The Daily Stoic

Latest Episodes:

Convince Yourself That Everything Is A Gift | Train To Let Go Of What’s Not Yours Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

Today in America is Thanksgiving. It’s the day when we’re supposed to actively practice gratitude, and be thankful for all that we have. Yet this can be hard to do…when the specter of a World War looms, the lingering of a terrible pandemic, the reality of a recession, divided politics and so many other obstacles sit before us.

But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

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Professor Jennifer Baker on Understanding Modern Stoicism Nov 23, 2022

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Ryan talks to Professor Jennifer Baker about her approach to teaching Stoicism, ethics, and political theory at the College of Charleston, what the Stoics might have said about driving a Mercedes instead of a Hyundai (or a Tesla), the challenges of teaching to today’s student population, and more.

Jennifer Baker holds a Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Arizona and B.A. in Philosophy from Brown. She brings her academic training and passion for understanding ancient wisdom to the courses that she teaches on ethical and political theory, environmental ethics and philosophy, business ethics, bioethics, and American philosophy. Her research is on virtue ethics, and she looks to ancient ethical theories as positive examples of how ethics ought to be done today. She explores philosophical ideas in her blog on Psychology Today: For the Love of Wisdom.

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Pity Is More Appropriate Than Anger Nov 23, 2022

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At the beginning of Meditations, Marcus Aurelius laments the kind of people he’s going to meet each day—the bitter, the stupid, the jealous, the petty. Throughout the book he mentions other undesirables—the shameless, the evil, the greedy, the ignorant, the manipulative. Today, we could add still others— racists, polluters, rage profiteers, trolls and on and on.

These people are frustrating. They make the world less safe, less productive, less collaborative. They poison the common good. They destroy any semblance of common understanding or commonality, period.

But instead of getting angry at them, try pity first.

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This Is The Day | How Stoicism Can Make You Happier Nov 22, 2022

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This is what we tell ourselves: Someday I will write my book. Someday I will travel abroad. Someday I will learn how to play guitar.

But someday soon, you will no longer be able to say, “someday…”

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“A good character is the only guarantee of everlasting, carefree happiness.” – Seneca

The Stoics believed in living a virtuous life, one with the potential to bring us personal happiness and fulfillment. And that’s one of the reasons a person may choose to live after their fashion. After all, what good is philosophy if it doesn’t ultimately bring us happiness?

But in Stoic philosophy, it’s the pursuit of virtue and good character that allows us to get there. For the Stoic, the pursuit of virtue is the pursuit of happiness. If we can live virtuously, a good life will follow.

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If you want your own physical reminder of Memento Mori to create priority, humility, and appreciation for life, you can pick up one of our Memento Mori medallions to carry in your pocket everywhere you go. It is a part of our 2022 Daily Stoic Gift Guide, which is packed with 13 great gifts for the Stoic in your life.

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The Last Words Of Marcus Aurelius | Practice Letting Go Nov 21, 2022

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It’s one of the most haunting paintings you’ll ever see. More than 11 feet wide and 8 feet tall, painted in rich but dark oils, Eugene Delacroix (a student of the Stoics) captures Marcus Aurelius at the end of his life. A plague has devastated Rome. His troubled son stands in the wings, unlikely to rule well. Marcus has had a hard life, filled with adversity, not meeting, as one historian noted, “with the good fortune he deserved.”

Yet he strived to do right and to be good. He escaped “imperialization” in his words, avoided being “Caesarified” and dyed purple by the power of his position. He kept the faith, kept the empire going, doing his best. And now, weak and frail, the end was here. He knew, as he would say to his bodyguard, that the sun was setting.

To learn more about the life of Marcus Aurelius, pick up this in-depth biography of the man in Lives of the Stoics, which is included in the new leather bound edition of the Gregory Hays translation of Meditations.

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This Stoic Virtue Will Change Your Life Nov 20, 2022

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You’d think that the more powerful you are, the more freedom you’d have. The more money and success you have, the more you can do. You’d think that being a millionaire or being a celebrity or being the CEO would finally unshackle you from all the obnoxious and annoying constraints of being a ‘regular’ person…

How wrong this is. How wrong this has always been.

It was Eisenhower who said that freedom is really better described as the, “opportunity for self-discipline.” And you, you are lucky enough to live in a time of plenty that would have been unfathomable to history’s all-powerful kings. A time when nearly everything a person might want to do, they can, because there is no master standing over you. You are not an all-powerful sovereign, surely, but you have also never been more free.

So now what? What will you do with this opportunity? What will you do with your freedom? Who will you make yourself become?

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📕 Ryan Holiday's new book "Discipline Is Destiny" is out now! We’ve extended the pre-order bonuses for the next week—among them is a signed and numbered page from the original manuscript of the book. You can learn more about those and how to receive them over at https://dailystoic.com/preorder.

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Ramit Sethi on How to Generate Wealth Nov 19, 2022

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Ryan talks to personal finance advisor, entrepreneur, author, and host of the I Will Teach You To Be Rich podcast, Ramit Sethi about helping couples grow stronger through finances, the importance of a personal definition of “being rich,” healthy spending habits, and more.

Ramit Sethi is the NY Times best-selling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, founder of GrowthLab.com, and owner and co-founder of PBworks. He grew up in Fair Oaks, California and graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Science, Technology & Society with a minor in Psychology, as well as an MA in Sociology (Social Psychology and Interpersonal Processes), also from Stanford. Using his books, podcast, websites, and speaking engagements, Ramit strives to help couples and individuals learn how to live their personal version of a Rich Life.

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The Most Human Thing You Can Do | Ask Daily Stoic Nov 18, 2022

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Years before he became president, Harry Truman owned a haberdashery that doubled as a local hang-out. A kid named Albert Ridge would often head there after his shift at the neighborhood grocery store. For the rest of his life, Ridge would tell the story of the time Truman gave him a list of ten books to read. It included books like Plutarch's Lives, Caesar's Commentaries, and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography.

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Small Things Are No Small Thing | Judge Not, Lest… Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

George Washington’s favorite saying was “many mickles make a muckle.” It was an old Scottish proverb that illustrates a truth we all know: things add up. Even little ones. Even at the pace of one per day.

Our perennial Page-A-Day Calendar is designed to help you grow one day at a time. It’s one page with one Stoic quote for every day—perfect for your desk, your nightstand, your kitchen counter, or your bathroom mirror, just in time for the New Year.

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Time has a Way of Humbling Us Nov 16, 2022

Show notes

In several of Seneca’s letters he speaks about the power of bloodletting as a medical practice. In one, he actually remarks—with some superiority—how earlier generations had not yet discovered bloodletting and suffered for it.

Marcus Aurelius hints at some other medical practices. He speaks of the treatment for ophthalmia—inflammation of the eye—and how doctors treated it with a bit of egg yolk. We also know that his doctor Galen gave Marcus opium for various pains and illnesses in old age.

Needless to say, none of these treatments are accepted or prescribed anymore. It’s interesting that the Stoics, who were so good at extrapolating out from the past, didn’t take a lesson from this—that so much of what we are certain about today will be disproven in the future. The point is (and it’s a point well made in Chuck Klosterman’s book But What If We’re Wrong?) that we should always be questioning the status quo—and majority opinion.

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