You Become Like Your Friends

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

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

4.6 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2018

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Nature gave us friendship,” Cicero wrote, “as an aid to virtue, not as a companion to vice.”

What he meant was that friends are supposed to make you better, not make you worse. Friends are supposed to reinforce your good habits, not encourage your bad ones.

It was Marcus Aurelius who said that we take the shape of the thoughts we have most often. He would probably agree to an extension of that logic: We are formed into the shape of the role we play in our circle of friends. We become like the people we spend the most time with.

Do the people you spend your time with make you better by association or worse? Do you make the people around you better as well? The question for you today, then, is whether you and your friends pass that test.

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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.
0:37.3	You become like your friends. Nature gave us friendship, Cicero wrote, as an aid to virtue, not as a companion, device.
0:48.3	What he meant was that your friends are supposed to make you better, not make you worse. Friends are supposed to reinforce your good habits, not encourage your bad ones.
0:59.3	It was Marcus Aurelius who said that we take shape of the thoughts we have most often. He would probably agree to an extension of that logic.
1:08.3	We are formed into the shape of the role we play in our circle of friends. We become like the people we spend the most time with.
1:17.3	Do the people you spend your time with make you better by association or worse? Do you make the people around you better as well?
1:25.3	The question for you today then is whether you and your friends pass that test.
1:33.3	If you're liking this podcast, we would love for you to subscribe. Please leave us a review on iTunes or any of your favorite podcast listening apps. It really helps and tell a friend.
1:47.3	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.

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