The Daily Stoic

By Daily Stoic

What's The Daily Stoic about?

The audio companion to DailyStoic.com's daily email meditations, read by Ryan Holiday.

Each daily reading will help you cultivate strength, insight and wisdom necessary for living the good life. Every word is based on the two-thousand plus year old philosophy that has guided some of history’s greatest men and women.

Learn more at: dailystoic.com

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Who Can You Adopt?

02.20.2020

One of the most remarkable traditions of ancient Rome—and one for which we have no real modern analog—was the tradition of wealthy, successful families adopting and raising young men (sometimes women) to be their heir. Scipio Aemilianus, one of the...

The Daily Stoic episodes:

02.20.2020 Who Can You Adopt? One of the most remarkable traditions of ancient Rome—and one for which we have no real modern analog—was the tradition of wealthy, successful families adopting and raising young men (sometimes women) to be their heir. Scipio Aemilianus, one of the...
02.19.2020 Why Be Angry About Something That’s Already Gone? It’s another mess. It’s not your fault, but you’re dealing with it. It’s another rude person— representing a company you are paying money to—who doesn’t seem to get how this is supposed to work. It’s another example of disrespect, or ...
02.18.2020 How To Be Proven Wrong Imagine writing a book that sells millions of copies over the course of nearly a decade, and then, out of nowhere, another author comes along and challenges it. What would you do? In Malcolm Gladwell’s massive bestseller Outliers: The Story ...
02.17.2020 Don’t Take the Money. Don’t Take the Money. Cicero and Cato both refused to take bribes, despite how widespread the practice was for politicians at the time. Cato refused to be enriched by his office in any form, even though that was even more common. Marcus Aurelius refused ...
02.15.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: Who Are Some Famous Figure Influenced By Stoicism? Ryan talks about putting the finishing touches on his upcoming book, Lives of the Stoics. Featuring today's entry from The Daily Stoic. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
02.14.2020 This Is a Command, Not a Mere Reminder Like most solo pursuits, the artist’s life is one that ceaselessly tests one's mental fortitude. Steven Pressfield likens it to dragon slaying. The dragon being what he’s coined the “Resistance”—that voice that questions your abilities, your worth, your...
02.13.2020 You Must Think For Yourself It’s never been easier to get information than it is today. You have access to Wikipedia, to podcasts, to social media, and a near infinite library of books. You can chat with just about anyone about anything. We live in ...
02.12.2020 Can You Be Still? There is probably no piece of literature that the Stoics were more familiar with than the Odyssey. Seneca quotes it. Marcus Aurelius quotes it. Pretty much everyone in the ancient world was so familiar with Homer’s verses that they could ...
02.11.2020 Here’s How To Become an Informed Citizen When people hear Epictetus quoted to justify not watching the news—“If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters”—they get upset. It’s understandable. For generations, especially in America, people have been cond...
02.10.2020 It Takes What It Takes Watching a master do their work is always impressive. Whether it’s an orator working a crowd or an athlete contorting their body with ease and finesse, it’s incredible to see what people are capable of. We see things and wonder ...
02.08.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: Can You Be Informed Without Cable News? Ryan talks about his upcoming talk in Italy and about James Stockdale, and answers questions from fans. Featuring today's entry from The Daily Stoic. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
02.07.2020 You Still Have Time. You Have So Much Time. Seneca’s life is worth looking at for anyone who thinks they missed their shot, who thinks it might be “too late” for them. Because in his early twenties, just as his career as a lawyer was taking off, Seneca was ...
02.06.2020 You Must Look Beneath The Surface Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus, like all Romans, seemed to have loved the theatre. Seneca, in particular, had a great fascination for what “actors in theatre who imitate the emotions” could teach him about dealing with people in real life. ...
02.05.2020 If Everyone Is Woke, Then No One is Awake It’s unquestionably a good thing that the world is waking up to the idea of social justice. For too long, marginalized groups have been precisely that—marginalized. Oppression, racism, unequal access to opportunity have been too common for too long in ...
02.04.2020 It’s Better To Share For Julius Caesar’s grip on power to be complete, he had to eliminate his rivals. So too did Octavius, Caesar’s nephew who succeeded him. Claudius eliminated senators who threatened his reign. Nero, even with the moderating influence of Seneca, violentl...
02.03.2020 You Must Win The Morning! One of the most relatable moments in Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is the argument Marcus Aurelius has with himself in the opening of book 5. It’s clearly an argument he’s had with himself many times, on many mornings—as have many of ...
02.01.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: How Do I Deal With Long Term Problems? Now featuring twice as much content per episodeIn each of the Ask Daily Stoic Q&A episodes, Ryan will answer questions from fans about Stoicism. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
01.31.2020 Shine On, You Crazy Diamond There has always been an odd streak in the Stoics. Zeno used to practice begging people for money, even though he had plenty. Cleanthes worked as a manual laborer for so long, some in Athens thought it might be a ...
01.30.2020 If You Don’t Read, You’re Functionally Illiterate General James Mattis is part of a long line of tradition of Stoic warriors. Just as Frederick the Great carried the Stoics in his saddlebags as he led his troops, or Cato proved his Stoicism by how he led his ...
01.29.2020 How You Look At Things Matters If you’ve ever been stuck in Los Angeles traffic at night, you know it’s miserable. But if you’ve ever seen a helicopter shot of Los Angeles at night, you’ve seen how this same miserable experience can suddenly be made to ...
01.28.2020 You Have To Be Kind To Yourself There’s no question that much of what we talk about in this philosophy is hard. Specifically, it’s hard on the person practicing it. Stoicism asks you to challenge yourself. It doesn’t tolerate sloppy thinking or half measures. It wants you ...
01.27.2020 Stop Freaking Out. None of This Is New. You think this hasn’t happened before? Whatever it is, whatever you’re freaking out about?A crisis at the borders. Agitators riling up the youth. Excess and immorality. Rising demagogues. Distrust in institutions. A backlash against free speech and expr...
01.25.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: How can I get my partner interested in Stoicism? In each of the Ask Daily Stoic Q&A episodes, Ryan will answer questions from fans about Stoicism. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
01.24.2020 You Must Think The Thing You Cannot Think It’s fitting that one of the most important things you can do as a parent requires you to think about something that’s very nearly impossible for a parent to consider. It comes to us from Marcus Aurelius by way of ...
01.23.2020 You Have To Learn Something From Everyone The Stoics were learners. It’s hard to escape that conclusion when you read their writings. Marcus Aurelius begins Meditations by cataloging the lessons he learned from the many people in his life, big and small. Seneca was constantly looking at ...
01.22.2020 A Good Morning Creates A Good Life The Stoics believed in the power of ritual, particularly at the beginning and the end of the day. For them, routines and rituals were not productivity hacks, but ways of living. In a world where so much was out of ...
01.21.2020 Do It Because It’s Right. Not So They’ll Like You We’ve talked a lot recently about the importance of not making yourself a slave to outside approval. Because it’s not something you control. Because your own standards should be so high that you already have plenty to worry about. Still, ...
01.20.2020 Everything is Figureoutable We all have problems. We have an employee we can’t figure out how to motivate. We have a kid with behavioral issues. We have a job we want to leave, or a couch we want to get up a complicated ...
01.18.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: The Stoic Response to Getting Your House Burgled, and more In each of the Ask Daily Stoic Q&A episodes, Ryan will answer questions from fans about Stoicism. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
01.17.2020 When It Comes To Family, We Have To Be Kind Marcus Aurelius’s step brother Lucius Verus was hardly a great man. Unlike Marcus, he was not as driven or as a smart. He was not always so diligent in his responsibilities. We hear that he liked to party. But still, ...
01.16.2020 All We Can Do Is Propose There is a great expression: Man proposes, God disposes. You don’t have to be religious to understand or agree with it. It just means: All we can do is plan...then life intervenes. Certainly, the Stoics built much of their philosophy ...
01.15.2020 You Win Some, You Lose Some Politics, like all contests, involves winners and losers. Cato lost elections, such as his first run for praetorship in 55 BCE and his run for consul in 51 BCE. Cicero lost some as well. James Stockdale lost in a landslide ...
01.14.2020 We Are All Equal At The End "Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both." It is one of Marcus Aurelius’s most withering lines. The most powerful conqueror on earth was, Marcus implied, in the end, no better or ...
01.13.2020 The Kind of Opportunity You Should Always Say Yes To Marcus Aurelius and Seneca both made no secret of their objection to escapism. They both spoke negatively of people who frittered their existence away, chasing one tourist destination after another. Seneca likened these folks to someone tossing and turn...
01.11.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: January 11, 2020 In each of the Ask Daily Stoic Q&A episodes, Ryan will answer questions from fans about Stoicism. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
01.10.2020 You Don’t Get To Not Care There are a lot of tensions in Stoicism, as we have talked about before. How do you balance acquiescing to fate and embracing your own agency? How do you balance being aware of the dangers of the future without worrying ...
01.09.2020 Here’s an Important Power You Have The ask is just an ask, you know.Whether they’re asking you to pass the salt or asking you for a hundred thousand dollar loan, whether they’re asking you what you weigh or if you can come in and work on ...
01.08.2020 Where Are They Now? It’s a staple of entertainment shows and those clickbait-y links at the bottom of the page on news websites: Where are they now? What happened to those famous TV stars of your youth? You’ll never believe what so-and-so is up ...
01.07.2020 Try This Secret Roman Party Trick The Greeks and the Romans were known for their parties. They threw huge ones. Seneca famously owned—not rented—three hundred ivory tables for entertaining. Imagine that. The ancients also knew how to drink. Cato liked to drink. So did Socrates. There’s ...
01.06.2020 All You Control is How You Play It would be wonderful if teams didn’t cheat and refs always got the calls right. It’d be wonderful if people in the media knew what they were talking about and didn’t stake out positions just to be controversial or contrarian. ...
01.04.2020 Ask Daily Stoic: January 4, 2020 In each of the Ask Daily Stoic Q&A episodes, Ryan will answer questions from fans about Stoicism. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
01.03.2020 Pain Is Self Chosen “My pain is self-chosen,” Layne Staley sings on the melancholy Mad Season hit, River of Deceit. “At least I believe it to be.” That belief, the Stoics would concur, is well-founded. Pain is a choice. Now before you get upset ...
01.02.2020 You Become What You Practice The Stoics were all about routine and repetition. It wasn’t just about knowing what the right thing was, it was about doing it daily. Fueling the habit bonfire, they said. It was about creating muscle memory. Epictetus said that philosophy ...
01.01.2020 All We Control Is The Beginning of Things Clearly the Stoics were doers. They ran for public office. They fought in the army. They started business ventures. They created artistic works. How can this fit, though, with what Marcus called “the art of acquiescence?” Isn’t this resignation a ...
12.31.2019 Do Not Ignore This Warning In Greek mythology, the god Apollo curses the Trojan princess, Cassandra, with the power of accurate prophecy that will always be ignored. In Aeschylus’ play Agamemnon, Cassandra is brought back to Greece after the capture of Troy as one of ...
12.30.2019 You Have To Do What You Think Is Right There will come a moment in your life when you are faced with an important decision that appears to have two choices: one that feels like the status quo, the path of least resistance, the way things have always been ...
12.28.2019 Ask Daily Stoic: December 28, 2019 In each of the Ask Daily Stoic Q&A episodes, Ryan will answer questions from fans about Stoicism. You can also find these videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube channel.
12.27.2019 Tell Yourself: This Is All Worth It Even if you’re not a college basketball fan, you may have heard about this incredible upset in 2018, when top-ranked University of Virginia was defeated by University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. It was ...
12.26.2019 Here is a Pleasure You Can Have Anytime The Stoics did not reject worldly pleasures. They rejected the reckless ones. The dangerous, ephemeral ones. The Stoics were not afraid of joy. They just wanted to earn it. Epictetus loved to quote Socrates: “Just as one person delights in ...
12.25.2019 Always Focus on the Response It was December 25th, 1776. One of the darkest times in the American Revolution. George Washington was planning to cross the Delaware, a desperate move necessitated by a string of setbacks and ebbing support for the revolution across his struggling ...

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The Daily Stoic

What's The Daily Stoic about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Daily Stoic episodes:

Who Can You Adopt?

Why Be Angry About Something That’s Already Gone?

How To Be Proven Wrong

Don’t Take the Money. Don’t Take the Money.

Ask Daily Stoic: Who Are Some Famous Figure Influenced By Stoicism?

This Is a Command, Not a Mere Reminder

You Must Think For Yourself

Can You Be Still?

Here’s How To Become an Informed Citizen

It Takes What It Takes

Ask Daily Stoic: Can You Be Informed Without Cable News?

You Still Have Time. You Have So Much Time.

You Must Look Beneath The Surface

If Everyone Is Woke, Then No One is Awake

It’s Better To Share

You Must Win The Morning!

Ask Daily Stoic: How Do I Deal With Long Term Problems?

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond

If You Don’t Read, You’re Functionally Illiterate

How You Look At Things Matters

You Have To Be Kind To Yourself

Stop Freaking Out. None of This Is New.

Ask Daily Stoic: How can I get my partner interested in Stoicism?

You Must Think The Thing You Cannot Think

You Have To Learn Something From Everyone

A Good Morning Creates A Good Life

Do It Because It’s Right. Not So They’ll Like You

Everything is Figureoutable

Ask Daily Stoic: The Stoic Response to Getting Your House Burgled, and more

When It Comes To Family, We Have To Be Kind

All We Can Do Is Propose

You Win Some, You Lose Some

We Are All Equal At The End

The Kind of Opportunity You Should Always Say Yes To

Ask Daily Stoic: January 11, 2020

You Don’t Get To Not Care

Here’s an Important Power You Have

Where Are They Now?

Try This Secret Roman Party Trick

All You Control is How You Play

Ask Daily Stoic: January 4, 2020

Pain Is Self Chosen

You Become What You Practice

All We Control Is The Beginning of Things

Do Not Ignore This Warning

You Have To Do What You Think Is Right

Ask Daily Stoic: December 28, 2019

Tell Yourself: This Is All Worth It

Here is a Pleasure You Can Have Anytime

Always Focus on the Response

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