The Only Part Of Your Reputation To Worry About

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2:26Welcome 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.

2:53The only part of your reputation to worry about. The Stoics were towering figures of their own time. Marcus Aurelius was cheered in the streets. Cato was widely admired. Musonius Rufus was called the Roman Socrates. Their reputations preceded them, as it should with anyone who takes their commitment to the virtues of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom. Seriously. But how do we square these reputations, which these men obviously cultivated and worked hard not to portray, with the idea that the Stoic isn't supposed to care about what others think? How can one simultaneously try to protect their good name and be indifferent to what their name means to others?

3:31After all, isn't being respected by others being well-known for our skills and talents and character? Isn't that something that's outside of our control? Being respected by people being well-known for our skills and talents and character? The paradox is perfectly solved, fittingly, in a play about Cato. Written by Joseph Addison in 1712, Cato was immensely popular in its own time. In fact, it was constantly quoted by the founding fathers in pivotal moments during the American Revolution. The line says, we can't guarantee success. We can do something better. We can deserve it. And the same goes for reputations.

4:07Nothing we do can ensure that we get the reputation we deserve, but we can deserve a good one. We don't know whether people will recognize our honesty or hard work or grace under pressure, so we shouldn't worry about it. We should spend a lot of time trying to be honest, trying to be dedicated, trying to be poised. Whether a scientist's groundbreaking ideas will be understood is not up to them. The time they spend in the laboratory, the time they spend trying to communicate their ideas, that is up to them. No one can guarantee you a reputation on par with Cato or Marcus or Musonius, but there's something better out there.

4:41deserving it.

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