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Practice like a Stoic: 4, Take another’s perspective
Train yourself to look at things from the point of view of other people
[This series of posts is based on A Handbook for New Stoics — How to Thrive in a World out of Your Control, co-authored by yours truly and Greg Lopez. It is a collection of 52 exercises, which we propose reader try out one per week during a whole year, to actually live like a Stoic. In Europe/UK the book is published by Rider under the title Live Like A Stoic. Below is this week’s prompt and a brief explanation of the pertinent philosophical background. Check the book for details on how to practice the exercise, download the exercise forms from The Experiment’s website, and comment below on how things are going. Greg and/or I will try our best to help out! This week’s exercise is found at pp. 15–19 of the paperback edition.]
“Does a man do you a wrong? Go to and mark what notion of good and evil was his that did the wrong. Once [you] perceive that . . . you will feel compassion, not surprise or anger. For you have still yourself either the same notion of good and evil as he, or another not unlike it. You need to forgive him then. But if [your] notions of good and evil are no longer such, all the more easily shall you be gracious to him that sees awry.” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.26)
