You Should Always Find Something to Learn

We all have our way of doing things. We have what we were directly taught. We have the values that our culture gives us. We have the lessons we picked up by experience. It’s understandable then, when we see someone else doing things totally differently, that we might assume they’re doing it the wrong way. That’s not how that’s supposed to go, we think to ourselves. This, the Stoics would tell us, is a recipe for folly. “It’s impossible to begin to learn that which you think you already know,” Epictetus said. Cato the Elder, the great-grandfather of Cato the Younger, coined a maxim in his famous essay, On Agriculture, which explained best practices for farming in the Roman era. “Be careful,” he said about the management practices of your neighbors, “not to rashly refuse to learn from others.” This lesson was picked up on and rephrased by hundreds of writers since, including Ben Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanack. Only an idiot turns up their nose at how other people do things. Sure, nine times out of ten, you’re right and they’re wrong. But that one time? That’s the game changer. It’s worth always remembering that other people have different perspectives, different experiences, and, in some cases, better schooling than you. What if they discovered a shortcut? What if they learned, painfully—through trial and error—something that could save you from suffering? A Stoic cannot allow their logic and their habits to become rigid or their mind to harden into condescension. We have to be open. We cannot be rash or dismissive. There is always something to learn—from everyone and in any situation. Even if it is only a reminder of why you do the things you do the way you do them. But hopefully you seek out disconfirmation even more than confirmation. Learn from others, always. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:28Ryan Holiday?

  You should always find something to learn. We all have our way of doing things. We have what we're directly taught. We have the values that our culture gives us. We have the lessons we picked up by experience. It's understandable, then, that when we see someone else doing things totally differently, we might assume that they're doing it wrong. We say, "That's not how things are supposed to go." This, the Stoics would tell us, is a recipe for folly. "It's impossible to learn that which you think you already know," Epictetus said. Cato the Elder, the great-grandfather of Cato the Younger, coined a maxim in his famous essay on agriculture, which explained best practices for farming in the Roman

• 1:09Ryan Holiday?

  era. "Be careful," he said about the management practices of your neighbors. "Be careful," he said, "not to rashly refuse to learn from others." This lesson was picked up on and rephrased by hundreds of writers since, including Ben Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack. Only an idiot turns up their nose at how other people do things. Sure, nine times out of 10, you're right and they're wrong, but that one time, it's a game changer. It's worth always remembering that other people have different perspectives, different experiences, and in some cases, better schooling than you. What if they discovered a shortcut? What if they learned painfully through trial and error, something that could save you

• 1:51Ryan Holiday?

  from suffering? A Stoic cannot allow their logic and their habits to become rigid, or their mind to harden into condescension. We have to be open. We cannot be rash or dismissive. There is always something to learn from everyone and in any situation, even if it's only a reminder of why you do the things the way you do them. But hopefully, you seek out disconfirmation even more than confirmation. Learn from others, always.

• 2:21Ryan Holiday?

  Hey everyone. Just a reminder, The Obstacle is the Way as an ebook in the US is on sale for $1.99 for a little bit longer. Check it out. It will not be cheaper than this. Give the book as a gift if you've been on the fence about trying it out. I promise you it is worth at least $1.99. This is a book that sold hundreds of thousands of copies. It's translated in dozens and dozens of languages. It's used by professional sports teams and politicians and all sorts of awesome people. But I also know, I've heard from so many of you, that it just has made your life better. It's given you something to think about. It's given you a framework for applying Stoicism in your life. So check it out. The Obstacle is the Way ebook on sale right now for $1.99.