The world of virtue and rationality that the Stoics read and wrote about? That was not the world they lived in. They lived, as Cicero said, not in the utopia of Plato’s Republic but in the “dregs of Romulus.” That’s what Rome was: An imperfect place. A real place with real people with real problems.

It would have been easy for the Stoics to become cynical about this. It also would have been easy for them to turn away in disgust, as the Epicureans largely did. It would have been nicer in Epicurus’ garden, for sure, than the grimy streets of Rome or the snakepit of the imperial palace.

We might have predicted Marcus Aurelius of all people to be like this. Marcus didn’t want to be emperor. He wanted to be a philosopher! So he could have been led by this impulse, he could have been holier than thou. In the amazing (and must-read 1946 novel) All The King’s Men, the character Adam Stanton is like this. “Because he is a romantic,” Jack Burden, the narrator explains, “and he has a picture of the world in his head, and when the world doesn’t conform in respect to the picture, he wants to throw the world away. Even if that means throwing out the baby with the bath. Which, it always does mean.”

It’s remarkable that Marcus Aurelius did not do this. In fact, he specifically counseled himself to avoid the disappointment that Cicero had pointed out. “Don’t go around expecting Plato’s Republic,” he said. While Adam Stanton was throwing the baby out with the bath, Marcus Aurelius was writing, “If the cucumber is bitter, throw it out. If there are brambles in the path, go around.” He was saying that a politician, a leader, had to be pragmatic and realistic. He had to work with the situations he was in, make the most of them.

That’s what life is about. That’s what leadership demands. We are in an imperfect world populated with flawed people. We ourselves are flawed. We can’t afford to feel or act superior. We have too much work to do, there is too much good we can do. And if we don’t do it—because we’re cynical or because we retreat to more pleasant pastures—who are we ceding the field to?

P.S. For thousands of years the Stoics have been the resource other leaders like George Washington and Admiral James Stockdale have turned to for guidance. Why? Because for the Stoics, leadership was less of a position and more of a process that anyone can learn and benefit from. We guide you through that process in Ancient Wisdom for the Modern Leader: A Daily Stoic Guide To Leadership, where we share how to master your emotions, solve problems, and make decisions like a Stoic. Learn more how you can realize your potential as a leader and sign up TODAY!