The Daily Stoic - Character Is Fate
Episode Date: May 15, 2024📕 Want a signed and numbered page from the original manuscript of Right Thing, Right Now? To learn more and pre-order your own copy, visit dailystoic.com/justice✉️ Want Stoic wisdom de...livered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient
wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday life.
Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some
of history's greatest men and women.
For more, you can visit us at DailyStealth.com.
Character is fate. How did Hadrian know that Antoninus would be a worthy mentor to Marcus Aurelius? That he could be trusted as a stand-in emperor? He knew because he had glimpsed into
Antoninus' character. We're told the story of Hadrian watching Antoninus help his elderly stepfather up a flight of stairs. He didn't know anyone
could see. It wasn't a performance. It wasn't virtue signaling, as we call it today. It
was actual virtue, kindness, decency, respect. And it was these same traits that Antoninus
brought to his 20 years as Marcus' guardian
and to the Roman people as their leader.
The reason that justice, which is the theme of the new book, Right Thing Right Now, which
you can pre-order right now, dailystoic.com.
The reason this is such a critical part of Stoicism is that it goes to character.
What good is courage if the person acting with it is not a good person?
You could have a brilliant mind, but if you don't have a moral compass, it may bring
you to ruin.
Character is fate, the Stokes said.
It determines our destiny.
Hero or Nero, our personal integrity decides.
Our sense of justice is our trajectory.
Our moral compass is precisely that.
A compass that directs us, prevents us from getting lost.
And now more than ever we're
constantly being told how to think, how to act, who to support. We need direction through that
thicket of noise. And as the Stoics are keen to always remind us, that direction comes from within.
If an action or utterance is appropriate, then it's appropriate for you, Marx really writes.
Don't be put off by other people's comments and criticisms.
If it's right to say or do it, then it's the right thing to say or do." And he says,
if it's not right to do or say, do not do it. Anyways, that's the aim of the new book,
Right Thing Right Now, which is all about cultivating good character, good values,
and then of course, doing good deeds. And I'm really proud of the stories in it.
We've got Harry S. Truman and Susan B. Anthony,
Marcus Aurelius, we've got civil rights leaders,
we've got gay rights leaders,
we've got people from ancient history,
people from modern history,
but what they all have in common is good character.
And it's our character that we have to stand
by the strength of our convictions,
not to be swept up in the mania or paranoia of the day to live free from doubt and shame.
And if you haven't pre-ordered it yet, I know I'm talking about it a lot, but it would mean a lot
to me if you could pre-order the book. You can grab it right now at dailystoic.com. You can get
signed numbered first editions. You can get a signed page from the manuscript. You can even
have dinner with me where we can talk about a
bunch of the ideas in the books. Grab that now at dailystoic.com
slash justice and I can't wait to hear what all of you think. It's coming out really really soon.
The earlier you pre-order the more it helps authors. So I'll say that again dailystoic.com
slash justice for the new book, Right Thing Right Now.