Human Nature
This week's concept is human nature, and specifically what the Stoics believed human nature actually is. The Stoics held that every person is born with the capacity for reason and virtue, but that we arrive at wrongdoing through ignorance, poor upbringing, and the habits we absorb from those around us. Understanding this is the foundation of patience with others: when you see clearly why people do harm, indignation starts to lose its grip. The traditional term for the rational, social nature the Stoics saw in every person is "koinonia" in Greek, or more broadly what they called living "kata phusin," meaning according to nature. You will meet that idea here in plain terms as the week unfolds.
Passage
Of course, those who pursue such a course do not need to be warned (for the point is self-evident) to be careful when they seek to oblige some, not to offend others. For oftentimes they hurt those whom they ought not or those whom it is inexpedient to offend. If they do it inadvertently, it is carelessness; if designedly, inconsiderateness. A man must apologize also, to the best of his ability, if he has involuntarily hurt anyone's feelings, and explain why what he has done was unavoidable and why he could not have done otherwise; and he must by future services and kind offices atone for the apparent offence.
— Cicero, On Duties 2.68
Reflection
Cicero shifts the angle: even well-meaning people cause harm without realising it, through carelessness or poor judgement. His remedy is not self-flagellation but honest repair, explaining what happened and making it right through future conduct. This builds on yesterday's foundation. If human nature means we all act from our best current understanding, then unintentional offences are not signs of a flawed character but of incomplete knowledge. The same logic that excuses others also covers you. Patience with others and patience with yourself run on the same track.
Go deeper
Is there a recent situation where you caused friction unintentionally and have not yet fully acknowledged it to the other person, and what is stopping you from doing so?
Practice
One Honest Repair
Identify one small, recent instance where you may have inadvertently hurt or inconvenienced someone. Write two or three sentences you could actually say or send to that person: what happened, why it was not deliberate, and one concrete thing you will do differently. You do not have to send it today, but write it as if you will.