It’s a Double Standard, but So What?

"The Stoics were hard on themselves. No question about it. They knew what was right and they insisted on holding themselves to that. They were absolutists. Even if it meant death. Even if it meant avoidable suffering. Even if it meant passing on acceptable pleasures."But as Ryan explains, the Stoics judged themselves by a double standard—the results of which he talks about on today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoiSee 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.

• 0:06Ryan 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. It's a double standard, but so what? The Stoics were hard on themselves, no question about it. They knew what was right, and they insisted on holding themselves to that. They were absolutists, even if it meant death, even if it meant avoidable suffering, even if it meant passing on acceptable pleasures. But what's interesting is that,

• 0:49Ryan Holiday?

  as strict as this standard was, they applied it narrowly. Because while Marcus Aurelius was tough on himself, incorruptible, exhaustive, ceaselessly dedicated as emperor, he was said to be incredibly forgiving of his staff. Consider those first words in Meditations, where he describes the people he's going to meet that day: surly, jealous, dishonest, arrogant, petty. Can you imagine him ever allowing himself to be those things? Not a chance. But there he was, reminding himself not to judge those folks too harshly. So it's not quite fair to say that the Stoics were absolutists. In fact, they were absolutists only to themselves. With everyone else, they were relativists. Marcus Aurelius measured

• 1:32Ryan Holiday?

  his staff and the strangers he encountered by whether they were trying their best. For them, he looked for excuses and silver linings. With himself, totally different story. He drew clear lines, "flat-ass rules," as General James Mattis has put it, and was hard on himself when he fell short. "Tolerant with others," he said, "strict with yourself." Is that a double standard? You bet. But there's no other way to live. Or rather, no other way worth living. 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.