BONUS | Made For Working Together
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. Made for working together.
How does Marcus Aurelius frame our obligation to work with others?
This is an entry from the Daily Stoic, and a quote comes to us from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations 812. Whenever you have trouble getting up in the morning, remind yourself that you have been made by nature for the purpose of working with others, whereas even unthinking animals share sleeping, and it's our own natural purpose that is more fitting and satisfying.
Why does Marcus compare human purpose to animals sleeping as a motivation to act?
If a dog spends all day in bed, your bed most likely, that's fine. It's just being a dog. It doesn't have anywhere to be, no other obligations other than being itself. But according to the Stoics, we have a higher obligation as humans, not to the gods, but to each other. What gets us out of bed each morning, even if we fight it like Marcus sometimes did, is to render works held in common. Civilization and country are great projects we build together and have been building together with our ancestors for millennia. We are made for cooperation with each other. So if you need an extra boost to get out of bed this morning, if you need something more than caffeine can offer, use this. People are depending on you.
What does the Hayes translation say about doing socially useful work?
Your purpose is to help us render this great work together. And we're waiting and we're excited for you to show up. Let's look at the Hayes translation of that real quick. Hayes says, as part of 812, let's see here. Hayes says, so when you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, remember that what defines a human being is to work with others. Even animals know how to sleep, and it's the characteristic activity that's the more natural one, more innate, and more satisfying. Let's look at the great Robin Waterfield translation in his annotated edition, which I highly recommend and enjoy quite a bit. You pull up 812.
How does the Waterfield translation expand on 'socially useful work' and its rewards?
He says, whenever you find it difficult to wake up, remind yourself that doing socially useful work is proper to your constitution and your humanity, while sleeping is something you share with irrational animals as well. And anything that's proper to an individual's nature has a greater affinity to him and is second nature to him. And moreover, is more refreshing. I love that. I think the idea, socially useful work, right? So when the Stoics talk about politics, I don't think they always mean running for office. And when they talk about the common good, I don't think they necessarily always mean charity. They mean socially useful work. Are you contributing to society? Are you making the world a better place?
There's a sign over on this track that I like to run on that was put up by Hollywood Henderson. I think I've said this story before, but he put up a sign that says, leave this place better than you found it. I think that's a great rule for life. It's interesting, though, to me, Marcus talks a lot about struggling to get out of bed in the morning. It's clearly a common theme.
How should we respond to difficult people while still contributing to the common good?
And then he also talks a lot about working with difficult people. So maybe the difficult people are like, oh, I've got to go do this again. You know, he was an introvert. He preferred philosophy, preferred ideas to people necessarily. But he knew that it was inescapable, that as a human being, as a philosopher, as a leader, as a politician, his job was to work with these difficult people, to find a way to contribute, to find a way to make them better, to find a way to put them to productive or socially useful ends. And that's what we have to remember today. Obviously, you're up or you wouldn't be listening to this. But how are you going to provide socially useful work today? How are you going to make do with difficult people?
How are you going to put up with them? As Marcus Aurelius says, we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, that even the famous obstacle is the way passage is about that. is about dealing with the people who obstruct us and annoy us and frustrate us and finding a way to make a positive contribution to the world in spite of, with, through, because of them, for them.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:17
2
How does Marcus Aurelius frame our obligation to work with others?
0:17–0:36
3
Why does Marcus compare human purpose to animals sleeping as a motivation to act?
0:36–1:21
4
What does the Hayes translation say about doing socially useful work?
1:21–2:01
5
How does the Waterfield translation expand on 'socially useful work' and its rewards?
2:01–3:04
6
How should we respond to difficult people while still contributing to the common good?
3:04–4:15
7
What practical actions can you take today to make a socially useful contribution?
4:15–5:15
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Daily Stoic
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Does The Tantrum Help? | 6 Stoic Reminders You Need to Hear