This is How Dumb Anger Is

Seneca wrote eloquently about how absurd the need to “get even” is. No one would think to return a bite to a dog or a kick to a mule, he writes, but when someone hurts us or pisses us off, that’s exactly what we do. We smile and laugh at this clever analogy. He’s right, we think, no one would bite a dog. Except anger actually does do stuff that dumb to us all the time—or worse! Who hasn’t thrown a television remote that wasn’t working or smacked a vending machine that took your money? Who hasn’t banged on their keyboard when it froze or kicked a child’s toy across the room after painfully stepping on it in the middle of the night? Who hasn’t shouted obscenities at their headphones when your hand gets caught in the cord and you accidentally rip them off your head while walking through an airport or getting into a car? Who hasn’t had to resist the urge to throw their smartphone in the ocean or their golf club into a lake when these objects refuse to do what you have directed them to? If there weren’t plenty of reasons to be suspicious of anger already, the fact that it compels you to try to physically punish inanimate objects is a pretty good one. The fact that, in anger, we often break or damage our own property—essentially punishing ourselves to send a message to something that by definition cannot receive it—tells us everything we need to know about anger. Mainly, that it’s blinding, that it’s hard to control, and that it’s shamefully stupid. So avoid it as much as you can. 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. This is how dumb anger is. Seneca wrote eloquently about how absurd the need to get even is. "No one would think to return a bite to a dog or a kick to a mule," he writes. "But when someone hurts us or pisses us off, that's exactly what we do. We smile

• 0:49Ryan Holiday?

  and laugh at this clever analogy. He's right," we think. "No one would bite a dog." Except anger actually does do dumb stuff like that all the time, or worse. Who hasn't thrown a television remote that wasn't working, or smacked a vending machine that took your money? Who hasn't banged on their keyboard when it froze, or kicked a child's toy across the room after painfully stepping on it in the middle of the night? Who hasn't shouted obscenities at their headphones when your hand gets caught in the cord and you accidentally rip them off of your head while walking through the airport or getting into a car? Who hasn't had to resist the urge to throw their smartphone in the ocean or their golf club into a lake when these objects refuse to do what you have directed them to do?

• 1:34Ryan Holiday?

  If there weren't plenty of reasons to be suspicious of anger already, the fact that it tries to compel you to physically punish inanimate objects is a pretty good one. The fact that in anger we often break or damage our own property, essentially punishing ourselves to send a message to something that by definition cannot receive it, tells us everything we need to know about anger. Mainly that it is blinding, that it's hard to control, that it's shamefully stupid, so avoid it as much as you can. If you're liking this podcast, we would love for you to subscribe. Please leave us a review on iTunes or any of your favorite podcast listening apps. It really helps. And tell a friend.