The Daily Stoic

A

July    24th

SOMEWHERE   SOMEONE’S   DYING

“Whenever   disturbing  news    is  delivered   to  you,    bear    in  mind    that    no  news    can ever    be  relevant    to

your    reasoned    choice. Can anyone  break   news    to  you that    your    assumptions or  desires are

wrong?  No  way!    But they    can tell    you someone died—even   so, what    is  that    to  you?”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.18.1–2

well-meaning friend might ask you today: “What do you think about [insert tragedy from the other side
of the world]?” You, in your equally well-meaning concern, might say, “I just feel awful about it.”
In this scenario, both of you have put aside your reasoned choice without doing a single thing for the
victims suffering from the actual tragedy. It can be so easy to get distracted by, even consumed by,
horrible news from all over the world. The proper response of the Stoic to these events is not to not care,
but mindless, meaningless sympathy does very little either (and comes at the cost of one’s own serenity, in
most cases). If there is something you can actually do to help these suffering people, then, yes, the
disturbing news (and your reaction to it) has relevance to your reasoned choice. If emoting is the end of
your participation, then you ought to get back to your own individual duty—to yourself, to your family, to
your country.