Hate The Sin, Love The Sinner

Ryan discusses how a Stoic should deal with people who they disagree with, 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?

  Hate the sin, love the sinner. Cato hated excess. He hated finery. He hated luxury. He thought to indulge in such things was weakness and stupidity. And so, what did Cato think of his brother, who was far less strict about these things? He loved him. In fact, he worshipped him. It's important to remember, the Stoic has strict standards. We have strong opinions about what's right and what isn't. But, and this is a big but, we have to be understanding and forgiving of those who have been, as Marcus Aurelius writes, "cut off from truth." Marcus's rule was to be strict with yourself and tolerant of others. And that's the line that Cato walked with his brother. That's what we have to figure out

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  with the folks who, in today's world, live in a very un-Stoic way. There are consequences for their actions, of course, especially when those actions or choices are unjust. But we don't need to cast them out of our lives or write them off as worthless or awful. We can still engage with them. We can see them at Thanksgiving. We can let them into our lives in a way that is safe or respectful to our boundaries. We can accept that people can see things in a different way and let them live as they wish. Again, so far as those choices aren't hurting other people. And we can, to borrow an old expression, "hate the sin while we love the sinner." Because what they do, how they act, is not up to us. The good we choose to see in them, to get out of them, that is in our control.

• 1:57Ryan Holiday?

  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 at dailystoic.com/email.