We Must Live By This Rule

Zigong once asked Confucius: “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life?” His reply: “Is not RECIPROCITY such a word?”Thus we have, by yet another source, another formulation of the Golden Rule. Matthew 7:12, for instance, has its version: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.” And Luke 6:31: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”The Stoics would obviously agree with this concept, though they would take it a little bit further. In fact, what we see in Marcus Aurelius over and over again is the idea that we must treat other people better than they treat us. Because they didn’t mean to do wrong, because they aren’t as informed as we are, because they have their own problems. And that we treat people well not because we ourselves would like to be treated well, but because to do anything less is a betrayal of our own values and standards. The Golden Rule is simple and all-encompassing. It should govern how we talk to people, how we run our businesses, how we raise our children, how we react in difficult situations. It’s also an impossible standard. We’re never going to fully get there. We’re human. Empathy is sometimes beyond us in the moment. Which is why we need to constantly review and reflect on our own behavior (journaling is great for this), so that we can learn from it and improve on it. If we can follow the Golden Rule and reflect honestly on our transgressions of it, we will get a little bit better at following it as we grow. 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. We must live by this rule. Zigong once asked Confucius, "Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" His reply, "Is not reciprocity such a word?" Thus, we have, by yet another source, another formulation of the Golden Rule.

• 0:47Ryan Holiday?

  Matthew 7:12, for instance, has its version. "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets." And Luke 6:31, "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." The Stoics would obviously agree with this concept, though they would take it a little bit further. In fact, what we see in Marcus Aurelius over and over again is this idea that we must treat other people better than they treat us, because they didn't mean to do wrong, because they aren't as informed as we are, because they have their own problems, and that we should treat people well, not because we ourselves would like to be treated

• 1:30Ryan Holiday?

  well, but because to do anything less is a betrayal of our own values and standards. The Golden Rule is simple and all-encompassing. It should govern how we talk to people, how we run our businesses, how we raise our children, how we react in difficult situations. It's also an impossible standard. We're never going to fully get there. We're human, and empathy is sometimes beyond us in the moment, which is why we constantly review and reflect on our own behavior, and why here at Daily Stoic, we recommend journaling so much, so that we can learn from it and improve on it. If we can follow the Golden Rule and reflect honestly on our transgressions of it, we will get a little bit better at following it as we grow.

• 2:16Ryan Holiday?

  Please check out the Daily Stoic store, where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these Stoic lessons to the next level. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.