Look With Both Eyes

One way to look at an iconic or important landmark like the White House is with reverence. This is the seat of a global power. This is where Kennedy stared down the Cuban Missile Crisis. It represents freedom, justice, and the pursuit of happiness. Another way would be with a slightly more cynical eye: This is a house built by slaves. It’s actually not even that old—most of it was torn down and rebuilt during the Truman Administration. Look at all the idiots who have lived there, this house allowed the Civil War to happen, it perpetuated Vietnam, it’s where sleazebags preyed on interns. Which of these two attitudes is correct? The Stoics would argue that they both are and that both perspectives—at different times—are key to doing the right thing. A person working in government service at the White House can use the positive legacy of the institution as a form of inspiration, as a call to a higher standard of behavior. This is a special place. I must do it justice. This kind of reverence can draw the best out of a person, even in difficult or tempting situations. But at the same time, a person who is too reverent, or who has projected too much of their own idealism onto a place or an organization can find themselves bending the truth to protect it. Or doing unethical things to maintain their job inside it. I’m not going to jail because the guy holding this office for four years is asking me to lie for him. The President isn’t a king—he’s a public servant like every other person in the government. We can use cynicism productively. It, to use Marcus Aurelius’s phrase, helps strip things of the legend that encrusts them and gives us an objective view. A person who understands the legacy of the White House from both perspectives is less likely to do something wrong, more likely to be courageous than a person who has just one view. And the same applies for so many different things. How do you see marriage? How do you see money? How do you understand the history of your country or your race or your industry? Being written about in the New York Times or winning a Nobel Prize? You want to see the higher essence of things...and their lower nature. You want to see the ideal...and the reality. Be blinded by neither. Deceived by neither. 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. Look with both eyes. One way to look at an iconic or important landmark like the White House is with reverence. This is the seat of global power. This is where Kennedy stared down the Cuban Missile Crisis. It represents freedom, justice, and the pursuit of happiness. Another way would be with a slightly more cynical eye. This is a house built by slaves.

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  It's not even that old. Most of it was torn down and rebuilt during the Truman Administration. Look at all the idiots who have lived there. This house that allowed the Civil War to happen, that perpetuated Vietnam. It's where sleaze bags preyed on interns. Which of these two attitudes is correct? The Stoics would argue that they are both correct, and that both perspectives at different times are key to doing the right thing. A person working in government service at the White House can use the positive legacy of the institution as a form of inspiration, as a call to a higher standard of behavior. This is a special place. I must do it justice. This kind of reverence can draw the best

• 1:33Ryan Holiday?

  out of a person, even in difficult or tempting situations. But at the same time, a person who is too reverent, or who has projected too much of their own idealism onto a place or an organization, can find themselves bending the truth to protect it, or doing unethical things to maintain their job inside of it. I'm not going to jail because the guy holding this office for four years is asking me to lie for him. The president isn't a king. He's a public servant, like every other person. You see, we can also use cynicism productively. It, to use Marcus Aurelius's phrase, helps strip things of the legend that encrust them and gives us an objective view. A person who understands the legacy of the White House

• 2:16Ryan Holiday?

  from both perspectives, or any situation from both perspectives...

• 2:22Ryan Holiday?

  Is less likely to do something wrong, more likely to be courageous than a person who has just one view. And again, the same applies for so many different things. How do you see your marriage? How do you see money? How do you understand the history of your country, or your race, or your industry, being written about in The New York Times, or winning a Nobel Prize? You want to see the higher essence of things and their lower nature. You want to see the ideal and the reality, be blinded by neither, deceived by neither. Just a heads up, there's now an obstacle is the way pendant in the Daily Stoic store. It's awesome. We have it made here in the US. We designed it ourselves. It's got Marcus Aurelius's enduring words on it. "The impediment to action advances action.

• 3:07Ryan Holiday?

  What stands in the way becomes the way." If you want something, you can carry with you always, you can wear around your neck that reminds you that you can treat every obstacle as fuel. You can be better for everything that happens, that the way around is the way through, that the way through is the way. I suggest you check it out. I think you'll like it. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.