Time Doesn’t Make Everything Better...It Just Makes Them What They Are

When we get dumped or we fail or we lose someone, we often hear that “Time heals all wounds” or some such remark, all of it in consolation. Obviously this is meant well, but it’s also frustrating--if only because it’s trite...and way too simple. As Rilke wrote, “Time does not ‘console’ as people say superficially; at best it puts things in their place and it creates order.” There is a Zen story about a man whose horse ran away. People said it was bad luck. Then the horse came back, which people thought was good luck, and then his son broke his leg while falling off it and people thought that was bad luck come round again. But because his leg was broken, the man’s son was saved from fighting and dying in a war, and the cycle went on and on. Time doesn’t make things better or worse, it simply makes them what they are. That’s why the Stoics talk about not rushing to judgment about anything, about waiting and seeing. Because we don’t know. Just giving something time isn’t automatically going to make it better--but it does at least give things a chance to shake out, for us to see the full picture. If there is one aphorism about time that we CAN rely on, that the Stoics would agree with, it's that 'time will tell.'That’s the moral of the Zen story too. Trying to label things as good luck or bad luck is shortsighted. It assumes that all the facts have been entered into evidence. It’s better to hold off on forming an opinion, because fate is constantly unfolding around us, and today’s bad luck may very well be setting up tomorrow’s good luck (and vice versa). Time isn’t a panacea, but it is a form of truth. So watch for it. Time will, in fact, tell. 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. Time doesn't make everything better. It just makes them what they are. When we get dumped, or we fail, or we lose someone, we often hear that "time heals all wounds," or some such remark, all of it in consolation. Obviously, this is meant well, but it's also frustrating,

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  if only because it's trite and way too simple. As Rilke wrote, "Time does not console," as people say superficially, "at best it puts things in their place and creates order." There's a Zen story about a man whose horse ran away. People said it was bad luck. Then the horse came back, which people said was good luck. And then his son broke his leg while falling off of it, and people thought that was bad luck. Come round again. But because the man's leg was broken, his son was saved from fighting and dying in a war, and the cycle went on and on. Time doesn't make things better or worse, it simply makes

• 1:31Ryan Holiday?

  them what they are. That's why the Stoics talk about not rushing to judgment about anything, about waiting and seeing, because we don't know. Just giving something time isn't automatically going to make it better, but it does at least give it a chance to shake out, for us to see the full picture. If there is one aphorism about time that we can rely on, that the Stoics would agree with, it's that "time will tell." That's the moral of the Zen story, too. Trying to label things as good luck or bad luck is short-sighted. It assumes that all the facts have been ...entered into evidence.

• 2:11Ryan Holiday?

  It's better to hold off on forming an opinion because fate is constantly unfolding around us. And today's bad luck may very well be setting up tomorrow's good luck and vice versa. Time isn't a panacea, but it is a form of truth. So watch for it. Time will, in fact, tell. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.