After serving as an officer in Vietnam, Paul Woodruff decided to dedicate his life to teaching and writing about philosophy. He’s been a professor at the University of Texas at Austin since 1973. He’s written half a dozen books. He’s translated the works of Plato, Thucydides, Sophocles, and Euripides. And as it happens, it all started when he discovered Marcus Aurelius as a teenager, after he was given a copy of Meditations.
Professor Woodruff told this story beautifully on the Daily Stoic Podcast recently and more helpfully, he explained how he has applied what he’s learned ever since. “What I find most helpful from Marcus Aurelius is something I still frequently apply in my own life,” Professor Woodruff said. To explain, he used a slightly humorous example:
“I love birdwatching, and I have a bird feeder. And for a while, I found myself getting angry at the squirrels trying to steal birdseed from the feeder. I know many bird lovers who just fume with anger at squirrels. I thought about this, and I said to myself, ‘I’m actually closely related to squirrels: they’re mammals who do what they need to get food. Everything they’re doing is entirely natural to them.’ And as Marcus Aurelius says, it’s inappropriate to be angry at anyone that’s doing what’s natural to them. And of course it’s natural for the squirrels to do this. So instead of being angry at them, I should just order a little more birdseed. Which I did…And I’ve decided to try to feel the same way about politicians I disagree with. They’re like the squirrels—they do what’s natural to them. It’s just their nature, and it’s wrong for me to get fussy about people doing what comes naturally to them. This is very much Marcus Aurelius’ way of dealing with people he finds objectionable.”
People who are selfish. People who are obnoxious. People who are ignorant, egotistical, people who recline their seats on airplanes, and frustrate you to no end. When you come across these people, Marcus writes, “You can hold your breath until you’re blue in the face, and they’ll just go on doing it.”
Or you can remind yourself, they’re like the squirrels. They’re doing what’s natural to them. It’s just their nature. And it’s pointless to get mad at nature.
