"Teach them or bear with them."

Socrates was once struck in the face in the marketplace. The crowd expected him to fight back or to drag the assailant to the magistrate. Instead, he did nothing. Later, he explained that if a donkey had kicked him, he would not take the donkey to court. He viewed the man’s violence as a product of ignorance. It was a lack of human training. To punish him would be useless; to be angry would be irrational. Since the man was too violent to be taught in that moment, Socrates chose the only other rational option: to bear with him.

This maxim cuts through the complexity of human conflict. It leaves no room for anger, resentment, or gossip. When you encounter a flaw in another person, you have two constructive paths. Path One: Correct them. If they are open to reason, show them the error gently. Help them improve. Path Two: If they are unwilling or unable to learn, you must tolerate them. You must accept their flaw as you accept the weather. There is no third path for "complaining" or "hating". Those are useless expenditures of spirit.

Often, people choose the "third path". You do not have the courage to teach the person or the patience to bear them. Instead, you vent. You complain to your spouse about your boss. You mutter under your breath at the slow cashier. You let the irritation fester inside you. This solves nothing. It leaves the other person in their ignorance and you in your misery. Marcus demands action: either fix the problem (teach) or accept the reality (bear). Everything else is waste.

Errors & Corrections

• Don't complain about a person's behavior to everyone. If you cannot address the person directly to effect change, you must silence your complaints and endure the behavior with dignity.
• Don't try to "teach" someone while you are angry. Wait until you are calm. Instruction given in anger is perceived as an attack, not a lesson.
• Don't expect someone to know better when they have never been taught. Assume ignorance before malice. Many people simply do not know they are being rude or inefficient.

Applications to Modern Life

Leadership:

A subordinate makes a recurring mistake. The bad manager gets frustrated and fixes it themselves, resenting the employee. The Stoic manager stops. Can this person be taught? If yes, invest the time to train them properly. If they have been taught and still fail, can you bear with them (is the cost acceptable)? If not, they must be removed. But at no point is "getting angry" a valid management strategy.

Interpersonal Relationships:

A child is throwing a tantrum. You can shout (which teaches them to shout) or you can bear with the storm until it passes, then teach. Often, the "teaching" cannot happen during the emotional flood. You must "bear" the noise of the tantrum first. Only when the waters recede can the lesson be planted.

Social Media:

You see a factually incorrect post. You have the choice. You can provide a source and a polite correction (Teach). Or, realizing the venue is toxic and the user is a troll, you can scroll past without engaging (Bear). The error is getting sucked into a flame war where no teaching is possible and no tolerance is shown.

Maxims

• Ignorance is a state to be corrected, not punished.
• If you cannot fix it, you must endure it.
• Anger is neither teaching nor bearing; it is losing.

In-depth Concepts

Paideia (Education/Training)

For the Greeks and Romans, Paideia was not just book learning; it was the molding of character. When Marcus says "teach them," he means to offer them Paideia—to help shape their soul toward virtue. It is an act of love, not superiority.

Apatheia (Freedom from Passion)

To "bear with them" requires Apatheia. This is not indifference (not caring). It is the state of not being enslaved by a passion. You care about the person, but you do not let their bad behavior disturb your inner citadel. You remain a stable rock against which their waves break.