God.

I’m not going to talk much about my religious beliefs here, but if you’ve looked at my Reading List, it’s pretty obvious where I fall on the spectrum. The inevitable question that always comes up when you debate such things is: if we rid ourselves of the old system, what will take it’s places? Anarchy? Meaninglessness? Rampant immorality? These of course are questions that indicate a fear of change more than anything else.

But, anyway, I’ve been reading Hobbes lately for a class. Here we have a man who almost certainly would have been an atheist if he were alive today. An author who not by coincidence is using a biblical term in an ironic fashion as a title. A man who wrote some of the darkest philosophy–not just for his time but for all time. Who talked of man’s brutishness, tendency to do evil, etc.

And what was his ultimate rule?

Do not that to another, which thou wouldest not have done to thy selfe.

Written by Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.