Why You Should Help Others

In his fascinating biography, The House of Percy, Bertram Wyatt-Brown describes a beautiful scene involving William Alexander Percy, the son of a senator, a poet, and lifelong student of the Stoics. Percy is sitting on a hill looking down into the ruins of an ancient Greek amphitheatre, thinking of Marcus Aurelius.“Though pagan,” Wyatt-Brown writes, “the Stoics recognized the brotherhood of man. The greatest virtue was helping others for one’s own sake and peace of mind as well as theirs. Justice, goodness of heart, duty, courage, and fidelity to fellow creatures, great and lowly, were abstractions requiring no divine authority to sustain them; they were worth pursuing on their own.” This observation contains a lot, so it’s worth unpacking. First, it’s clear that this scene is one of those wonderful moments of sympatheia. William, sitting there by himself in nature, is suddenly reminded of his connection to other people and his role in this larger ecosystem that is the world. We need to seek out these moments because they humble and empower us simultaneously. Next, what does he mean by pagan or divine authority? The author is making an important point about Stoicism. Most religions tell us to be good because God said so. Or they tell us not to be bad because God will punish us. Stoicism is different. While not incompatible with religion, it makes a different case for virtue: A person who lives selfishly will not go to hell. They will live in hell. And both these points are related to the final and most important part: We are all connected to each other, and to help others is to help ourselves. We are obligated to serve and to be of service. The Percys are a great example of a family that did this. Despite being wealthy, they served in politics. Despite being white and from Mississippi, they fought to keep the Klan out of their hometown. When the Flood of 1927 hit, the Percys saved thousands of lives. When William’s cousin died, he adopted his three second cousins. Because the family was duty-bound. Because they believed they were part of a brotherhood of man. Because it was worth doing for its own sake. And so it goes for us. 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. How you should help others and why. In his fascinating biography, The House of Percy, Bertram Wyatt Brown describes a beautiful scene involving William Alexander Percy, the son of a senator, a poet, and a lifelong student of the Stoics. Percy was sitting on a hill, looking down into the ruins of

• 0:49Ryan Holiday?

  an ancient Greek amphitheater, thinking of Marcus Aurelius. Though pagan, Wyatt Brown writes, "The Stoics recognized the brotherhood of man. The greatest virtue was helping others for one's own sake and peace of mind, as well as theirs. Justice, goodness of heart, duty, courage, and fidelity to fellow creatures, great and lowly, were abstractions requiring no divine authority to sustain them. They were worth pursuing on their own." This observation contains a lot, so it's worth unpacking. First, it's clear that this scene is one of those wonderful moments of sympathia. William, sitting there by himself

• 1:30Ryan Holiday?

  in nature, is suddenly reminded of his connection to other people and his role in this larger ecosystem that is the world. We need to seek out these moments because they humble and empower us simultaneously. Next, what does he mean by pagan or divine authority? The author is making an important point about Stoicism. Most religions tell us to be good because God said so, or they tell us not to be bad because God will punish us. Stoicism is different. While not incompatible with religion, it makes a different case for virtue. A person who lives selfishly will not go to hell, they will live in hell, according to the Stoics. Both of these points are related to the final and most important part.

• 2:13Ryan Holiday?

  We are all connected to each other, and to help others is to help ourselves. We are obligated to serve, to be of service. The Persis are a great example of a family that did this. Despite being wealthy, they served in politics. Despite being white, from Mississippi, they fought to keep the Klan out of their hometown. When the flood of 1927 hit, the Persis saved thousands of lives. When William's cousin died, he adopted his three second cousins because the family was duty-bound, because they believed they were part of a brotherhood of man, because it was worth doing for its own sake. And so it goes for us.

• 2:54Speaker 01

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