The Only Part Of Your Reputation To Worry About

The Stoics were towering figures of their own time. Marcus Aurelius was cheered in the streets. Cato was widely admired. Musonius Rufus was called the Roman Socrates. Their reputations preceded them, as it should with anyone who takes their commitment to the virtues of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom seriously. But how do we square these reputations, which the men obviously cultivated and worked hard not to betray, with the idea that a Stoic isn’t supposed to care about what others think?✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

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

• 0:03Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday 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, dailystoic.com.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  The only part of your reputation to worry about. The Stoics were towering figures of their own time. Marcus Aurelius was cheered in the streets. Cato was widely admired. Musonius Rufus was called the Roman Socrates. Their reputations preceded them, as it should with anyone who takes their commitment to the virtues of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom seriously. But how do we square these reputations, which these men obviously cultivated and worked hard not to betray, with the idea that the Stoic isn't supposed to care about what others think? How can one simultaneously try to protect their good name and be indifferent to what their name means to others? After all, isn't being respected by others being well-known for our skills and talents and character? Isn't that something that's outside of our control?

• 1:15Ryan Holiday?

  Being respected by people, being well-known for our skills and talents and character? The paradox is perfectly solved, fittingly, in a play about Cato. Written by Joseph Addison in 1712, Cato was immensely popular in its own time. In fact, it was constantly quoted by the founding fathers in pivotal moments during the American Revolution. The line says, "We can't guarantee success. We can do something better. We can deserve it." And the same goes for reputations. Nothing we do can ensure that we get the reputation we deserve, but we can deserve a good one. We don't know whether people will recognize our honesty, or hard work, or grace under pressure, so we shouldn't worry about it. We should spend a lot of time trying to be honest, trying to be dedicated, trying to be poised.

• 2:00Ryan Holiday?

  Whether a scientist's groundbreaking ideas will be understood is not up to them. The time they spend in the laboratory, the time they spend trying to communicate their ideas, that is up to them. No one can guarantee you a reputation on par with Cato, or Marcus, or Musonius, but there's something better out there. Deserving it.