It’s Tragic But Helpful

0:28Why choose a Sleep Number smart bed? today. This message comes from Capital One. The Capital One Venture X Business Card has no preset spending limit, so the card's purchasing power can adapt to meet business needs. Plus, the card earns unlimited double miles on every purchase, so the more a business spends, the more miles earned. And when traveling, the Venture X Business Card grants access to over 1 ,000 airport lounges. The Venture X Business Card, what's in your wallet? Terms and conditions apply. Find out more at CapitalOne.com slash VentureXBusiness.

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's tragic, but helpful. It's the thing we all dread. It almost always comes as a surprise. It's almost always an unwelcome surprise. Comfort fails us and we fail to comfort others. When we lose someone, when we hear that someone has died, it's a tragedy. It's the worst part about being alive, honestly. It's one of the few areas where it seems like the stoic idea that the obstacle is the way fails. How could you possibly say amor fati to someone who buried a parent or a child or to an organization that lost a leader, a country that lost an artist or a president? You can't. And the Stoics were not so insensitive as to believe that it was good that someone died.

2:10That's not what they meant by opportunity. What they meant was that there was always something to learn, always some virtue we could practice in light of a tragedy that would make us better, teach us something, help us see something. One of Lincoln's most beautiful speeches is a eulogy that he delivered for Zachary Taylor in Chicago in 1850. Taylor, who had died unexpectedly a little more than a year into office, left behind him many unfulfilled hopes. He had tried to unify the country and prevent the coming civil war. He left behind a large family and many friends. What good was there in the premature death of a great general and potentially a great president?

2:47The death of the late president may not be without its use, Lincoln explained, in reminding us that we too must die. Death, abstractly considered, is the same with the high as with the low, but practically we are not so much aroused to the contemplation of our own mortal natures by the fall of many undistinguished as that of one great and well-known name. By the latter we are forced to muse and ponder, sadly. Seneca said that when we hear our neighbor has died, we should engage in a similar pondering. Not how sad for them, but how easily that could be me and how inevitably it one day will be you.

3:43you sell at every stage of your business. Need a fast and secure way to take payments in person? We've got you covered. How about card readers you can rely on anywhere you sell? Thanks, have a good one. Yep, that too. Want one place to manage all your online and in-person sales? That's kind of our thing. Wherever you sell, businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Sign up for your$1 a month trial at shopify.com slash listen. Shopify.com slash listen. Since 2011, American Giant has been making everyday clothing with extraordinary effort. Not in far-off factories, but right here in the USA. We obsess over fabrics, fit, and details.

4:24Because if you're going to wear it every day, it should feel great and last for years. From the cut of a hoodie to the finishing of a seam, nothing is overlooked. Our supply chain is tight-knit and local, which means less crisscrossing the country and more care in every step. The result is durable clothing, t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, and denim that become part of your life season after season. This isn't fast fashion. It's clothing made with purpose by people who care as much about how it's made as how it fits. Get 20 % off your first order with code STAPLE20 at American-Giant.com. That's 20 % off your first order at American-Giant.com with code STAPLE20.