It’ll Keep You Waiting

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1:04Welcome 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 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.

1:31It'll keep you waiting. Marcus Aurelius must have hoped for a better Rome than the one he lived in. He hoped people were capable of more, capable of better. And he was disappointed. He was disappointed as people have always been disappointed. That's what's so striking about meditations, how timeless many of his frustrations are, how universal and modern many of his observations about people seem to be. People have been waiting for the world to change for a millennia. People have been hoping that this time it's different, that there's been a breakthrough in human nature. But alas. Look, individuals can change.

2:08People, the world, it abideth forever. It is undefeated. This isn't to say that you shouldn't try. This isn't to say that we can't make a difference here or there. This isn't to say that we can't alleviate needless suffering or help others. It isn't to say that we ourselves can't be a bright light within that darkness. That's what the virtue of justice is all about, what right thing right now is all about. But still, wisdom tells us that things are as they've always been and always will be. So don't take it all so personally. Don't let naive or false hope build you up or break you down. Don't stay up waiting for the world to change.

2:43It probably won't.

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