Our Actions Echo Through Eternity

Ryan discusses how our actions have a larger impact than what lies on the surface, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/emailFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and 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.

• 0:05Ryan 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 at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:26Ryan Holiday?

  Our actions echo through eternity. In the beautiful children's book, Each Kindness, which I sell at the painted porch, by the way, check it out, I love the book. Jacqueline Woodson tells the story of a young girl named Chloe who treats a classmate in the way that we all have, sometimes still do. She teased the girl. She ignored her. She did not take the time to consider what this fellow human might have been going through. But then, one day, Chloe's teacher puts her casual cruelty into perspective by demonstrating the way that water ripples when a stone is dropped into it. "So it goes with our behavior," the teacher explains. "When we do something nice for someone, it ripples through their lives and into the world." Chloe is inspired by the teacher's lesson, but it's too late.

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  The girl she was cruel to has moved away. And now, when she throws a rock into the pond near her house, all she can think of are the lost opportunities she had to improve someone's life, to make their day brighter. Marcus Aurelius said that "justice is the source of all the other virtues." After all, who cares how courageous or disciplined or wise someone is if they treat others poorly? Conversely, think about the last time a stranger comped your coffier, got up and gave you their cedar, told you that they liked your shirt. Think of a time when someone helped you when you were new. Think about a hand that reached down when you were struggling. Seneca reminds us that each person we meet is an opportunity to practice kindness. Imagine if we took even half of those opportunities. What kind of cumulative difference

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  would that end up making? An oceanic amount. Because kindness, big and small, ripples through the world, an in to eternity. Why are these acts so powerful? Because they are a reflection of what we're all here for, the deepest level. Helping each other, being there for each other. "This is what we were born to do," the Stoics say, again and again. "We were designed for each other's sake." "What is your vocation?" Marcus Aurelius asked himself. His reply and your reminder today.

• 2:30Ryan Holiday?

  Was to be a good person. Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. Again, if you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. So check it out, dailystoic.com/email.