You Do Not Need This

"You want it, don’t you? That 'I told you so.' That 'Thank You.' That recognition for being first, or being better, or being different. You want credit. You want gratitude. You want the acknowledgement for the good you’ve done, for the weight that you carry."Ryan discusses why the last thing you need is that recognition on today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  You do not need this. You want it, don't you? That "I told you so," that "thank you," that recognition for being first, or better, or being different. You want credit, you want gratitude, you want that acknowledgement for the good you've done, for the weight that you carry. What you want is what Marcus Aurelius has called "the third thing," because you're not content enough with the doing. When you've done well and another has benefited by it, he writes, "Why, like a fool, do you look for the third thing on top? Credit for the good deed, or a favor in return?" Now, fool is a strong word, but the point stands: Why can't the deed be enough? Was a pat on the back really the reason you decided to value the truth? Is that why you helped someone? Did you leave a big tip to that waitress

• 1:14Ryan Holiday?

  or driver who was clearly struggling so they'd run out and thank you? Or did you do it because you knew it was right? Did you take your lonely stand because it would look cool, or because it was unconscionable to you to throw in with the mob? You don't need a favor back, you don't need to be repaid, you don't need to be acknowledged, you don't need the third thing. That's why you do what you do. You're good because it's good to be good, and that is all you need. Remember, the Stoics said that summum bonum, the virtue, was the highest good, it was the only good, it was good in and of itself, it's an intrinsic good. That's why Marcus Aurelius says, "Do the right thing, the rest doesn't matter."

• 1:58Ryan Holiday?

  And of course, that's why we make our summum bonum coin in the Daily Stoic store, which you can check out, store.dailystoic.com.