#4 Stoic practice: take another’s perspective

This series of articles is my feedback on A Handbook for New Stoics, a book on the practice of Stoicism, by Massimo Pigliucci and Gregory Lopez. For one year, every week, I will experience the Stoic practices proposed by the handbook and I will share with you my weekly review. This will provide you with an overview of the different Stoic exercises and the benefits (or not) they can offer you.

💬 The quote (Marcus Aurelius).

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 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

🔥 Practice: understanding what motivates others in their behavior

The practice consisted of putting ourselves in another’s shoes, understanding their point of view, and realizing that their actions can be justified for reasons/values that could be our own, even if those actions are unpleasant to us.