The Real Terrible Thing

Epictetus could not have summed up Stoicism better than when he said: “It’s not things that upset us, but our judgement about things.” What he meant was that the world is neither positive or negative, it is simply objectively indifferent. A hurricane is a hurricane. Striking gold is simply discovering metal in the ground. It’s our opinions of those events which decide that one is horrible and the other is a blessing. Of course, Epictetus was not saying there is no such thing as “good” or “bad,” at least as far as morality is concerned. While morality is a judgment, it’s an acceptable one when we apply it to actions that are within our control (that is, our own behavior). The trouble is that we can’t seem to keep these judgments contained to that area of influence. We make up categories and then try to organize the world into them...and are often miserable when fate doesn’t get the memo. Death, of course, is the ultimate example. It’s neither good nor bad. It simply is. Each of us is going to die. That’s a fact. It’s not really a positive or a negative fact, particularly since it carries with it the end of our ability to have an opinion about it. Yet that doesn’t seem to stop us from worrying about it, from spending a lot of time trying to decide what it means and whether we like it or not. How miserable this makes people! How many awful and stupid things they do to prevent it, from betraying their friends to missing out on enjoying life in misguided attempts to prolong their existence. As Epictetus said, “Death...is nothing terrible, but the terrible thing is the opinion that death is terrible.”Hopefully you can chew on this a bit today. Death is not bad. It’s simply a fact. Indeed, everything is simply a fact. We’d be happier and more present if we could accept this. If we could stop fooling ourselves into thinking our opinions change anything (except to make stuff worse, most of the time). No judgment. No need to label or categorize. Just take life as it comes. 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?

  The Real Terrible Thing. Epictetus could not have summed up Stoicism better than when he said, "It's not things that upset us, but our judgment about things." What he meant was that the world is neither positive or negative, it is simply objectively indifferent. A hurricane is a hurricane, striking gold is simply discovering metal in the ground. It's our opinions of those events which decide that one is horrible and the other is a blessing. Of course, Epictetus was not saying there is no such thing as good or bad, at least as far as morality is concerned. While morality is a judgment, it's an acceptable

• 1:09Ryan Holiday?

  one when we apply it to actions that are within our control, that is, our own behavior. The trouble is that we can't seem to keep these judgments contained to that area of influence. We make up categories and then try to organize the world into them and are often miserable when fate doesn't get the memo. Death, of course, is the ultimate example. It's neither good nor bad. It simply is. Each of us is going to die. That's a fact. It's not really a positive or a negative fact, particularly since it carries with it the end of our ability to have an opinion about it. Yet, that doesn't seem to stop us from worrying about it, from spending a lot of time trying to decide what it means

• 1:53Ryan Holiday?

  and whether we like it or not. How miserable this makes people, how many awful and stupid things they do to prevent it. From betraying their friends to missing out on enjoying life in misguided attempts to prolong their existence. As Epictetus said, "Death is nothing horrible, but the terrible thing is the opinion that death is terrible." Hopefully, you can chew on this a bit today. Death is not bad, it's simply a fact. Indeed, everything is simply a fact. We'd be happier and more present if we could accept this, if we could stop fooling ourselves into thinking our opinions change anything, except to make stuff worse, most of the time.

• 2:34Ryan Holiday?

  No judgment, no need to label or categorize, just take life as it comes.

• 2:41Ryan Holiday?

  Hey, just a quick reminder, Stillness is the Key. It's the key to success, it's the key to happiness, it's the key to insight. It's also the title of my next book. You can get Stillness is the Key, it comes out October 1, everywhere books are sold. It's currently available for preorder, you can get it in audiobook, ebook, physical. Barnes & Noble even has a few signed copies. If you've gotten anything out of my writing, anything out of this podcast, or my emails over the years, I would love your support. Stillness is the Key, available everywhere books are sold. You can preorder it now, and it comes out October 1.