Never stay in a bad marriage, and don't hang around with psycho

The words of Joe Rogan — “Never stay in a bad marriage, and don’t hang around with psycho coke fiends.” — strike like a flash of lightning: blunt, raw, and unsparing in their truth. Beneath their coarse humor lies the timeless wisdom of self-preservation — the call to guard one’s spirit from the poisons of toxic love and destructive company. In a world that often confuses endurance with virtue, Rogan reminds us that not all suffering is noble, and not all loyalty is righteous. To remain where peace has perished, or to keep company with those who feast on chaos, is to invite ruin into the soul.

Joe Rogan, a voice both provocative and reflective, is a man who has witnessed the many faces of human folly — in art, in sport, and in life. His quote, though delivered in jest, carries the weight of deep human insight. It springs from the old truths that the ancients knew well: that one must be discerning in love and in friendship, for both possess the power to elevate or destroy. His counsel, stripped of ornament, echoes the ancient philosophers’ call to wisdom through clarity — to see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. For a bad marriage and destructive companions alike are prisons of the heart, binding a person to pain disguised as loyalty.

To “never stay in a bad marriage” is to understand that love without respect becomes bondage. The ancients would have called such a bond a corruption of sacred union — a shadow of what marriage was meant to be. For the true purpose of marriage, as even philosophers like Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius taught, is the companionship of virtue: two souls growing in harmony toward truth and goodness. But when love turns to cruelty, or respect to resentment, the flame that once warmed becomes a fire that burns. Rogan’s words remind us that it is better to walk alone in peace than to remain chained in bitterness.

And his warning not to “hang around with psycho coke fiends” — though born of the modern age — carries a wisdom as old as civilization itself. The company we keep shapes the person we become. To dwell among those enslaved by vice, whether of substance or spirit, is to risk contamination of the soul. The ancients spoke of this through parable and proverb: “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.” Rogan’s blunt phrasing may lack the polish of philosophers, yet the meaning is the same — avoid the madness of destructive souls, for they will drag you into their storm and call it friendship.

Consider the story of Samson, the mighty warrior of ancient Israel, whose strength was legendary. Yet it was not the swords of his enemies that undid him, but the company he kept. He loved Delilah, whose deceit bound him tighter than any rope. In trusting the wrong heart, Samson fell from grace, his strength betrayed by his blindness to corruption. His tragedy mirrors Rogan’s warning: to stay in toxic love or linger among destructive companions is to surrender your strength, your purpose, your peace. The poison may come in the form of affection or companionship, but the end is the same — the loss of self.

Joe Rogan’s quote, stripped of pretense, is a call to self-respect — to recognize one’s worth and walk away from those who would diminish it. Whether it is a marriage without kindness or friendships steeped in addiction and chaos, one must remember: the soul thrives only in healthy soil. To stay where one is disrespected, or to remain among those consumed by vice, is to forsake one’s own potential. The wise do not linger in ruin; they seek light.

And so, my children, learn this lesson well: choose your bonds with care. Love deeply, but not blindly. Be loyal, but not to your own destruction. Walk beside those who lift you higher, and have the courage to part from those who drag you down. Do not fear solitude; fear corruption of the spirit. For solitude can be the garden where peace grows, but toxic company is the desert where hope withers.

Thus, the wisdom of Joe Rogan endures — spoken not in robes of philosophy, but in the rugged voice of experience. To leave a bad marriage is not failure, but freedom. To shun destructive company is not coldness, but clarity. The path of a peaceful soul is not found in clinging to what harms you, but in guarding your heart with courage and discernment. Remember this: it is not who you love or who you know that defines your destiny, but what kind of energy and truth you allow to walk beside you. Choose wisely — for the company you keep, and the love you endure or release, will shape the very quality of your life.