setting a kind of stoic intention for the week something to meditate on something to think on |
| 0:31.4 | Something to leave you with to journal about whatever it is you happen to be doing |
| 0:35.8 | So let's get into it |
| 0:39.9 | Look for the smooth handle in 1811 a 68 year old Thomas Jefferson sat down to put down some advice that he could pass along to his 12 year old |
| 0:49.8 | granddaughter Cornelia this advice survives to us as his cannons of conduct 12 rules for living |
| 0:58.0 | Did Jefferson always live up to these rules? No, certainly not for instance |
| 1:02.8 | He often spent money before he had it. He was prideful and of course |
| 1:06.4 | He was a slave owner and he quite hypocritically violated his rule to never trouble another with what you can do yourself |
| 1:13.9 | But still the rules are all easy to understand and hard to disagree with except for one rule number 10 says |
| 1:22.4 | Take things always by their smooth handle. What does that even mean? |
| 1:27.6 | Well, it's actually a sly reference to a passage from epic teedis one we have talked about many times before here |
| 1:34.9 | Every event has two handles epic teedis said one by which it can be carried and one by which it can't if your brother does you wrong |
| 1:43.2 | Don't grab it by his wrongdoing because this is the handle incapable of lifting it |
| 1:48.4 | Instead use the other that he is your brother that you were raised together and then you will have hold of the handle that carries |
| 1:55.1 | That's what Jefferson was making one of his rules of life and it's worth thinking about today |
| 1:59.9 | Don't grab things by the rough or the weak handle. Don't grab them by the easy one grab them by the smooth and sturdy handle the one that will bear |
| 2:07.8 | Wait think of the good and people think about where we are to blame think about when you have done similar wrong yourself think of it as a challenge |
| 2:15.8 | Think of it as an opportunity to help someone think about how connected we all are to each other think about this as a |
... |
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