Speak The Truth, Let Them Howl

No matter what your profession is, there are things you can say that will cost you. Speaking up against somebody’s pet project can get an officer passed over for promotion. Voicing a certain political viewpoint can cost you fans or endorsements. Challenging the status quo can bring a hail of critics and haters. And in those situations, what should we do? The answer to the Stoic is pretty simple: Speak the truth. Yes, howls may follow. Recriminations can as well. And? And what? Nassim Taleb’s rule of thumb is worth remembering always: If you see fraud and do not say ‘fraud,’ you are a fraud. But that’s worth broadening a bit:If you know the truth and decline to speak the truth, you are not living truthfully. There are some exceptions to this rule, of course. Seneca speaks of a man whose son was executed by the emperor and then forced to dine with the tyrant after. The emperor was goading the obviously pained father to acknowledge who was the source of that pain (he wanted to see the pain he had caused, he wanted to feel his dominance over him) and yet the man never broke—because he had another son. OK, that’s a good excuse. But these other petty self-protections? Nope. If you know the truth, speak it. If you believe in a truth, live it. Even if it costs you. Even if it’s a pain in the ass. Because to do otherwise is to lie. To do otherwise is to be a coward. To do otherwise is to allow darkness to put out the light. The truth matters. Prove it. Be the light. 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. Speak the truth, let them howl. No matter what your profession is, there are things you can say that will cost you. Speaking up against somebody's pet project can get an officer passed over for promotion. Voicing a certain political viewpoint can cost you fans or endorsements. Challenging the status quo can bring a hail of critics and haters. And in those situations, what

• 0:51Ryan Holiday?

  should we do? The Stoic answer is pretty simple: speak the truth. Yes, howls may follow, recriminations can as well. And? And what? Nassim Taleb's Rule of Thumb is worth remembering always: if you see fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud. But that's worth expanding a bit. If you know the truth and decline to speak the truth, you are not living truly. There are some exceptions to this rule, of course. Seneca speaks of a man whose son was executed by the emperor and then forced to dine with the tyrant after. The emperor was goading the obviously pained father to acknowledge who was the source of that pain.

• 1:34Ryan Holiday?

  He wanted to see the pain he caused. He wanted to feel his dominance over him. And yet the man never broke. Why? Because he had another son. Okay, that's a good excuse. But these other petty self-protections, no. If you know the truth, speak it. If you believe a truth, live it, even if it costs you, even if it's a pain in the ass, because to do otherwise is a lie. To do otherwise is to be a coward. To do otherwise is to allow darkness to put out the light. The truth matters. Prove it. Be the light. And I hope you'll check out this new medallion that we have based around Marcus Aurelius' dictum, which I think aligns pretty well with this idea. You know, he says, "Do the right thing.

• 2:19Ryan Holiday?

  The rest doesn't matter." Whatever the circumstances. And this is a Stoic idea of virtue, the summum bonum, the highest good. The only thing that matters is doing the right thing. It's speaking the truth. It's sticking to your principles. And I carry that coin with me in my pocket because, well, it's an important reminder and it's easy to go astray. So I hope you'll check that out in the Daily Stoic store. Summum bonum, the highest good. Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn't matter.