All That Matters Is How We Respond

It was the great Athenian leader, Pericles, who said that there was nothing wrong with poverty. It could be caused by so many things—a business failure, the sudden loss of a family’s breadwinner, theft, even just plain old back luck. Like the Stoics, he knew that Fortune could swoop in, and, in the blink of an eye, undo years of hard work and careful planning. But Pericles would not have said, as religious leaders and populist demagogues have tried to argue for thousands of years, that there was anything special or holy about poverty. While it wasn’t necessarily someone’s fault they were poor, and so they shouldn’t be judged for it, Pericles said, there was “real shame...in not taking steps to escape it.” This too matches with the Stoic attitude, both about poverty and any fate Fortune might throw at us. Stuff is going to happen. We are going to experience setbacks. Some of us are going to experience major setbacks--in terms of where we are born, what our parents were like, how other people see members of our race or gender--and none of that is fair or says anything about who we are as people. How could it? We didn’t have anything to do with it happening. But how we respond to those situations--be it poverty or disability or a bad upbringing--hell, that we respond at all, well, that says everything about who we are. Are there big systemic problems too? That will require coordination and political action? Absolutely. But in the meantime, we can start taking our individual steps right now, right this morning, big or small. See 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. All that matters is how we respond. It was the great Athenian leader Pericles who said that there was nothing wrong with poverty. It could be caused by so many things: a business failure, the sudden loss, a family's breadwinner, theft, even just plain old bad luck. Like the Stoics, he knew that fortune

• 0:49Ryan Holiday?

  could swoop in and in the blink of an eye undo years of hard work and careful planning. But Pericles would not have said, as religious leaders and populist demagogues have tried to argue for thousands of years since, that there was anything special or holy about poverty. "While it wasn't necessarily someone's fault that they were poor, and so they shouldn't be judged for it," Pericles said, "there was, quote, 'real shame' in not taking steps to escape it." This too matches with the Stoic attitude, both about poverty and any fate fortune might throw at us. Stuff is going to happen. We are going to experience setbacks.

• 1:34Ryan Holiday?

  Some of us are going to experience major setbacks in terms of where we were born, what our parents were like, how other people see members of our race or gender, and none of that is fair or says anything about who we are as people. How could it? We didn't have anything to do with it happening. But how we respond to those situations, be it poverty or disability or bad upbringing, how we act as individuals, what we do in our own life, how we respond to it, is what says everything about who we are. And we can take those steps right now, right this morning, big or small.

• 2:19Ryan Holiday?

  If you like the podcast that we do here and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoic.com/email.