The Daily Stoic
Episodes
It Works If You Work It | Impulse Control
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's felt like things have been a little off lately. You have been irritable. You have been stressed. You have been easily rattled by external events,...
We Can Always Be Born Again | The Life of Zeno
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the year 33, a philosopher was executed by the Roman authorities. This was not an uncommon thing back then.But this man, referred to as Christus in...
Molly Bloom on Trusting the Process and Making Daily Progress
15 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Molly Bloom in-person at the new Daily Stoic podcast studio in the second of a two-part conversation, the first of which was conducte...
Pain Is A Part Of Life | Become An Expert In What Matters
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is an excerpt from Ryan Holiday’s latest book **The Daily Dad.**“Even though you have these powers free and entirely your own, you don’t us...
This is What Winners Do | Ask DS
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In April 1960, the writer Richard Whalen was trying to meet with Diane Nash and the sit-in students for a Time Magazine cover story. These young colle...
Don’t Suffer In Advance
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is a balance to Stoicism between awareness and anxiety. The Stoics want you to be prepared for an uncertain—and oftentimes dangerous—future,...
Timothy Egan on Extremism and Fear
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Timothy Egan about his new book A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped The...
You Must Make This Shift | How Stoicism Helps You Deal With Big Challenges
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius ruled over millions of people, and he didn't care what any of them thought about him. Well at least, he worked hard to not care about ...
Have You Read The Books? | Test Your Impressions
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We say we want to get better. We say we want to learn about this or that. We say we want to make a change. We say we’ve decided to get serious.But i...
Seneca on Being
09 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Ryan presents an excerpt from audiobook The Tao Of Seneca, which is essentially a compilation of the best of Seneca’s Moral Le...
Author Philipp Meyer on Channeling History, Philosophy and Failure into Art
08 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Philipp Meyer about his novels American Rust and The Son, processing the morally questionable history of the American west through li...
Are You Showing Them How To Be A Student? | Expect To Change Your Opinions
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is an excerpt from Ryan Holiday’s latest book The Daily Dad.If you think back to when you were a kid, what appeared to you to be the best part ...
Beware This Thief Of Time | Ask DS
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Not long ago we talked about the Stoic view on punctuality. It’s a pretty simple one: Being on time is important. It’s a matter of respect, not ju...
You Need To Cultivate People Like This In Your Life
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Where did Marcus learn to be Marcus? Ernest Renan writes that Marcus was very much a product of his training and his tutors. But more than his teacher...
Edith Hall on Aristotelian Ethics, Intention, and Human Decency
05 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Edith Hall about why she wants to open up Aristotle’s works to the world at large, how Aristotle defined what a human being is and ...
Try To See The World This Way | Why Facing Death Is The Key To Success
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After serving as an officer in Vietnam, Paul Woodruff decided to dedicate his life to teaching and writing about philosophy. He’s been a professor a...
What Will You Choose? | What Can Go Wrong Might
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
All of our upbringings were different. Some were given two parents, others only one. Maybe it took a village to raise you. Either way, we didn't get t...
Ryan Holiday on The Art and Stoicism of Digital Marketing
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Ryan presents a live talk that he gave in September 2022 to a group of business leaders about the art and business of modern marketing. He cove...
Lori Gottlieb on Changing Your Life by Changing the Story
01 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Lori Gottlieb about the profound effect that stories have on our lives, why we are all unreliable narrators, how we can make real ste...
Your Standards Are For You | You’re a Product of Your Training
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the things that separates us from other people—indeed that has been responsible for our success—is our ability to be strict and self-discip...
This Helps You Be A Better Person | Ask DS
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington profited from slavery, but both knew it was wrong. Yet at the end of their lives, it was Washington who fr...
Just Do This Daily | 8 Stoic Strategies For Controlling Your Anger
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A successful day for a Stoic is simple. It’s not about making more money. Or getting more famous, or dazzling more people with your accomplishments....
Don’t Make Assumptions
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You don’t get a joke, so you say it’s not funny. You don’t like something, so you believe it sucks. You’re white, so you’ve always taken it ...
Wes Larson on Respecting the Awesome Power of Nature
29 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Wes Larson about how and why he dedicated his life to working with bears, the feeling of being alive that he gets when working up clo...
How To Better Understand The Past | Say No to the Need to Impress
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In retrospect, so many of the decisions the Stoics made are baffling. Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus. Seneca and Nero. Their attitude toward wom...
Cicero on The Paradox of the Fool
26 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan presents the first of six readings of Cicero's Stoic Paradoxes. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest politician, and he has survived as one of...
Zach Braff on Healing and Helping with Art and Stoicism
25 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Zach Braff about his new Stoicism-inspired movie A Good Person, how the idea of Amor fati has helped him translate recent personal tr...
Have You Been Infected Yet? | There is Philosophy in Everything
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the year 165 AD, a plague began to break out in Rome. Brought back from the far eastern corners of the empire, the virus spread from person to pers...
Don’t Make This Lesson More Painful | Ask DS
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We get so used to having our way. We live in a time when the skies have been conquered. When so many diseases have been vanquished. When technology al...
Here’s How To Get Out Of A Rut
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The busier we get, the more we work, even the more that we learn and read, the further we tend to drift from our center. We get in a rhythm. We’re m...
Steve Scott on Winning in Life
22 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Steve Scott about his book Hey, Tiger―You Need to Move Your Mark Back: 9 Simple Words that Changed the Game of Golf Forever, why ha...
They’ll Never GIVE It To You | 6 Simple Stoic Lessons To Feel More Peace
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We like to think that someday, things will be slower, more peaceful. That we’ll get a break. That after the holidays, after this busy season, then w...
There Is No Greatness Without This | The Portable Retreat
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People probably thought Marcus Aurelius was strange. The time he spent alone in his room. The long walks he took by himself. We know they thought it w...
Seneca on Conquering the Conqueror
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Ryan presents an excerpt from The Tao Of Seneca produced by Tim Ferriss’ Audio. In this letter, Seneca talks about examining t...
Rob Dyrdek on the Power of Living With Intention
18 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Rob Dyrdek about finding happiness and fulfillment by managing his time and energy in more intentional ways, transitioning from self-...
How Well Do You Know These Backroads? | The Beauty of Choice
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Meditations, you could say, is Marcus Aurelius exploring himself. That’s literally what the title means–the book isn’t for you and I, it’s “...
You Can Keep It To Yourself | Ask DS
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the criticisms of the Stoics is that they left certain things unaddressed. Nowhere in Seneca’s writings, for instance, does he directly addre...
Mark Your Exit With Grace
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today marks the anniversary of the death of one of humanity’s greatest specimens. On March 17th, 180, in what is now modern day Vienna, Emperor Marc...
Bozoma Saint John on the Power of Embracing Memento Mori
15 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Bozoma Saint John about her new book The Urgent Life: My Story of My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival, how intense personal traumas ...
The Only Experience Worth Chasing | These Stoic Quotes Will Improve Your Life
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a lot of things to try to do in your life. You should feel the ecstasy of falling in love. You should try to catch the sunrise on one coast,...
This Is What Discipline Looks Like | Think About It From The Other Person's Perspective
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius was strict with himself. He slept on a hard mattress. He didn’t drink or eat to excess. He didn’t have affairs or lose his temper....
Is Virtue All that is Needed for Happiness?
12 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Ryan presents the second and third of six readings of Cicero's Stoic Paradoxes. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest politician, and he has ...
Carli Lloyd on Fueling Greatness with Discipline
11 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Carli Lloyd about the intense discipline that it takes to be a professional athlete at the highest level, how she was able to bounce ...
Winning Isn’t As Fun As It Seems | Find Yourself a Cato
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There’s an old joke: When the Gods wish to punish us, they give us everything we’ve ever wanted. Look at most people who win the lottery. Look at ...
Why You Can’t Worry | Ask DS
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve said before that a Stoic focuses on what they control. That is the essence of Epictetus’s teachings, after all. You put your energy where yo...
To Find Pleasure, Look for Purpose
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It might seem like the Stoics didn’t have fun, didn’t experience pleasure. They did write, after all, quite a bit about the emptiness of chasing s...
Dr. Shadi Bartsch on Eastern vs. Western Philosophy
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Dr. Shadi Bartsch about her new book Plato Goes to China: The Greek Classics and Chinese Nationalism, the controversial role that Gre...
Marcus Had A Dream | The Most Life Changing Marcus Aurelius Quotes
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It was last night 1,862 years ago that Marcus Aurelius had a dream.A few years earlier, when Marcus received the news of Hadrian’s plans to have Ant...
How To Find Treasure | What Expensive Things Cost
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The reason we don’t get what we want is because we want it too much. We reach for it with too much force. We lack the patience, we lack the poise. I...
The Escalation of the Rivalry that Destroyed Rome
05 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan presents the second of four excerpts from Josiah Osgood’s Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato’s Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republic. ...
Rick Rubin on The Creative Act Part Two
04 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the second of a two-part interview, Ryan speaks with Rick Rubin about his new book The Creative Act: A Way of Being, respecting everyone’s unique...
You Deserve Moments Like This | (Dis)integration
03 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are so busy. We think we’re supposed to be. We think that’s how we get better. We think that moving is the only way to move forward.You might t...
This Is A Good Moment | Ask DS
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s hard not to look at the lives of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus and Cato and Zeno and not see what seems like one trauma after anothe...
The Best New Ideas Come From Old Books
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We live in modern, cutting edge times. Each day, there are breakthroughs in neuroscience, microcomputing, medicine, and in how we make, save, and...
Rick Rubin on The Creative Act Part One
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of a two-part interview, Ryan speaks with Rick Rubin about his new book The Creative Act: A Way of Being, the importance of allowing crea...
We Are All Replaceable | This Stoic Virtue Will Change Your Life
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics believed in the concept of "amor fati," or "love of fate." This means accepting and embracing everything that happens, including the fact t...
You Must Do This Dance | Cultivate Indifference
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While most of us will never be an emperor or a rock star, we can imagine what it would be like.It would be so abnormal as to be dehumanizing. Indeed, ...
Life Is Too Short To Read Bad Books
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To the Stoics, it wasn’t that we read. It’s what we read. We should seek out books that make a difference in our lives…not ones that win prizes....
William D. Cohan on Power, Ego, and the Imperial CEO
25 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with William D. Cohan about his new book Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon, the link between Marcus Aurelius and the “...
Take This Seriously…But Not TOO Seriously | The Real Source of Harm
24 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Punctuality is a matter of self-discipline, but also respect. We must be aware of and in command of our schedule and the time we’ve allocated to dif...
They Are Not Your Rivals | Ask DS
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the opposite of Stoicism, this austere philosophy based on toughness and resilience, virtue and service? Well, in the ancient world, it was E...
You Can’t Turn Away From Things That Are Hard
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One way to go through life is to turn away from the things that are hard. You can close your eyes and ears to what is unpleasant. You can take the eas...
Anthony Everitt on Nero, Rome’s Most Misunderstood Emperor
22 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Anthony Everitt about his book Nero: Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome, how Rome would have been different if Nero were f...
Have You Considered This? | 60 Stoic Lessons In 1 Minute Or Less
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We all have reasons we don’t like something. We think a certain comedian isn’t funny or is a hack. We think a certain author is too basic or overh...
How To Achieve Things | Reduce Wants, Increase Happiness
20 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s always been difficult to concentrate. In one of his letters, Seneca talks about trying to write while Rome resounds beneath him with cacop...
How to Create Change in Your Life
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s audiobook reading features the second excerpt from The Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello. Anthony was an Indian Jesuit p...
Sam Harris on Stoicism and Mindfulness Practice
18 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Sam Harris about the overlap between eastern and western philosophy, how mindfulness practices like meditation help us become better ...
Just Put It On My Tab | The Enemy of Happiness
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Life was just one thing after another for Marcus Aurelius. The plague. The flooding. The wars. He did not meet with, “the good fortune he deserved,”...
This Isn’t The Way To Practice Detachment | Ask Daily Stoic
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca wasn’t fond of philosophers you could recognize. Not by their fame, but by their uniform. In his time, just as it is in ours, there was ...
How To Be Free
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ruby Doris Smith died at age 25 of cancer. It was an unfair death, concluding a short, unfair life. For two and half decades on this earth – from 19...
Massimo Pigliucci on Why Virtue Matters
15 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Professor Massimo Pigliucci about his new book The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Ou...
The Right Time Is Right Now | The Virtue That Made Marcus Aurelius So Great
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We know what we want to do–or need to do. We need to quit that job. We need to have that hard conversation. We need to be more active in our communi...
How To Become Rich | Watch Over Your Perceptions
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The writers Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five) and Joseph Heller (Catch-22) were at a glamorous party outside New York City. Standing in the palatial...
How to Enjoy Life Fully
12 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s reading features an excerpt from The Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello. Anthony was an Indian Jesuit priest, psychothera...
Dr. Samantha Boardman on Turning Stress in Strength
11 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Dr. Samantha Boardman about her book Everyday Vitality: Turning Stress into Strength, how you can improve your life by changing small...
How To Handle A Bad Call | Anger is Bad Fuel
10 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll made a decision that will be remembered in sports history for decades. The headli...
What Will This Cause? | Ask Daily Stoic
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When horrible things happen to us, our instinct is always to ask why me? Why this? Why now? It’s understandable, but it’s also irrelevant and unhe...
Turn To This Friend Constantly
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In her beautiful book about the Los Angeles Public Library fire, Susan Orlean captures the magic of what libraries can offer. She describes walking th...
John Hendrickson on Embracing Disability with Stoicism
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with John Hendrickson about his new book Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter, how Stoicism and Ryan’s work influenced him to open...
Have You Considered This? | What Stoicism Can Teach Us About Mental Health
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Things go wrong. We get screwed over. We make mistakes. It happens. The idea that it shouldn’t affect a Stoic? Preposterous. No amount of train...
You Must Practice This Ritual This Year | Suspend Your Opinions
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius was a busy man. He was a smart and able and talented man. So why did he need to spend so many precious hours in his tent, writing by t...
Epicurus’s Key to the Good Life
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, Ryan presents a reading of Epicurus’s Letter to Menoeceus in which the philosopher and father of Epicureanism lays out to his friend why he b...
MLB All-Star Ian Happ on the Power of Discipline
04 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Ian Happ about how practicing Stoic principles helps him play better baseball, the mindset of a professional athlete, how he uses dis...
Why Did Marcus Write His Meditations? | The Source of Your Anxiety
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why did Marcus Aurelius write his Meditations? It wasn’t for an audience. It wasn’t simply to practice his Greek or his rhetorical abili...
Very Little Is Needed | Ask Daily Stoic
02 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We think we need a lot to be happy. We think we need piles of money. And power. And fame. And to get that perfect house and to marry that perfect pers...
The Worry Part Is A Choice
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We think if we just make enough money, someday we won’t have to worry about it anymore. We think if we just get big enough, strong enough, we won’...
Dr. Nate Zinsser, Josh Peck, Annie Duke, Amy Morin, Paul Bloom, and Yung Pueblo on Building Better Habits
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan looks back on some of the best discussions of 2022 that he and his guests had about building better habits. Featuring Dr. Nate Zinsser on looking...
The Best Time Is Now | 9 Peak Performance Tips from Top Performers
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Obviously, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The earlier you get started on something that takes time, the bigger and better the results ...
History Repeats And It Doesn’t | Focus On The Present Moment
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
History is the same thing happening over and over again, Marcus Aurelius said. There’s nothing new under the sun.And yet, like all things in philoso...
Cicero on The Paradox of Virtue
29 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan presents the first of six readings of Cicero's Stoic Paradoxes. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest politician, and he has survived as one of...
Professor Paul Woodruff on Philosophy, War and Justice
28 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Paul Woodruff about his book The Ajax Dilemma: Justice, Fairness, and Rewards, the ancient purpose of justice, reflections on a lifet...
Are You Great Like This? | Ask Daily Stoic
27 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
People have different definitions of greatness or success.Maybe you think yourself powerful because you have a lot of people working for you. Or succe...
What To Do When You Have Fallen Short | The Three Areas of Training
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
He had considered not going public with it. He had wanted so badly to be able to keep saying, to get credit for being the guy who says, ‘I’m sixte...
Lean Into Their Strengths Rather Than Disdain Their Weaknesses
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius was clearly torn about his fellow man. He was loving and kind and spoke repeatedly of serving the common good. He was also clearly fru...
Professor Sarah Churchwell on Genius, Big Dreams and F. Scott Fitzgerald
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Sarah Churchwell about her book Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby, the complicated figure of F. ...
Come Back To The Rhythm | A Stoic Idea Worth Tattooing On Your Body
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius wasn’t perfect.With so many responsibilities competing for his time and attention, he was guilty, as we all have been, of letting hi...
Don’t Abuse This Power | A Little Better Every Day
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In one of the weirdest passages of Meditations, Marcus Aurelius notes with pride that he never laid a hand on any of his female slaves.Not cheating on...
How Cato’s Deadly Rivalry With Caesar Destroyed Rome
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan presents the first of four excerpts from Josiah Osgood’s Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato’s Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republic. H...
Molly Bloom on Turning Down 5 Million Dollars
21 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan speaks with Molly Bloom about her book Molly's Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground P...
It’s Just Happening | Ask Daily Stoic
20 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It feels terrible to hear that someone is breaking up with you. Or that your retirement portfolio has dropped significantly in recent months. To find ...