- The Stoic Ledger
- Posts
- April 18
April 18
Day 108/365: Epictetus on difficult peo
Logan
April 18, 2025
Welcome to The Stoic Ledger, a daily money meditation from one of the Stoic sages.
108/365: Epictetus on difficult people
“The beautiful and good person neither fights with anyone nor, as much as they are able, permits others to fight…this is the meaning of getting an education—learning what is your own affair and what is not. If a person carries themselves so, where is there any room for fighting?” – Epictetus
Difficult people have a way of portraying education and intelligence through aggression. Yelling, brash sarcasm, ad hominem attacks, etc.
The educated understand you can’t cram an idea or ideal down someone’s throat. They understand tact, diplomacy, discourse, dialogue. They understand what’s in their control and they understand the war of words is a war of inches, that there is no victor.
It’s best to avoid these people and these situations, as they are vacuum cleaners for your energy.
How can you have mental clarity to pour into the important when recovering from a tornado of a person?
Reply