0:00:13.791,0:00:15.199 Imagine, if you will, 0:00:15.199,0:00:17.687 that you're walking[br]down the streets of Athens 0:00:17.687,0:00:20.706 24 centuries ago, give or take. 0:00:21.146,0:00:22.649 You might meet this guy: 0:00:22.739,0:00:24.592 Zeno of Citium. 0:00:24.592,0:00:26.967 He was a merchant, a Phoenician merchant. 0:00:26.967,0:00:30.575 He was doing very well[br]until a shipwreck destroyed everything 0:00:30.575,0:00:32.614 and he lost everything he had. 0:00:33.244,0:00:35.838 So he made it to Athens,[br]and what did he do? 0:00:35.838,0:00:39.456 One of the first things he did[br]was to walk into a bookshop 0:00:39.456,0:00:41.079 and started reading books. 0:00:41.079,0:00:46.175 He read Xenophon's "Memorabilia,"[br]which is a book about Socrates. 0:00:46.175,0:00:48.887 And he was so intrigued[br]that he turned to the bookseller 0:00:48.887,0:00:51.269 and says, "Where can I find me[br]one of these people, 0:00:51.269,0:00:53.445 one of these philosopher folks?" 0:00:53.445,0:00:55.243 And the bookseller turned around. 0:00:55.243,0:00:57.955 He said, "Well, there's one[br]right over there, walking by." 0:00:57.955,0:01:01.345 Because that was Athens at the time:[br]philosophers were just walking by. 0:01:01.345,0:01:02.909 (Laughter) 0:01:02.909,0:01:07.351 The guy walking by was Crates,[br]a Cynic philosopher. 0:01:07.351,0:01:09.299 And Zeno became his student, 0:01:09.299,0:01:10.619 eventually went on to study 0:01:10.619,0:01:13.462 with a number of other[br]of the major philosophers in Athens. 0:01:13.462,0:01:15.841 And then he established his own school, 0:01:16.511,0:01:18.455 which became known as "Stoicism" 0:01:18.455,0:01:21.342 because they studied meaning[br]in the stoa, in the open market, 0:01:21.342,0:01:24.449 unlike the other schools[br]where you had to go to a specific place - 0:01:24.449,0:01:27.660 Plato's Academy or Aristotle's Lyceum - 0:01:27.660,0:01:29.956 the Stoics wanted to be[br]in the middle of people, 0:01:29.956,0:01:33.109 to talk to people about their life[br]and how to make it better. 0:01:33.509,0:01:36.967 Stoicism became one of the major[br]philosophies of antiquity. 0:01:36.967,0:01:39.129 It spread through[br]the Hellenistic world first 0:01:39.129,0:01:42.694 and then to the Roman Republic[br]and then Roman Empire. 0:01:42.694,0:01:45.286 It produced some of[br]the major thinkers of the time. 0:01:45.776,0:01:49.288 Seneca, who was a senator, 0:01:49.288,0:01:52.062 a playwright - he influenced Shakespeare - 0:01:52.062,0:01:56.008 and the unfortunate advisor[br]to the Emperor Nero. 0:01:56.008,0:01:58.438 That didn't end up well for Seneca. 0:01:59.118,0:02:05.032 Marcus Aurelius, one of the few[br]king-philosophers of all of history, 0:02:05.032,0:02:07.472 who wrote "The Meditations,"[br]his own personal diary, 0:02:07.472,0:02:11.683 which is now read by millions[br]of people around the world. 0:02:13.463,0:02:15.826 Now, unusual for ancient philosophy, 0:02:16.226,0:02:17.996 Stoicism attracted a number of women. 0:02:17.996,0:02:21.044 A lot of Roman matrons[br]used to organize convivia, 0:02:21.044,0:02:23.729 which were sort of get-togethers[br]with their friends, 0:02:23.729,0:02:25.246 to talk about Stoicism. 0:02:25.246,0:02:28.223 But many of them[br]also lived the philosophy. 0:02:28.223,0:02:31.383 One of them, the most famous one,[br]was Porcia Catonis, 0:02:31.383,0:02:35.387 who happened to be both the daughter[br]of Cato the Younger, 0:02:35.387,0:02:37.719 who was an archenemy of Julius Caesar, 0:02:37.719,0:02:42.776 as well as the wife of Brutus,[br]one of the co-conspirators against Caesar. 0:02:42.776,0:02:45.071 So she had a lot to deal with in her life, 0:02:45.071,0:02:48.016 and she approached it in a Stoic fashion. 0:02:50.196,0:02:54.000 Now, Stoicism, like all[br]ancient schools of philosophy, 0:02:54.000,0:02:57.418 eventually died down or was closed[br]with the rise of Christianity, 0:02:57.418,0:03:01.287 but it kept influencing people[br]throughout the following two millennia. 0:03:01.287,0:03:04.642 The reason many people today[br]are familiar with some of the Stoic ideas 0:03:04.642,0:03:06.554 is because they influenced Christianity, 0:03:06.554,0:03:10.057 beginning with Paul of Tarsus,[br]arguably the founder of Christianity, 0:03:10.057,0:03:12.569 and continuing with Thomas Aquinas, 0:03:12.719,0:03:15.145 the most influential theologian[br]of the Middle Ages, 0:03:15.145,0:03:18.177 and then into more modern times[br]with René Descartes, 0:03:18.427,0:03:22.032 arguably one of the most[br]important modern philosophers, 0:03:22.032,0:03:26.966 and Baruch Spinoza, whose ethics[br]was, in fact, based mostly on Stoicism. 0:03:30.706,0:03:32.876 But enough about its history. 0:03:33.176,0:03:34.324 What is Stoicism about? 0:03:34.364,0:03:37.004 Well, the first thing is[br]it's based on a crucial premise 0:03:37.004,0:03:39.849 that we should live our life[br]according to nature. 0:03:39.849,0:03:44.320 Now, before you go and run[br]into the forest naked to hug trees - 0:03:44.320,0:03:46.307 that's not what it is about. 0:03:46.807,0:03:50.782 The Stoics thought that we[br]should take seriously human nature. 0:03:50.782,0:03:54.452 And human nature fundamentally[br]consists of two things, two aspects. 0:03:54.452,0:03:57.032 One, we're highly social animals. 0:03:57.032,0:04:01.640 We can survive on our own if we have to,[br]but we only thrive in groups of people, 0:04:01.640,0:04:04.560 we only thrive when we have[br]healthy social networks. 0:04:04.560,0:04:06.270 And two, we're capable of reason. 0:04:06.270,0:04:09.225 As you know, that doesn't mean[br]we 're reasonable all the time. 0:04:09.225,0:04:12.116 In fact, on the contrary -[br]we struggle for that. 0:04:12.116,0:04:14.551 But we are capable of reason. 0:04:14.551,0:04:15.561 For the Stoics, 0:04:15.561,0:04:19.097 it followed that the best kind[br]of human life you can actually have 0:04:19.097,0:04:21.778 is one in which you apply[br]your reason, your intelligence, 0:04:21.778,0:04:23.232 to improve social living, 0:04:23.232,0:04:25.849 to improve everybody else's life. 0:04:27.089,0:04:29.743 There are two fundamental pillars[br]of Stoic philosophy, 0:04:29.743,0:04:34.184 which we will see, in a minute,[br]applied very practically to our life. 0:04:34.184,0:04:37.543 One is the four cardinal virtues: 0:04:37.543,0:04:40.824 practical wisdom, courage,[br]justice and temperance. 0:04:40.824,0:04:43.514 Practical wisdom is the knowledge[br]of what is good for you 0:04:43.514,0:04:45.176 and what is not good for you. 0:04:45.176,0:04:48.216 Courage is not just physical[br]but especially moral: 0:04:48.216,0:04:50.823 the courage to stand up[br]and do the right thing. 0:04:50.823,0:04:53.903 Justice is what tells you[br]what the right thing is, 0:04:53.903,0:04:56.759 how to interact with other people,[br]how to treat other people. 0:04:56.759,0:04:58.018 And temperance is the idea 0:04:58.018,0:05:00.394 that you should always do things[br]in right measure - 0:05:00.394,0:05:02.976 not overdo them nor underdo them. 0:05:05.016,0:05:08.432 The second pillar is called[br]"dichotomy of control." 0:05:08.432,0:05:09.757 This is the very basic idea 0:05:09.757,0:05:13.139 that some things are up to us[br]and other things are not up to us. 0:05:13.409,0:05:17.061 Now, you can divide everything you do[br]into these two categories 0:05:17.061,0:05:19.812 and only worry about the first one[br]and not the second one. 0:05:19.812,0:05:24.557 For instance, I came here[br]thinking that I could control the slides. 0:05:24.557,0:05:28.008 As you've seen,[br]that's outside of my control. 0:05:28.008,0:05:29.892 Do I worry about it? No. 0:05:33.112,0:05:35.329 Let me introduce you to Epictetus. 0:05:35.329,0:05:39.544 He was one of the most important[br]Stoic philosophers of antiquity. 0:05:39.544,0:05:40.720 He was a slave. 0:05:40.720,0:05:44.942 He was born in Hierapolis,[br]in modern-day Pamukkale, in Turkey. 0:05:44.942,0:05:48.247 He was acquired - in fact,[br]his name means "acquired." 0:05:48.247,0:05:51.115 We don't know his real name;[br]Epictetus just means acquired. 0:05:51.115,0:05:54.049 And [he was] brought to Rome[br]to the court of the Emperor Nero, 0:05:54.609,0:05:55.852 where he did pretty well. 0:05:55.852,0:05:57.130 Eventually, he was freed. 0:05:57.130,0:05:58.799 He was, you know, a bright guy, 0:05:58.799,0:06:01.053 so he started going[br]through the streets of Rome 0:06:01.053,0:06:02.926 preaching Stoicism. 0:06:02.926,0:06:06.288 And for his troubles,[br]he got punched on the nose. 0:06:06.288,0:06:08.574 So he figured that wasn't a good approach. 0:06:08.884,0:06:10.885 It was in his power[br]to change the approach, 0:06:10.885,0:06:13.435 so he started over,[br]and he established his own school, 0:06:13.435,0:06:15.064 which was very successful 0:06:15.244,0:06:18.252 until the Emperor Domitian[br]kicked out all the Stoics out of Rome 0:06:18.252,0:06:21.163 because he did not appreciate[br]their "speaking truth to power," 0:06:21.163,0:06:22.808 as we would say today. 0:06:23.078,0:06:26.943 So Epictetus moved and went to Nicopolis,[br]in northwestern Greece, 0:06:26.943,0:06:28.150 reestablished his school 0:06:28.150,0:06:30.774 and became one of the most famous[br]teachers of antiquity. 0:06:30.774,0:06:33.201 The reason I like Epictetus[br]is because he's blunt 0:06:33.201,0:06:35.832 and he has a sarcastic sense of humor. 0:06:36.302,0:06:38.446 And I'll give you[br]a taste of this in a second. 0:06:38.446,0:06:41.272 Here's what he says in "The Discourses": 0:06:41.272,0:06:42.646 "I'll have to die. 0:06:42.646,0:06:45.185 If it is now, well, then I die now. 0:06:45.185,0:06:48.405 If later, then now I will take my lunch, 0:06:48.405,0:06:50.175 since the hour for lunch has arrived, 0:06:50.175,0:06:52.457 and dying, I will tend to later." 0:06:52.767,0:06:55.226 Don't worry about death;[br]worry about lunch. 0:06:55.226,0:06:56.236 (Laughter) 0:06:56.236,0:06:59.065 You know you're going to die;[br]that isn't under your control. 0:06:59.065,0:07:01.367 Lunch, on the other hand,[br]is under your control. 0:07:05.287,0:07:07.452 Now, I told you[br]about the dichotomy of control 0:07:07.452,0:07:09.954 being one of the two[br]fundamental pillars of Stoicism. 0:07:09.954,0:07:11.925 Here's how Epictetus himself explains it. 0:07:11.925,0:07:13.030 He says, 0:07:13.180,0:07:16.695 "Some things are within our power,[br]while others are not. 0:07:16.695,0:07:19.767 Within our power[br]are opinion, motivation, desire, 0:07:19.767,0:07:23.208 and in a word,[br]whatever is of our own doing. 0:07:23.588,0:07:27.191 Not within our power are our body,[br]our property, reputation, 0:07:27.191,0:07:30.165 and in a word, whatever[br]is not of our own doing." 0:07:30.345,0:07:32.902 And note, if you stop for a second[br]and think about it, 0:07:32.902,0:07:34.094 it's like that is weird. 0:07:34.094,0:07:37.630 He's saying that my body, my property,[br]my reputation are not in [my] power? 0:07:37.630,0:07:38.645 What do you mean? 0:07:38.645,0:07:40.796 I can decide to go to the gym[br]and eat healthy; 0:07:40.796,0:07:42.848 of course my body's under my power. 0:07:42.848,0:07:45.632 Unless a virus strikes you down. 0:07:45.632,0:07:48.310 Unless you have an accident[br]and you break your leg. 0:07:48.310,0:07:50.888 The idea is that you can do things, 0:07:50.888,0:07:55.260 you can make decisions about your health,[br]your reputation, etcetera, etcetera, 0:07:55.260,0:07:57.962 but ultimately,[br]you don't control the outcome. 0:07:58.762,0:08:00.454 So what does that mean in practice? 0:08:00.454,0:08:02.719 It means that we should try[br]to walk through life 0:08:02.719,0:08:04.098 by internalizing our goals, 0:08:04.098,0:08:07.437 not worry about the outcomes,[br]because those are outside of our control, 0:08:07.437,0:08:10.286 but worry about our intentions[br]and our efforts 0:08:10.286,0:08:12.687 because those are very much[br]under our control. 0:08:12.687,0:08:15.352 One of the beautiful metaphors[br]that the Stoics introduced 0:08:15.352,0:08:16.501 was that of an archer. 0:08:16.501,0:08:18.756 Imagine that you[br]are trying to hit a target. 0:08:18.756,0:08:20.885 What is under your control? 0:08:20.885,0:08:24.686 Well, the practice of archery -[br]you can practice for hours and hours. 0:08:24.686,0:08:28.440 You can choose the best bows and arrows[br]that are available to you. 0:08:28.440,0:08:31.440 You can take care[br]of those bows and arrows. 0:08:31.440,0:08:35.752 You can focus up until the second[br]in which you let the arrow go. 0:08:35.752,0:08:38.700 But after that, things[br]are completely outside of your control. 0:08:38.700,0:08:40.616 A gust of wind can ruin your best shot. 0:08:40.616,0:08:43.547 The target may move,[br]especially if he's an enemy soldier, 0:08:43.547,0:08:45.775 and you missed. 0:08:45.775,0:08:46.911 So what do you do? 0:08:46.911,0:08:48.021 According to Cicero, 0:08:48.021,0:08:49.927 the actual hitting of the mark 0:08:49.927,0:08:52.543 would be to be chosen[br]but not to be desired. 0:08:52.543,0:08:56.486 So you do not attach[br]your own self-esteem to the outcome; 0:08:56.486,0:09:01.747 you only attach it to what[br]is under your control, to your attempt. 0:09:03.297,0:09:05.856 In practice, in today's life, 0:09:05.856,0:09:08.679 these can change the way[br]you look at pretty much everything. 0:09:08.679,0:09:11.014 Let me give you a couple of examples. 0:09:11.524,0:09:14.047 Let's say you're up for[br]a promotion for your job. 0:09:14.047,0:09:15.355 Now, the normal thing to do 0:09:15.355,0:09:18.781 would be to worry about whether[br]you're going to get the promotion or not. 0:09:19.001,0:09:21.866 According to the Stoics,[br]that's the wrong way to look at it: 0:09:21.866,0:09:24.130 the promotion itself[br]is outside of your control. 0:09:24.130,0:09:27.015 Your boss may have gotten up[br]on the wrong side of the bed, 0:09:27.015,0:09:28.041 he's upset, 0:09:28.041,0:09:29.811 he's got something else on his mind, 0:09:29.811,0:09:32.136 and the interview is not going to go well. 0:09:32.136,0:09:35.209 Or maybe somebody else deserves[br]the promotion better than you do 0:09:35.209,0:09:36.525 even though you did well, 0:09:36.525,0:09:38.615 and again, that's not up to you. 0:09:38.615,0:09:40.010 What is up to you, of course, 0:09:40.010,0:09:42.376 is to prepare the best you can[br]for your interview, 0:09:42.376,0:09:44.339 to put together the best resume possible, 0:09:44.339,0:09:47.491 to work really hard to actually,[br]in fact, deserve that promotion. 0:09:47.491,0:09:49.145 That's the locus of your control; 0:09:49.145,0:09:51.917 that's where you[br]should focus your efforts. 0:09:51.917,0:09:53.605 Or think in terms of relationships. 0:09:53.605,0:09:55.436 You know, everybody wants to be loved. 0:09:55.436,0:09:56.978 But that's not up to us. 0:09:56.978,0:10:00.707 It's up to the person[br]who may or may not love us. 0:10:00.707,0:10:01.708 What's up to us 0:10:01.708,0:10:03.349 is to be the most lovable person, 0:10:03.349,0:10:04.384 to be affectionate, 0:10:04.384,0:10:06.077 to be there for them. 0:10:06.077,0:10:08.290 Whether they decide[br]to stick with us or not - 0:10:08.570,0:10:10.790 not under our control. 0:10:14.200,0:10:17.288 So if you take this seriously,[br]Epictetus says, 0:10:17.288,0:10:19.014 you will, in fact, have a happy life 0:10:19.014,0:10:23.472 because a great part of happiness[br]lies in the serenity, 0:10:23.472,0:10:25.676 into the idea that you[br]always walk through life 0:10:25.676,0:10:27.527 by knowing that you've done your best 0:10:27.527,0:10:30.343 and that nothing else[br]could be done on top of that. 0:10:30.343,0:10:33.574 He says, "If you have the right idea[br]about what really belongs to you 0:10:33.574,0:10:34.582 and what does not" - 0:10:34.582,0:10:37.587 in other words, what you do control[br]and what you don't control - 0:10:37.587,0:10:39.875 "you will never be subject[br]to force or hindrance, 0:10:39.875,0:10:41.881 you will never blame or criticize anyone, 0:10:41.881,0:10:44.064 and everything you do[br]will be done willingly." 0:10:44.064,0:10:46.214 And this would be[br]a significantly better world 0:10:46.214,0:10:50.336 than the one in which everybody[br]goes around blaming other people 0:10:50.996,0:10:53.434 for what they don't have control over. 0:10:54.104,0:10:56.872 Now, my colleague Brian Johnson[br]at Fordham University 0:10:56.872,0:11:01.794 explained Epictetus' approach[br]as a type of role ethics. 0:11:01.794,0:11:05.228 The idea is that we all play[br]a variety of roles in life 0:11:05.228,0:11:07.935 and that a happy life[br]consists in balancing these roles 0:11:07.935,0:11:09.919 as best as we can. 0:11:09.919,0:11:13.343 There are, in fact,[br]fundamentally, three kinds of roles. 0:11:13.343,0:11:15.392 First, our basic role as a human being - 0:11:15.392,0:11:17.378 we're all members of the human polis. 0:11:17.378,0:11:20.675 The Stoics were the ones[br]that introduced the term "cosmopolitan," 0:11:20.675,0:11:25.178 literally meaning[br]"a citizen of the universal polis." 0:11:25.598,0:11:26.721 We're all human beings, 0:11:26.761,0:11:28.118 we're all in the same place, 0:11:28.118,0:11:30.594 and we have to take care[br]of the same place. 0:11:31.164,0:11:33.956 Then there are roles[br]that are given to us by circumstances. 0:11:33.956,0:11:37.329 You could be, you know,[br]somebody's son or daughter. 0:11:37.329,0:11:40.669 That wasn't your choice; it just happened. 0:11:40.669,0:11:44.244 And then there are roles that we choose[br]depending on the circumstances: 0:11:44.244,0:11:48.313 our career, being a mother[br]or a father - things like that. 0:11:48.313,0:11:52.734 These three sets of roles[br]are related in the following way: 0:11:52.734,0:11:55.373 your basic role as a human being[br]trumps everything else. 0:11:55.373,0:11:58.083 Everything you do,[br]you should ask yourself first, 0:11:58.083,0:11:59.599 Is this good for humanity? 0:11:59.599,0:12:01.670 If it isn't, don't do it. 0:12:02.400,0:12:03.880 It's a simple test. 0:12:03.880,0:12:07.489 You will end up doing much less,[br]by the way, if you follow this, 0:12:07.489,0:12:09.000 as we saved you energy. 0:12:09.000,0:12:11.438 And then the rest,[br]you simply balance things out. 0:12:11.438,0:12:13.600 These roles come with trade-offs. 0:12:13.600,0:12:16.677 Yes, you want to be the best[br]mother or father and son or daughter 0:12:16.677,0:12:18.971 and colleague and friend[br]and so on and so forth, 0:12:18.971,0:12:20.169 but there are trade-offs, 0:12:20.169,0:12:23.628 and a lot of what Stoic philosophy[br]tells you about, or teaches you about, 0:12:23.628,0:12:25.505 is how to balance these things. 0:12:26.145,0:12:27.637 How do you play these roles? 0:12:27.637,0:12:30.583 Well, the most important thing[br]is you play them with integrity. 0:12:30.743,0:12:31.896 What does that mean? 0:12:31.896,0:12:34.857 Well, Epictetus again explains: 0:12:34.857,0:12:37.151 "You are the one that knows yourself, 0:12:37.151,0:12:39.182 of how much you're worth to yourself 0:12:39.182,0:12:42.025 and for how much you're selling yourself. 0:12:42.445,0:12:44.696 Consider at what price[br]you sell your integrity, 0:12:44.696,0:12:47.992 but please, for God's sake,[br]don't sell it cheap." 0:12:48.612,0:12:52.144 What that means is that the goal here[br]is not to reach perfection, 0:12:52.144,0:12:54.054 whatever that means; 0:12:54.054,0:12:56.412 it's just to be the best you can. 0:12:57.002,0:13:02.029 Don't compromise and sell yourself cheap,[br]because you only have yourself to sell. 0:13:02.029,0:13:03.038 That's it - 0:13:03.038,0:13:05.817 once you've sold yourself,[br]then there's nothing else left. 0:13:05.817,0:13:09.308 The idea is to be not perfect[br]but just better than you were yesterday, 0:13:09.308,0:13:11.661 one little step at a time. 0:13:13.211,0:13:15.480 Now, let me give you a couple of examples. 0:13:16.050,0:13:17.608 Epictetus talks about a father 0:13:17.608,0:13:20.871 who is very distraught[br]because his daughter is sick, 0:13:20.871,0:13:22.168 and he just can't take it. 0:13:22.168,0:13:23.178 He leaves the house, 0:13:23.178,0:13:26.424 and leaves his wife[br]to deal with the daughter. 0:13:26.424,0:13:28.440 And Epictetus says, "Wait a minute. 0:13:28.440,0:13:31.472 Do you think you were right[br]to have acted that way?" 0:13:31.472,0:13:33.335 The father thinks about it for a minute 0:13:33.335,0:13:35.382 and says, "Well, I was behaving naturally. 0:13:35.382,0:13:38.846 I was, you know, distraught.[br]I couldn't help it." 0:13:39.066,0:13:41.625 Well, that brings up the distinction 0:13:41.625,0:13:44.344 between what is natural[br]to us, our feelings - 0:13:44.344,0:13:46.403 You don't control your feelings. 0:13:46.513,0:13:49.206 If you're distraught[br]because your daughter is sick, 0:13:49.206,0:13:52.368 there's nothing you can do[br]or should do, probably, about it. 0:13:52.368,0:13:56.152 But that's different from the ethical duty[br]that you have toward your daughter: 0:13:56.152,0:13:57.392 you are her father. 0:13:57.392,0:13:58.869 You 're supposed to stay there 0:13:58.869,0:14:02.744 even though it does cost you[br]in terms of emotional energy. 0:14:02.744,0:14:05.400 So the two virtues[br]that come into play here 0:14:05.400,0:14:06.586 are courage, 0:14:06.586,0:14:09.326 to actually do the right thing,[br]to stay with the daughter, 0:14:09.326,0:14:10.381 and justice, 0:14:10.381,0:14:15.191 that is, do the just thing,[br]the correct thing, for your daughter. 0:14:18.081,0:14:22.664 We also have to, as I said before,[br]balance different social roles. 0:14:22.664,0:14:25.758 And this has to do with two other virtues: 0:14:25.758,0:14:26.816 the practical wisdom, 0:14:26.816,0:14:28.435 the idea of knowing the difference 0:14:28.435,0:14:31.049 between what's good for you[br]and what's not good for you, 0:14:31.049,0:14:32.258 and temperance, 0:14:32.258,0:14:34.007 the idea that you can balance things 0:14:34.007,0:14:36.864 by putting the right amount of energy[br]into everything you do. 0:14:36.864,0:14:38.364 Epictetus explains it this way: 0:14:38.364,0:14:40.409 "Reflect on the other[br]social roles you play. 0:14:40.409,0:14:42.664 If you're young,[br]what does it mean to be young? 0:14:42.664,0:14:45.168 If you're old, what does age imply? 0:14:45.168,0:14:47.384 If you're a father,[br]what does father entail? 0:14:47.384,0:14:50.298 Each of our titles[br]suggest the acts appropriate to it. 0:14:50.298,0:14:52.366 Imagine you are an actor, you play a role. 0:14:52.366,0:14:54.441 Now, the role is not[br]completely determined. 0:14:54.441,0:14:57.591 You can play the role of a mother,[br]for instance, in many ways. 0:14:57.591,0:14:59.194 You don't have to play in the way 0:14:59.194,0:15:01.198 in which society[br]largely tells you to play. 0:15:01.198,0:15:04.969 You just have to play in the way[br]you think it's the right way to play it. 0:15:04.969,0:15:08.123 But still you're a mother or a father,[br]so you have certain duties. 0:15:08.123,0:15:09.770 The way you cash out these duties, 0:15:09.770,0:15:11.808 the way you actually[br]exercise those duties, 0:15:11.808,0:15:12.853 is up to you. 0:15:12.853,0:15:15.143 But you do have them. 0:15:17.973,0:15:21.463 Now, how do we learn to play well[br]our roles in life? 0:15:21.463,0:15:22.490 There's many ways - 0:15:22.490,0:15:23.542 the Stoics were famous 0:15:23.542,0:15:26.762 for a number of exercises,[br]practical exercises, about these things - 0:15:26.762,0:15:28.866 but fundamentally,[br]one of the best ways to go 0:15:28.866,0:15:32.107 is to simply imagine people[br]that actually do well, 0:15:32.107,0:15:33.712 people that are your role models, 0:15:33.712,0:15:37.003 people that you can see[br]and use as a pattern 0:15:37.003,0:15:39.287 after which you change your own life. 0:15:39.287,0:15:43.157 The ancients used people that they knew,[br]people that they heard about 0:15:43.157,0:15:44.486 or even imaginary people. 0:15:44.486,0:15:47.336 One of their favorite role models[br]was Cato the Younger. 0:15:47.336,0:15:51.079 I mentioned him earlier;[br]he was the father of Porcia Catonis. 0:15:51.079,0:15:53.075 He had such a level of integrity 0:15:53.075,0:15:55.263 that when people in Rome[br]did something wrong - 0:15:55.263,0:15:59.526 they made a mistake,[br]they didn't hold up to expectations - 0:15:59.526,0:16:02.351 they would say, "Well, [br]not everybody can be a Cato." 0:16:02.351,0:16:03.687 He was used as an excuse. 0:16:03.687,0:16:05.968 It was like, "Not everybody[br]can be that good." 0:16:05.968,0:16:09.120 Well, right, but you can try. 0:16:09.120,0:16:12.749 One of the favorite[br]ancient role models was Odysseus, 0:16:13.219,0:16:16.928 who gave up immortality twice 0:16:16.928,0:16:21.187 and endured 10 years of traveling[br]just to get back home, 0:16:21.187,0:16:24.293 to get back to his wife and to his child. 0:16:24.293,0:16:29.190 But there's also modern role models,[br]and there's a lot of them to pick from. 0:16:29.190,0:16:32.004 Some of my favorites are Nelson Mandela, 0:16:32.004,0:16:33.012 who, as we know, 0:16:33.012,0:16:36.081 spent more than 20 years in prison[br]fighting the apartheid regime. 0:16:36.081,0:16:38.892 He was very angry,[br]understandably, during that period. 0:16:38.892,0:16:40.988 But one of the changing points in his life 0:16:40.988,0:16:43.383 was when one of his fellow inmates 0:16:43.383,0:16:47.154 smuggled in a copy[br]of Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations." 0:16:47.154,0:16:49.935 Mandela read it and understood[br]that the way forward 0:16:49.935,0:16:51.859 was not through anger or hatred, 0:16:51.859,0:16:54.858 but on the contrary, by extending a hand 0:16:54.858,0:16:58.755 also to the people, even to the people[br]who were his captors and his tormentors. 0:16:58.755,0:17:00.006 And that changed his life 0:17:00.006,0:17:03.206 and changed the life[br]of the people in South Africa. 0:17:03.206,0:17:05.378 Another one of my favorite role models 0:17:05.378,0:17:07.271 is Susan Fowler, 0:17:07.271,0:17:12.287 who a couple of years ago came out[br]and stood up to the Uber motor company 0:17:13.137,0:17:16.632 to denounce their sexual[br]harassment culture 0:17:16.632,0:17:18.716 that was quite widespread at the time. 0:17:18.716,0:17:20.228 She risked a lot personally, 0:17:20.228,0:17:22.966 in terms of career,[br]in terms of friendships, 0:17:23.346,0:17:25.263 and she did it from a Stoic perspective. 0:17:25.263,0:17:29.481 I happen to know Susan,[br]and she is, in fact, a practicing Stoic. 0:17:29.841,0:17:35.378 My favorite role model[br]at a fictional level is Spider-man, 0:17:35.728,0:17:39.464 who famously said that with great powers[br]come great responsibility. 0:17:39.464,0:17:42.178 Well, we don't have great powers -[br]we're not superheroes - 0:17:42.178,0:17:43.303 but we do have power. 0:17:43.303,0:17:45.743 We have the power of exercising choices, 0:17:45.743,0:17:47.800 and that power comes[br]with the responsibility 0:17:47.800,0:17:51.458 of exercising the best choice[br]we can possibly make. 0:17:52.068,0:17:54.696 So the general idea,[br]according to Epictetus, 0:17:54.836,0:17:58.809 is that just like actors[br]in the ancient world, 0:17:58.809,0:18:00.085 in ancient Greece, 0:18:00.085,0:18:03.480 we wear a number of masks,[br]and we change them continuously. 0:18:03.480,0:18:06.586 The same actor would come out on stage[br]and wear a different mask, 0:18:06.586,0:18:08.738 and the mask will tell the audience 0:18:08.738,0:18:11.111 which character[br]he was playing in the moment, 0:18:11.111,0:18:13.508 and it would remind the actor himself 0:18:13.508,0:18:15.661 that he was now playing[br]a different character. 0:18:15.661,0:18:19.688 And the idea is that a happy life[br]is, in fact, a life well-balanced, 0:18:19.688,0:18:24.360 where you play all these roles[br]as the best actor you can possibly be. 0:18:24.650,0:18:26.030 Thank you very much. 0:18:26.030,0:18:27.711 (Applause)