Again, what a thing to have done!
Why do we so rarely do the same? Most of our problems are not so urgent. The stakes are not so high. Yet we rush, we react emotionally, we punish instinctively. But how much more magnanimous and wise it would be to wait. To think. To calm down. To let things settle.
The Stoics say that the greatest empire is command of oneself. Even if Marcus’s reign was temporarily in jeopardy, it’s clear he never lost control of that. He was—unlike his rash opponent—calm and philosophical. He understood the dangers. He knew mistakes once made could not be unmade. He saw the opportunity for greatness.
Marcus Aurelius' Advice For Better Days
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS0gSjrlMJc
When I first shared this story (hey, Ryan here) 10 years ago in the original Obstacle Is the Way, I never could have predicted that book would inspire a global resurgence in Stoicism, let alone that that book would go on to be published in forty languages and sell two million copies in English alone.
And as it happened, all that was only possible because I had waited. A small publisher offered me the opportunity to do a book about Stoicism as early as 2009, but my mentor Robert Greene advised me to wait. You aren’t ready, he said, give yourself time. How lucky I am to have listened to him!
RYAN HOLIDAY
https://dailystoic.com/
Who Would Marcus Aurelius Vote For?
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