Pursuing Your Own Path

This blog post was originally published on The Stoic Student

Written by Ben Heim

In the past week, I have been meditating on the concept of moral duty. The duty to oneself, the duty to your neighbors, the duty to the world. As I thought about this, I realized that I most often know what my duty is, but I always struggle to act on it.

As a Stoic, I have realized that my ethical code is not the same as everyone else’s. Additionally, I realized that, as a Stoic, I must act on this ethical code no matter what everyone else thinks. Therefore, this post is concerned with action. Specifically, standing up to the crowd when your moral code disagrees with it.

Take a few seconds and think about the noblest people to live through history. The ones that we remember. The ones that we aspire to be. Who did you think of? Maybe Martin Luther King Jr., maybe George Washington. Whoever it is, I can tell you one thing about them: they didn’t follow the crowd.

For the majority of my academic life, I have been plagued by a worry. This worry exerted significant control on my life. It determined my learning, my interactions, and my success. In short, I did not control it, it controlled me. What was it? A crippling fear of others seeing who I really am.

I am sure that many others experience this. Deciding not to raise your hand in fear you will get the wrong answer. Keeping your true opinion to yourself, concerned that others will look at you differently. Becoming jealous of others because you are worried they look better than you. Every one of these scenarios is influenced by our fragile ego — our hope that by going with the crowd, by not speaking up, we’ll remain unjudged and unaffected. But the ego stands in the way of the truth — of what is right. So, when you are in a moment in which you can stand by your values or succumb to the crowd, remember these quotes.

“Away with the world’s opinion of you — it’s always unsettled and divided.” — Seneca

Everything you think, say, and do will be viewed negatively by some people in the world. There is no way to please everyone. In fact, you shouldn’t try to please everyone. You know your values. Live by them.

“And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing.” — Marcus Aurelius

Being a bystander is not enough. You must act in accordance with your values, not refuse to act at all. The more you care about the opinions of others, the less you act according to your own judgment. Do what is right, not what everyone else is doing.

“No thefts of free will reported.” — Epictetus

Although I would usually not advocate for impulsivity, I will this time. If you know something is right, do it. Do not weigh the pros and cons. Do not consider the social repercussions. Before you know it, you will have talked yourself out of taking action. Take the step. No one can prevent you from acting. No one’s opinion can stop you from taking a stand. Do your duty.