Something to Pity

The kind of people we are going to meet each day—the bitter, the stupid, the jealous, the petty, racists, polluters, rage profiteers, reality television stars, trolls and on and on. ( I know many of those labels apply to me as well)

These people are frustrating. They make the world less safe, less productive, less collaborative. They poison the common good. They destroy any semblance of common understanding or commonality, period.

But instead of getting angry at them, try pity first. As we’ve said before, these people aren’t actually having a good time. Nor, in most cases, are they avoiding the consequences of their own actions (in some cases, they suffer most). Even if it doesn’t always seem so obvious. After all, you could be like them if you wanted.

Why? Because it’s a horrible, shameful way to live. These people who frustrate us are cut off from that. They have been led astray. Or they have chosen to go astray.

And that is something to pity

From the thought of Ryan Holiday

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