Which Way To Forgiveness? | Stoic Advice For Living Longer And Happier
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures
4.5 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2024
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s a story as old as it gets. Marcus Aurelius felt it when Cassius attempted his coup. Maybe he felt it with his step brother Lucius Verus. Epictetus, waking up to find his house broken into, his shrine desecrated. Imagine the feeling of Rutilius Rufus, learning that he’d been found guilty of trumped up charges by his peers back in Rome (this story in in Lives of the Stoics).
Marcus Aurelius would say that the best revenge for these kinds of things was to not be like that, to not be like the people who had done such a thing. He’s right, but that doesn’t change that we’re still hurt. “Which way to forgiveness?” Tom Petty sings in “It’s Time To Move On.” It’d be wonderful if this was a destination we could head towards, somewhere that allows us to discharge the anger or resentment or grief we feel.
-
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Ryan remind us that health is wealth. Taking care of yourself is important. What good can you do in this world if you feel like shit all the time? Or if you lack the physical and moral strength—or in George’s case, even the basic mobility—to be of good to anyone? We are on this planet for a short amount of time. But if we practice bad habits, if we let our urges run wild, we will surely shorten that time. That’s not Stoic, that’s stupid.
✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.
📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast where each day we read a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you in your everyday life. |
| 0:11.0 | On Tuesdays we take a closer look at these stoic ideas, how we can apply them in our |
| 0:16.1 | actual lives. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy. Which way to forgiveness? It wasn't great, it was heartbreaking. They lied to us, they stole from us. They betrayed the faith and confidence we had in them. We thought better of They |
| 0:34.0 | stole from us, they betrayed the faith and confidence we had in them. We thought better of people and then people showed us who they are. |
| 0:38.0 | It's a story as old as it gets. |
| 0:40.0 | Mark Surrealis felt it when Cassius attempted his coup. |
| 0:43.0 | Maybe he felt it with his stepbrother, Lucius Ferris. |
| 0:46.1 | Epic Titus waking up to find his house broken into, his shrine desecrated. |
| 0:50.2 | Imagine the feelings of Rutilius, learning that he'd been found guilty of trumped up charges by his peers back in Rome. |
| 0:57.0 | Marcus Aurelius would say that the best revenge for these things was to not be like that, to not be like the people who had done such a thing. |
| 1:04.4 | He's right, but that doesn't change that we're still hurt. |
| 1:07.4 | Which way to forgiveness, Tom Petty's things and it's time to move on. |
| 1:11.9 | It'd be wonderful if this was a destination that we could |
| 1:15.1 | head towards somewhere that allows us to discharge the anger or resentment or grief we fill. |
| 1:20.4 | But there isn't. It's not a light switch. It's instead work that we have to do. |
| 1:25.1 | The comedian Pete Holmes, there's a great daily stoic episode with him from a while back. |
| 1:30.2 | He's talked about how whenever he thinks of his parents he tries to say to himself, I forgive them. |
| 1:34.8 | It's not a magical incantation, but it's part of the work, part of the healing. |
| 1:39.3 | We can imagine Rusticus in exile, trying not to be consumed by bitterness, trying to remember that the people |
| 1:46.2 | who did this to him were human, were flawed, were suffering their own consequences for choosing |
| 1:51.5 | to be this way. We can imagine Marcus really is trying to |
| 1:54.7 | practice clemency for his enemies. Perhaps he even read Seneca's essay on this very |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.