Pity The Ego

The Stoics were not unacquainted with awful people. They saw tyrants. They saw cheats. They saw toxic egomaniacs and insatiable ambitions. And what was their reaction to most of these people? Aside from a general wariness and a desire not to be corrupted by them, mostly the Stoics pitied these types. Certainly this is how Marcus Aurelius wrote about someone like Alexander the Great. He almost seemed sad for him. Like, dude, how did you think this was going to end? Did you think conquering the world was going to make you happy? Did you actually think that fame and glory would fill that hole in your soul? There is a wonderful encapsulation of this attitude in the 1941 novel What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg (who, if his later novels are any indication, was familiar with Marcus’s writing). In Sammy, the screenwriter Kit questions the anger and animus directed at Sammy Glick, a hopelessly ambitious producer who constantly hurts and betrays everyone he works with in the pursuit of his goals. Speaking of how they might react to someone with polio, she says:“We’re sorry for him because a germ he didn’t have anything to do with got inside him and twisted him out of shape. Maybe we ought to feel the same way about guys with twisted egos.” Which is a remarkably wise and philosophical attitude. Egomaniacs don’t make it easy for us to pity them. Neither do tyrants or cheats. Especially when their success comes at our expense. But the truth is, they can’t help themselves. And it’s not any fun to be them. Not at all. P. S. Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday is $.99 on Amazon right now for a very limited time. If you want to check it out, or give it as a gift, it’ll never be cheaper than that. And along with the Amazon discount, you can get $6 off our Ego Is The Enemy medallion with the code “EGOCOIN” AND $10 off Ego Is The Enemy print with the code “EGOPRINT” at checkout in the Daily Stoic store. 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.

• 0:28Ryan Holiday?

  Pity the ego. The Stoics were not unacquainted with awful people. They saw tyrants, they saw cheats, they saw toxic egomaniacs and insatiable ambitions. And what was their reaction to most of these people? Aside from the general wariness and desire not to be corrupted by them, mostly the Stoics pitied these types. Certainly, this is how Marcus Aurelius wrote about someone like Alexander the Great. He almost seemed sad for him, like, dude, how did you think this was going to end? Did you think conquering the world was going to make you happy? Did you actually think that fame and glory would fill the hole in your soul? There's a wonderful encapsulation of this idea in the 1941 novel What Makes

• 1:12Ryan Holiday?

  Sammy Run by Bud Schulberg, who, if his later novels are any indication, was familiar with Marcus's writing. In Sammy, the screenwriter Kit questions the anger and animus directed at Sammy Glick, a hopelessly ambitious producer who constantly hurts and betrays everyone he works with in the pursuit of his goals. Speaking of how they might react to someone with polio, she says, "We're sorry for him because a germ he didn't have anything to do with got inside of him and twisted him out of shape. Maybe we ought to feel the same way about guys with twisted egos," which is a remarkably wise and philosophical attitude.

• 1:54Ryan Holiday?

  "Egomaniacs don't make it easy for us to pity them. Neither do tyrants and cheats, especially when their success comes at our expense. But the truth is, they can't help themselves, and it's not any fun to be them, not at all."

• 2:11Ryan Holiday?

  And just a heads up, Ego is the Enemy, my book, I think it's one of my best books, is 99 cents on Amazon right now. It's only for a limited time. If you want to check it out, give it as a gift, it'll never be cheaper than this. It's ebook only, iTunes, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, wherever you get ebooks, it's 99 cents. But also, along with the Amazon discount, you can get $6 off our Ego is the Enemy coin. I carry one of these with me everywhere I go. If you use the code EGOCOIN, and then you can get $10 off our Ego is the Enemy print. I have this hanging in my office with the code EGOPRINT at checkout the Daily Stoic store. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.