The Daily Stoic

Jake Seliger On Cancer, Acceptance, And The Gift Of Life

23 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Jake Seliger about how his cancer diagnosis and having his tongue removed have changed his perspective on life, why he is prioritizin...

Consider The Cost Of Those Perks | No Pain, No Gain

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During the American Revolution—as in any war—the British quite rightly targeted the estates and the landholdings of the leadership on the American...

You’ve Just Got To Keep Going Back | Ask DS

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s impossible not to read Marcus Aurelius or Seneca and sense that they were always working. Not that they were literally always at the office–a...

You Took The Job

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Emperor Hadrian’s life sometimes felt, as it does for all leaders, like an endless demand for favors. Letters came from across the empire asking...

Sid Stockdale On The Stoic Legacy Of His Father, Admiral James Stockdale

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Sid Stockdale about his who his new memoir A World Apart: Growing Up Stockdale During Vietnam speaks to, how his family survived his ...

Who Could Have Seen It? | 9 Stoic Lessons From Running Every Single Day

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Everything seems fine. Everything seems better than fine. Your life is going great. You’re happy. You’re in love. Your finances are great. Bu...

This Is What Leaders Do | On Handling Haters

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After a long line of incompetence, after a long chain of excuses, after a series of failures, the Union cause finally turned around when General Ulyss...

The Life Of Agrippinus The Different

17 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Agrippinus marched to the beat of his own drum. Today, Ryan reads from his book Lives Of The Stoics to explain just what that meant for one of the mos...

James Outman On Why Baseball Is Stoicism

16 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with James Outman on why he believes that baseball and Stoicism both promote the same practices, why baseball players are uniquely prepare...

This Is a Bad Way To Drive (and Live) | A Garden Is Not For Show

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With the proliferation of dashcams and the spread of social media, we see these clips everywhere. It’s basically its own genre of video at this poin...

How You Endure It Matters Most | Ask DS

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

No one knows what the future holds, but if it’s anything like the present or the past, it will not be easy. Things will not go our way. Tragedies wi...

Who Do You See?

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We don’t think of the ancient Romans as living just like us, but in many ways they did. A recent archaeological dig in Bulgaria found a Roman estate...

Adrian Grenier On Recovering From Being Famous

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Adrian Grenier in the second of a two-part episode about what it’s really like to be famous, why and how he quit acting, how Adrian...

Good Leaders Give This | 10 Rules For Life From The Stoics

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

General Victor Krulak was an exacting Marine. He drove his troops hard. He cared about the tiniest details. He expected perfection. So you might think...

Bring Love To Every Situation You Face | A New Way To Pray

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On this day 22 years ago, Brian Sweeney was a passenger trapped on hijacked United Airlines Flight 175. He knew something was wrong, but he could not ...

How Stoicism Makes Coaches Better

10 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Ryan presents a talk he gave to a group of coaches at the Tennessee Athletics Department about the core concepts of Stoicism and how they can a...

Adrian Grenier On How Turning To Philosophy Saved His Life

09 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Adrian Grenier in the first of a two-part episode about their parallel career and life trajectories, what it’s really like to be fa...

Where Are You Trying To Get Better? | Do Not Be Deceived By Fortune

08 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tom Brady has always been relentless about trying to get better. Trying to get his passes out quicker. Trying to get his spirals a little tighter. Try...

Do You Have This Ability? | Ask DS

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A leader is a doer…but that doesn’t mean they’re always doing. In fact, if a leader is always doing, chances are they’ll end up doing the wron...

The Only Part Of Your Reputation To Worry About

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Stoics were towering figures of their own time. Marcus Aurelius was cheered in the streets. Cato was widely admired. Musonius Rufus was called the...

Brad Stulberg On Mastering Change With Science And Stoicism

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Brad Stulberg about his new book Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You, the scientific basis f...

How Do You Know If You're A Good Leader? | What Marcus Aurelius Learned from His Father About Being a Good Man

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You lead a large team. You are the head of a household. You have millions of followers or thousands of subscribers. And you often wonder,Am I being a ...

Go Out And Live Today | A Hard Winter Training

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Labor Day was first proposed by Matthew Maguire, a labor union secretary in 1882 in New York. It is a “tribute to the contributions workers have mad...

What American Legacy Company US Steel Can Learn From Stoicism

03 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Ryan was asked to give a talk to the leaders of one of the most foundational companies in American history, the United States Steel Corporation, ...

Rainn Wilson On How His Deepest Struggles Led To His Best Roles

02 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Rainn Wilson in this second of a two-part conversation about the best entry points for the average person into philosophy and spiritu...

In The End It Doesn’t Even Matter | A Strong Soul Is Better Than Good Luck

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A couple minutes of traffic on the way to work. The tone that the person was talking to you with. The scratch in your brand new painted wall. The lost...

You Can’t Be Fragile Like This | Ask DS

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cato, one of the most vaunted and towering Stoics, built a reputation and a career out of his refusal to give an inch in the face of pressure. He foug...

We Can Go At Any Moment

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s easy to nod along with a book (or even this email) when you’re reading it. Or to double-tap the like button when you see an inspiring Instagr...

Rainn Wilson On Stoicism’s Role In The Spiritual Revolution

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Rainn Wilson about his new book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, why the guy who played Dwight Schrute wrote a book on ...

In Spite Of Everything, We Must Do This | How Stoics Find And Build Deep Relationships

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marcus Aurelius must have wondered what he did to deserve all this. First, he lost his father at age three. Then he was pulled from his first love, ph...

What Stoic Rules Make Life Less Erratic? | A Cure For Procrastination

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marcus Aurelius never claimed to be a Stoic.Gregory Hays, one of Marcus Aurelius’s best translators (the one we worked with on our beautiful premium...

Epictetus - Discourses Pt. 3: On Being Sprung From God

27 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan presents an excerpt from one of the seminal texts of Stoicism, the Discourses of Epictetus, read by Michael Reid....

Christina Pazsitzky On Appreciating The Miraculousness Of Existence

26 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Christina Pazsitzky in the second of a two-part interview about what really matters in life, why studying history reveals how strange...

This Timeless Adage Will Determine Your Destiny | Respect The Past, But Be Open To The Future

25 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is not another note about memento mori.It’s about a different immutable, inescapable law of human existence that comes to us from the Stoi...

Be This Kind Of Person | Ask DS

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In matters of law, Cato was a stickler. In matters of principle, Cato was uncompromising. His opponents found him exhausting. Even some of his friends...

This Is Real Power

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Seneca, Cato, and Marcus Aurelius operated in the real world. They navigated within and around the halls of power. They had people working above and b...

Christina Pazsitzky On Teaching Comedians Philosophy

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Christina Pazsitzky in the first of a two-part interview about her new Netflix comedy special Mom Genes, why she believes that comedi...

The Biggest Lie In The World | Toxic Habits The Stoics Want You To Stop Doing

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You may well have said it yesterday, or overheard someone else saying it, “Oh, I’ll do it in the morning…I’ll do it after I wake up…I’ll g...

This Is How They Found Peace and Priority | Just Say No To Future Misery

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An explorer at Jamestown in the 17th century.A London gentleman during the Stuart Period.An unidentified person with the initials T.S. who lived durin...

The Life Of Chrysippus "The Fighter" From Lives Of The Stoics

20 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Known as the “Second Founder of Stoicism,” Chrysippus was a philosophical giant as revered as he was controversial. Today, Ryan reads from his boo...

Paul Kix On The Civil Rights Movement And What It Means To Be Courageous

19 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Paul Kix about his new book You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America...

You Are Strong. You Just Haven’t Been Tested. | Only Fools Rush In

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In August of 1967, Lieutenant Dave Carey was shot out of his A-4 Skyhawk over Vietnam. Soon enough, he found himself a prisoner in Hanoi, where he wou...

All You Can Do Is This | Ask DS

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Life is unpredictable. Events are uncertain. What can go wrong will. Nice guys sometimes finish last, bad things happen to good people. So much is out...

Coach Greg Harden On The Mindset Of Champions

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Greg Harden about how Stoicism influenced his new book Stay Sane in an Insane World: How to Control the Controllables and Thrive, the...

Here’s How To Find Tranquility

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all want more peace, right? More stillness. The quiet confidence that comes from being on the right path, as Seneca described it, and not bein...

They Don’t Want You To Know This | The Stoics Guide To Becoming Wealthy

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Those shoes you’re wearing were likely made in a sweatshop by a child in horrendous labor conditions. That luxury handbag is a few dollars worth of ...

Turn Down These Voices Inside Your Head | Always Ask Yourself This Question

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It is not enough, of course, to simply tune out the noise around you. One can turn off social media. One can cultivate the quiet country life, as the ...

Ryan Holiday And Robert Greene Talk Strategy And Philosophy For Turbulent Times

13 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In anticipation of their upcoming live discussion series, Ryan and Robert sat down to discuss where their ideas and interests converge. This casual co...

Troy Baker, Molly Bloom, Alexander Ludwig, And Camila Cabello Share How They Were Introduced To Stoicism

12 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan presents a compilation of highlights from interviews with some of his most high-profile, influential, and interesting guests about how they found...

The Whole Point Is To Not Fit In | No Time For Theories, Just Results

11 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Stoics stood out in Athens. They stood out in Rome. Whether it was Cato walking around barefoot or Cleanthes proudly doing manual labor. Whether i...

It’s Going To Take A While, So You Need To Do This | Ask DS

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It takes a lot of flying time to become a certified pilot. It takes years on stage for a comedian to learn how to command an audience. It takes time t...

This Is The Most Dangerous Vice

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“The pretense of knowledge is our most dangerous vice, because it prevents us from getting any better.”Over 10,000 readers have highlighted that p...

Kevin Rose On Staying Healthy With Entrepreneurship, Zen Buddhism, And Being Vulnerable

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Kevin Rose about the pros and cons of his entrepreneurial drive, the calming effects of reducing the amount of stuff that you have, t...

The Secret To Happiness | How To Let Go And Stop Worrying (10 Stoic Tips)

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is the secret to happiness?It’s not an easy question to answer. And it might seem like the Stoics wouldn’t have a good answer either. Because...

We’re Broken…But Not Fixed | What Little Wins Can You Find?

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all have bad habits. Some of us procrastinate. Nearly all of us, as Seneca said, are slaves to something–food or sex or booze or ambition. We don...

How Stoicism, Eastern Philosophy, And Fitness Work Together

06 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the spirit of sharing ideas and learning from cultures outside of one’s own, Ryan was excited when he was given the opportunity to speak to India...

Leonard Mlodinow On The Poetry, Power, And Beautiful Challenge Of Physics

05 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Leonard Mlodinow about his book Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life, how physicists deal with imposter synd...

You Have To Know Where You’re Going | No Blame, Just Focus

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We know we want to go somewhere. We want to do something. We want to be successful. We want to win. We know we want to start something–a company, a ...

Will You Understand Or Be Understood? | Ask DS

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are very few people who feel completely understood. Starting from a young age, our parents didn’t fully get us. Or maybe it was our teachers. ...

Beware This Madness

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What we do while in the sway of anger we almost always come to regret. Whether it was the yelling or the impulsive decision to quit, whether it was th...

Ann Wroe On The Real Story Of Pontius Pilate, And His Connection To Stoicism

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Ann Wroe about her book Pontius Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man, what she has learned over her long career of writing obitua...

What Is The Function of Worry? | How Stoicism Can Help You Get Sober (And Stay Sober)

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most timeless lines in all of the Stoic writings comes from Epictetus, "What upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements a...

We Almost Always Regret This | A Week Without Complaining

31 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not that we didn’t have a reason. That we weren’t provoked. Or mistreated. We were. We had legitimate reasons to be upset. We had a legitim...

How Stoicism Can Help Make Health Care Better

30 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Epictetus said, “the philosopher’s classroom is like a hospital,” so, too, can Stoic philosophy help improve the halls of medicine and the pe...

Lt. David Carey Uncovering Our Own Capacity To Get Through Anything

29 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Lieutenant David Carey in this second of a two-part interview about the bonds that he and his fellow POWs formed in captivity, why he...

What Matters Is What You Can Do In The Moment | Check Your Privilege

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Epictetus didn’t care what you had read. He didn’t care if you had made it through the densest writings of Chryssipus. Marcus Aurelius didn’t ca...

This Is Always There | Ask DS

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every retail business knows about shrinkage–the percentage of goods shoplifted or stolen off the floor. Every manufacturer knows how to calculate th...

They’re Not All Going To Like You

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are so many things you don’t like. Bands you think are overrated. Shows that just didn’t do it for you. Actors who, for some reason, just bo...

Lt. David Carey On Surviving As A POW W/ Admiral James Stockdale (with Stoicism)

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Lieutenant David Carey in the first of a two-part interview about his incredible experiences serving in Vietnam as a fighter pilot an...

Let It Pound Your Head | Stoicism's Secrets To Being More Present (With Your Family)

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For years, you’ve worked. For years, you’ve sacrificed. You’ve risked. You’ve hustled. You’ve made tough calls, maybe even left a few knives...

No One Can Hold Anything Over You | Keeping “The News” In Check

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many of the Stoics were powerful and privileged. Marcus Aurelius was born to a wealthy family and then was given the throne and the empire. Cato came ...

Ryan Speaks To The YMCA About Courage, Perseverance, And Showing Up Every Day

23 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a fan of the YMCA and avid user of its services, Ryan jumped at the chance when the Pennsylvania YMCA asked if he would like to come to their headq...

Austin Kleon On Maintaining Healthy Habits, Growing As Parents, And Interrogating The Stoic Virtues

22 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with his longtime friend fellow father Austin Kleon during a stop along his book tour for The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting, Lov...

How To Create Change | Made For Working Together

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rosa Parks wasn’t just some lady who happened to make a stand on a bus one day. She was trained. She had attended NAACP meetings for years. She had ...

When You’re Tired Of Life… | Ask DS

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He buried too many children. He was betrayed by those closest to him. He dealt with health issues. He was surrounded by the corrupt and inept and endl...

Your Mind Is Not Your Friend

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How would you describe someone who lies to you? Who riles you up? Who makes you anxious and afraid? Who questions whether you’re good enough? Who ha...

Professor Martha Nussbaum On Humanity's Obligation To Protect Animal Rights

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Martha Nussbaum about her new book Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility, the problems that can arise with the Stoic foc...

There Is No Race | Transformative Quotes From The Founder Of Stoicism (Zeno)

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We know at least one of the Stoics was a runner. Chrysippus ran the dolichos, a grueling three-mile loop consisting of approximately 24 stadium length...

Wait For It To Settle | Practice Gentleness Instead Of Anger

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the demands of daily life, in the immediacy of a heightened moment, in the pincering crush of competing interests—we rarely make good decisions. ...

Epictetus - Discourses Pt. 2: On Preserving Character

16 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan presents an excerpt from one of the seminal texts of Stoicism, the Discourses of Epictetus, read by Michael Reid....

Casey Neistat On The Purpose That Parenthood Gives You

15 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While on tour for his new book The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids, Ryan met up with his longtime friend and occ...

Do You Practice For Rejection? | A Little Knowledge Is Dangerous

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Part of the reason we’re afraid of things is that we’re unfamiliar. We don’t know what it’s like to bomb on stage in front of people, but it s...

You Have To Anticipate This Kind Of Behavior | Ask DS

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Richard III and in Othello, Shakespeare has two different characters utter the same line. Both Iago and a nameless orphan say, “I ...

Don’t Let Them Steal This Too

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

People will take things from you (as we talked about recently with Epictetus and his lamp). People will betray you–as Marcus Aurelius was by his mos...

Melinda Moyer On Changing The World By Raising Curious Kids

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Melinda Moyer about how the death of her family dog became an opportunity to teach her children about emotions, why feelings of power...

This Is All There Is | 10 Stoic Quotes That Will Motivate You To Seize The Day

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s one of the great moments in the history of comedy. At Comedy Central Presents: The Roast of Bob Saget, the comedian Norm Macdonald is up roasti...

What Are You Fueling? | Don't Look For The Third Thing

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the early days of the pandemic, many of us picked up new hobbies and habits. We started taking walks. We started cooking for ourselves. Some of us ...

The Life Of Seneca The Striver

09 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan narrates the chapter on Seneca the Striver from his own best-selling guide to all the major Stoics, Lives of the ...

Rachel Hollis On Learning From The Worst Moments, Measuring Success, And Doing Your Best

08 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan continues the second in his two-part discussion with Rachel Hollis about what she learned from the public backlash that she received from an inst...

You Are The Solution To Your Problem | Our Duty To Learn

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Life may have big challenges in store for us. What’s more certain, as we talked about recently, is the ‘petty hazards of the day.’ We may find o...

You Can Let This Make You Miserable, Or Come To Terms With It | Ask DS

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It doesn't matter how important you are. It doesn't matter how much money you have. It doesn't matter how used to getting your way you are, or how muc...

May This Be The Last One Standing

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For years, the Stoics had fought. First, they fought moral and spiritual decay, trying to preserve Rome’s traditions in the midst of all their ...

Andrew Wehrman On Why It Is Crucial To Study Pandemics Of The Past

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Andrew Wehrman about his new book The Contagion of Liberty: The Politics of Smallpox in the American Revolution, how and why response...

Can You Embrace The Challenge Like They Did? | How Stoics Develop a Strong Mindset

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The fact that America exists is the ultimate argument that Stoicism is not apathy and that philosophy is not mere theory. Because without Stoicism, it...

You Must Play It Like A Game | Protect Your Own Good

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Life may have big challenges in store for us. What’s more certain, as we talked about recently, is the ‘petty hazards of the day.’ We may find o...

Epictetus - Discourses Pt. 1

02 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan presents an excerpt from one of the seminal texts of Stoicism, the Discourses of Epictetus, read by Michael Reid....

Garland Robinette On The Stoic Principle That Shapes His Incredible Life

01 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with Garland Robinette about the brain-altering effects of chasing dopamine, how he has coped with his morally injurious experience servin...

Yes, This Is How It Is | The Obstacle Is The Way

30 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nearly every day was a terror. People died of easily curable diseases. People starved to death. People were clapped into slavery. Wars broke out–fou...

It’s Really That Simple | Ask DS

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes we are so stuck, so in our own heads, so down on our luck that improvement–let alone a full recovery–seems impossible. Our business has ...

Build A Life You Aren’t Trying To Flee

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Of course, it’s lovely to take a vacation. It’s lovely to go to cool places. Even on the weekend, it’s lovely to go places and do things we can’...