This is a Line Worth Remembering | A Cure For The Self
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What Stoic virtues does the Daily Stoic Podcast aim to teach and why?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues—courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom—into the real world. This is a line worth remembering. Have you ever read a line in a book that helps you understand life in a new way? A song lyric that nails exactly how you're feeling? A piece of advice that gives you a rule to follow in countless situations? You're not the only one. We see Marcus Aurelius do this in meditations repeatedly, quoting lines from Epictetus, from poems, from plays. And as it happens, George Washington did this too. His favorite play was Cato by Joseph Addison. This play about the Roman senator and Stoic philosopher was written in 1712. It was hugely famous in the 18th century.
And Washington liked to quote one line that must have resonated with him the way certain quotes resonate with us today. Free, he said in a letter to a friend after the revolution about his return to private life, from the bustle of camp and the intrigues of court, I shall view the busy world in the calm light of mild philosophy. In fact, in a single two-week period in 1797, Washington quoted that same line, the calm light of mild philosophy. Three different letters.
Which memorable line inspired the episode's theme and who used it historically?
And later, in one of Washington's greatest but probably least known moments, when he talked down the mutinous troops who were plotting to overthrow the U.S. government at Newburgh, he quoted the same line as he urged them away from acting in anger and frustration. In the calm light of mild philosophy. That's stoicism. That's using reason to temper our impulses and our emotions. As Epictetus said, it's about putting our impressions up to the test. It's what Marx really talked about when he said that our life is what our thoughts make it. That what we choose to see determines how we will feel. And we must continue this advice today. It served Cato well and Washington even better. All that we see and all that we think we see clearly should be held up to the calm light of mild philosophy so that we can see what it really is, so that we don't do anything that we regret, so we can enjoy this wonderful gift of life that we possess, whatever our station.
We're traveling internationally this summer. And some of those places like in Europe, you know, you can't just go dress like you're slobby American. You got to dress up a little bit. Can't show their shoulders. Can't wear shorts. So I'm going to take some of the stuff I bought from Quince because it holds up well, looks good. It's fancy without being uncomfortable. I'm going to try to pack clothes that are light. airy and comfortable. I can use them in multiple settings. You've certainly seen me in some of these things. If you've ever watched a Daily Stoic video or seen me talk live, I want something that looks good on stage that I'm not going to sweat through. That's not going to get super wrinkled. Quince has got great t-shirts.
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And I guess I'm out of the loop, but once you flip open the app, you see why there's something like super exciting about live sales. Like, Whoa, you can get this right now that they're talking about it right now. And the sellers look like they're having fun. And, you know, it's not edited photos and videos like you see it right there in the seller's hands. It's like a really cool estate sale or like the coolest fair you've ever been at.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What Stoic virtues does the Daily Stoic Podcast aim to teach and why?
0:00–1:28
2
Which memorable line inspired the episode's theme and who used it historically?
1:28–4:41
3
How did George Washington quote 'the calm light of mild philosophy' in letters and leadership?
4:41–7:52
4
What does 'the calm light of mild philosophy' reveal about Stoic emotional control?
7:52–8:40
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Daily Stoic
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