Closing Your Eyes Is Not An Excuse

In Richard III, Shakespeare has a scene where Brackenbury is handed orders from Richard by two men who clearly plan to murder the King’s brother. His response echos down through the ages as an example of willful and cowardly ignorance. As he replies after reading the orders:I am in this commanded to deliverThe noble duke of Clarence to your hands. I will not reason what is meant herebyBecause I will be guiltless from the meaning. This idea that we can close our eyes to the implications of something and therefore remain unstained by it is common. Shakespeare knew this. It’s the story of Seneca tutoring Nero in the arts of persuasion and strategy and then pretending that he did not know that he was putting a loaded weapon in the hands of a madman. It was the many leaders before the Second World War who read Hitler’s works but refused to take them seriously—to tell themselves they didn’t know what he would do when he had power. It’s the bosses (and investors) at Uber and Facebook who knew their respective companies had installed a win-at-all costs mentality and then pretended to be shocked when the winning came at a very high cost. It’s the story of the boards of directors and the executives at Hollywood studios and other businesses that turned a blind eye to sexual harassers or sent vulnerable women to be alone with someone they knew had abused their power in the paOprah has a great line: When people tell you who they are, you should believe them. But we often decline to do this, less out of stupidity than out of greed and fear (and occasionally, laziness). It’s easier not to probe. It’s easier not to get involved. If we let the truth sink in, then we have to get involved, and acting against the malicious is scary. So we deliberately don’t see the truth. If we step in, we might lose an income stream (as the folks at Uber would have if they had reigned in their ‘rockstar’ execs) or make an enemy (as Seneca would have in Nero had he stood up to him) or lose our lives (as any in the German leadership may have to Hitler as he rose to power). We don’t want to be bothered. We are afraid. So we lie to ourselves. Or we look the other way. We think this makes us guiltless, but it doesn’t. It stains us more so. It haunts us too, particularly as the years pass and we look back at our own cowardice and failures. A Stoic stands up. A Stoic steps in. A Stoic doesn’t close their eyes. A Stoic calls a fraud a fraud when they see them. Even if it costs them. Even if it hurts. 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. Closing your eyes is not an excuse. In Richard III, Shakespeare has a scene where Brackenbury is handed orders from Richard by two men who clearly plan to murder the king's brother. His response echoes down through the ages as an example of willful

• 0:46Ryan Holiday?

  and cowardly ignorance, as he replies after reading the orders, "I am in this commanded to deliver the noble Duke of Clarence to your hands. I will not reason what is meant hereby, because I will be guiltless from the meaning." This idea that we can close our eyes to the implications of something and therefore remain unstained by it is common. Shakespeare knew this. It's the story of Seneca tutoring Nero in the arts of persuasion and strategy, and then pretending that he did not know that he was putting a loaded weapon in the hands of a madman. It was the many leaders before the Second

• 1:26Ryan Holiday?

  World War who read Hitler's work but refused to take them seriously, to tell themselves that they didn't know what he would do when he had the power. It's the bosses and investors at Uber and Facebook who knew their respective companies had installed a win-at-all-cost mentality and then pretended to be shocked when the winning came at a very high cost. Oprah has a great line. When people tell you who they are, you should believe them. But we often decline to do this, less out of stupidity than out of greed and fear and occasionally laziness. It's easier not to probe. It's easier not to get involved. If we let the truth sink in, then we have to get involved.

• 2:11Ryan Holiday?

  And acting against the malicious is scary. So we deliberately don't see the truth. If we step in, we might lose an income stream, as the folks at Uber would if they had reined in those rock star executives, or make an enemy, as Seneca would have in Nero had he stood up to him, or lose our lives, as many in the German leadership may have to Hitler as he rose to power. We don't want to be bothered, so we lie to ourselves and we look the other way. We think this makes us guiltless, but it doesn't. It stains us more so. It haunts us too, particularly as the years pass and we look back on our own cowardice and failures. A stoic stands up. A stoic steps in.

• 2:55Ryan Holiday?

  A stoic doesn't close their eyes. A stoic calls fraud a fraud when they see it, even if it costs them, even if it hurts. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.