Here’s Why Worry Is Pointless

Humble people worry less than the arrogant. Why is that? Because they aren’t so conceited as to think they have any idea (or control over) what may or may not happen. The poet Rilke put it well: “Life is not even close to being as logically consistent as our worries; it has many more unexpected ideas and many more facts than we do.” Worry is pointless not only because it rarely makes things better, but also because you’re rarely ever worried about the right thing! Seneca’s line was that “nothing happens to the wise man contrary to his expectation.” By that the arrogant person might take it to mean that the wise man is so smart that they are aware of all the possibilities. The humble soul knows that is probably not what Seneca meant. They know it’s more plausible that the wise are aware of Murphy’s Law and the absurd randomness of the universe. That is, within the range of expectations of the wise man is the idea that just about anything can happen. Remember that today when you get anxious. The thing you’re hoping won’t happen, or hoping will happen...well, it’s just as likely that the world has entirely different plans for you. These plans are often things we couldn’t have even comprehended, let alone anticipated or prevented. So let go a little bit. Don’t worry. It’s unbecoming. It’s arrogant. Be humble instead. 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.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  Here's why worry is pointless. Humble people worry less than the arrogant. Why is that? Because they aren't so conceited as to think that they have any idea or control over what may or may not happen. The poet Rilke put it well, "Life is not even close to being as logically consistent as our worries. It has many more unexpected ideas and many more facts than we do." Worry is pointless, not only because it rarely makes things better, but also because you're rarely ever worried about the right thing. Seneca's line was that "nothing happens to the wise man contrary to his expectation." By that, the arrogant person might take it to mean that the wise person is so smart

• 1:14Ryan Holiday?

  that they are aware of all the possibilities. The humble soul knows that that is probably not what Seneca meant. They know that it's more plausible that the wise are aware of Murphy's Law and the absurd randomness of the universe. That is, within the range of expectations of the wise man is the idea that just about anything can happen. Remember that today when you get anxious. The thing you're hoping won't happen, or hoping will happen, well, it's just as likely that the world has entirely different plans for you. These plans are often things we couldn't have even comprehended, let alone anticipated

• 1:54Ryan Holiday?

  or prevented. So let go a little bit. Don't worry. It's unbecoming. It's arrogant. Be humble instead.