The Daily Stoic

This Is the Great Equalizer | Smoke and Dust of Myth

25 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Imagine what it must have been like to be Alexander the Great, conquering most of the known world by the time you were 30 years old. Born into roya...

Adam Grant on Ego and Knowledge

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to author Adam Grant about his new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know, why the Stoics b...

What It Means To Carry the Fire

24 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“We’ve talked about this before—this idea of Carrying the Fire. It’s a concept that comes to us from the beautiful and haunting novel The Road...

You Can’t Make People Feel What You Want

23 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It would be so nice if they could just come around. If they could get with the program. Don’t they see what we need? Don’t they see that we lov...

How Stories Teach Us The Truth | Reduce Wants, Increase Happiness

22 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“They seem silly. Aesop tells us stories about dogs and mice and foxes and lions. Children love them of course. Isn’t that proof that they’re ch...

Stoicism and the Art of Resilience

21 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How does someone who was born into slavery, whose master broke their leg and crippled them for life, somehow escape all that and become one of the fat...

Poker World Champion Annie Duke On Choosing the Truth

20 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to World Series of Poker champion Annie Duke about making ethical choices, the overlap between Stoicism and cognitive...

Face What’s In Front of You First

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s a tempting cognitive bias but ultimately a paralyzing one. Worse, it is often complicit in very preventable evil.”Ryan discusses why you n...

You’re Not As Beloved As You Think | Prepare For The Storm

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s easy to let self-importance set in. Look at the car they sent for you. Look at how big your office is. Look at all the people who report to ...

There Are Going To Be These Kinds Of People In The World

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“When Barbara Bush died, a college professor in California decided to go on a tweetstorm to insult the newly deceased. For years, the Westboro Bapti...

James Clear On Getting 1% Better Every Day

17 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan talks with author James Clear about practical ways to shift your internal narrative, how to begin and maintain productive habitual action, being ...

We Are Chosen For Things

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s one of the most incredible stories in all of history. A young boy, out of nowhere, is chosen to be the emperor of most of the known world.”...

It’s Easy To Forget This… But You Can’t. | Watch Over Your Perceptions

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“You have so much to do. So much going on. There are only so many rolls of toilet paper left at the store. Only so many jobs available. Only so many...

Seneca on the Shortness of Life - Part 2

14 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode features another section from James Romm’s How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life. How To Die is a modern translation and...

Tamler Sommers On the Urgency of Honor

13 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to professor Tamler Sommers about the obligation to spread philosophy in the modern age, the timeless dilemma of mone...

Here’s Where You’ll Find True Beauty

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“As we’ve discussed before, John Adams was one of those people whose racing mind gave them little rest. He was always doing, doing, doing and more...

You Just Keep Going | Hero or Nero

11 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It has been a series of body blows, hasn’t it? The economy. Politics. Our health. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe you’ve lost your hope. All of ...

Amelia Boone On Excellence and Endurance

10 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks to champion obstacle racer and attorney Amelia Boone about the absence of clear communication during the pandemic, creating structure and ...

What Did the Stoics Think About Politics?

10 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Some of you are mad before you’ve even read this email. Relax. The Stoics lived 2,000 years ago. They had little in the way of policy beliefs tha...

No, The World Is Not Conspiring Against You

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Sometimes it can feel like you’re surrounded by small-minded idiots. Especially when you’re trying to do something new, important, or good. All...

There Is Nothing Beneath the Philosopher | Suspend Your Opinions

08 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“We get it. You’ve worked hard. You’re a good person. You respect yourself. That’s why you’re frustrated to be in this job beneath your tale...

How To Use Stoicism To Control Your Anger

07 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anger is antithetical to Stoicism, so naturally, the Stoics had methods of dealing with it. In this video, Ryan Holiday walks us through the various t...

Jonathan Church On Terminal Cancer and Making Peace with Fate

06 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan speaks to author and economist Jonathan Church about his brain cancer diagnosis, coming to terms with mortality through phi...

Is This What You Spend Your Life For?

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Early on in Address Unknown, a haunting novel about the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s, two German entrepreneurs write to each other with ...

You Don’t Have To Do This Anymore | On Being Invincible

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“In one of the most vulnerable scenes in the Taylor Swift documentary on Netflix, Swift talks about how she feels while looking at a paparazzi photo...

Bryan Doerries On the Power of Greek Tragedy and Seneca’s Plays

03 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan speaks to writer Bryan Doerries about his work in familiarizing service members and veterans with ancient Greek plays, the ...

The Highway Don’t Care

03 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It doesn’t matter that you’re a safe driver. Or that you’ve always paid your taxes. It doesn’t matter how hard you’ve worked for this. Or...

Things Are Not That Different

02 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“We live in the glorious future. Yet somehow it is exactly the same as the past. The scourge of the ancient world: Pirates. Pompey fought them in Ca...

This Is How a Wise Man Responds to Triggers | Focus On the Present Moment

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“There’s a story in the Talmud about a man betting his friend four hundred zuzim that he couldn’t provoke the famous rabbi Hillel into anger. Th...

Seneca On the Shortness of Life

31 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode features a section from James Romm’s How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life. How To Die is a modern translation and colle...

James Frey on Turning Chaos Into Success

30 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Speaks to writer and businessman James Frey about the challenges of being isolated during the pandemic, the philosophy behind his sobriety, the p...

Practice Makes You Prepared

29 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“In 2017, the New England Patriots were down 28-3 to the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter of the Super Bowl. It had not been a good game. Fans h...

Can You Forgive Them? | Watching the Wise

28 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“They hurt you, your parents. Everyone’s did. Some in big ways, some in small ways. It’s just a fact. As the poet Philip Larkin wrote, ‘They f...

David Roll on What We Can Learn from General George Marshall

27 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan and historian David Roll discuss his most recent book George Marshall: Defender of the Republic, the most magnificent momen...

It’s A Series Of High Water Marks

27 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“There’s a beautiful scene in Hunter S. Thompson’s dark memoir, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. He talks about how just outside Las Vegas, in th...

Not No Emotions, No Useless Emotions

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Stoicism, as we have said, is not the elimination of all emotion. It’s the regulation of them. Effectively, as Nassim Taleb has said, it’s the ...

The Present Moment Is All You’ve Got | A Little Better Every Day

25 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“There’s a lot going on in your life. Good for you. It’s a sign of success. It’s also a burden, a source of stress. You’ve got projects wrap...

How the Stoics Can Make You A Better Leader

24 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Stoics have many lessons to share about leadership. From Marcus Aurelius' reflections on his rule as the Emperor of Rome, to Epictetus' ...

Susan Straight on the Power of Story

23 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks to professor and author Susan Straight about their first encounter at the University of California, Riverside, finding joy in the private ...

There Are Only Hard Decisions

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Wouldn’t it be nice if everything was simple and straightforward? That’s what we’d like to think the job of a leader is. You become president...

You Get Bad Breaks… and Good Ones | A Morning Ritual

21 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“In the year 41 CE, Seneca was banished by the emperor Claudius for supposedly sleeping with Julia Livilla, the sister of Caligula. We don’t know ...

Mike Duncan On Using the Past to Guide the Future

20 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan speaks to author and historian Mike Duncan (History of Rome podcast) about his incredibly important book, The Storm Before ...

All The Rest Is Commentary

20 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s a famous story, one we’ve told before. Hillel was asked to explain the Torah. ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ he said. ‘All the rest...

Wake Up, You’re Fever Dreaming

19 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“You want it. You want it badly. The promotion. To win that higher office. To get called up. To buy that house. To sleep with that person. To have j...

You Are Dying Every Day | The Wake Up

18 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s easy to see death as this thing that lies off in the distant future. Even those of us who choose not to live in denial of our mortality can ...

Stoicism's Simple Secret To Being Happier

17 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan discusses how he has used Stoic principles to find happiness and stillness in the modern world. Stoicism is a practical phi...

Cal Newport On the Art of Time Blocking

16 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to “Deep Work” author and computer scientist Cal Newport about his new Time-Block Planner, the logistics of writi...

You Still Have Time Pt II

15 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“We talked a while back about one of the most inspiring lessons of Seneca’s life—that’s it’s not too late for anyone. This was a man who los...

Don’t Just Settle For a Shortcut, Do The Work | Peace Is In Staying the Course

14 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“When things are scary, when we’re overwhelmed, when we’re struggling, it’s tempting to look for a shortcut, for a pill that makes you feel be...

You Are Not Too Busy To Read

13 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“We get it. You’re busy. You have kids. You have a job—maybe two. You have these things you are trying to accomplish. You have to get to the gym...

Economist Emily Oster On Rationality and Risk

13 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan has a wide-ranging conversation with professor and economist Emily Oster. They talk about how to balance your life with chi...

There Is No Reason Not To Follow Your Heart

12 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Steve Jobs was more interested in Buddhism than he was Stoicism. He may not have been, at least according to biographies, a particularly good perso...

What If This Made You Stronger? | The Sphere of Choice

11 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It wouldn’t be wonderful if it weren’t true. But it is: “Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way,...

The Incredible Stoicism of James Stockdale: Prisoner At War

10 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“On September 9, 1965, Admiral James Stockdale’s A-4 Skyhawk jet was shot down in Vietnam. He was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese and spent...

Historian Thomas Ricks on Stoicism and the Founders

09 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with author and journalist Thomas Ricks about his new book, First Principles, the importance of looking back at the virtues and principles...

Here’s What You Can Do With Those Long Odds

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“To face long odds, to face what others call an “impossibility”—some people can handle this and some people can’t. Think of the chances that...

You Can Find Peace

07 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“There’s a chapter in Epictetus’ Discourses entirely about forlornness (or solitude, depending on the translation), the state where one feels mi...

Jay Shetty On How to Think Like a Monk

06 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast Ryan talks to influencer and author Jay Shetty about his former life as a monk, finding stillness in the modern world, and focusi...

What This Philosophy Is Here For

06 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“You’ve got problems. We all do. Maybe you’re having a difficult time in your relationship. Or work has worn you down. Or you’re trying to fig...

It’s About Infusing It Into Your DNA

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Marcus Aurelius read Epictetus… a lot. We know this because Meditations is proof of it. Almost every page has some direct quote or allusion to Ep...

What Have You Managed to Get Done? | Whats Up to Us, What's Not Up to Us

04 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s been a strange year, hasn’t it? Our days have been disrupted. Our lifestyles changed. Plans have been put on pause. Whole projects made im...

Who was Marcus Aurelius? The Life Of The Stoic Emperor

03 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Marcus’s "Meditations" is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man g...

Shaka Smart, Buzz Williams, Manu Ginóbili, Pau Gasol, Dominique Dawes, and Danica Patrick On Sports and Stoicism

02 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews about sports in 2020. Ryan talks to Shaka Smart, Buzz Williams, Manu Ginóbili, Pau ...

Things Are Won at the Beginning

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

“Here we are at the beginning of a new year. On the one hand, today is just a day, no different than any other. Yet there is also something special ...

Now Is the Time

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“We all have vices. We all have flaws. We all have things we know we want to change. What happens? Nothing happens. This is true for everyone, even ...

This We Must Avoid

30 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“When he was young, Seneca experimented with vegetarianism. It was a fad at the time—considered a transgressive but trendy idea from the philosoph...

Jessica Lahey, Angel Parham, Brett McKay, and Dr. Harvey Karp On Parenting and Stoicism

30 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews about parenting in 2020. Ryan talks to Jessica Lahey, Angel Parham, Brett McKay, and...

How Much Longer Are You Going To Wait?

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“We all know professional procrastinators. You know, those people who constantly put stuff off. Who always have some new plan in the works to improv...

You Can’t Freeze Up | Turn Words Into Works

28 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“Where this goes and what will happen is impossible to ascertain. The only certainty over the next few months and possibly years is uncertainty. But...

These 3 Books Changed My Life Completely

27 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan discusses the 3 books that completely changed his life. Listen to find out what books had such a great impact on Ryan’s t...

Matthew McConaughey, Pete Holmes, Martellus Bennett, and George Raveling on How to Be a Modern Leader

26 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews in 2020. Ryan talks to Matthew McConaughey, Pete Holmes, Martellus Bennett, and Geor...

This is the Tradition We Hail From

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“2,000 years ago today there was a woman who went into labor in a province of the Roman Empire, she couldn't find shelter, she was young, and s...

What Matters is the Response

24 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“It was a dark day exactly 244 years ago. Christmas was here, at one of of the darkest times in the American Revolution. George Washington was plann...

Cal Newport, Jocko Willink, Tim Ferriss, and Robert Greene on Life During a Pandemic

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews in 2020. Ryan talks to Cal Newport, Jocko Willink, Tim Ferriss, and Robert Greene ab...

Always Give Credit to Something Greater

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“It’s almost a cliché at this point. A reporter walks into the locker room of a victorious team and gets some version of the following quotes fro...

If You Want to Look Better, Do This

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“Epictetus said that the root of beauty was beautiful choices. He was talking less of physical beauty, one imagines, than of true beautiful human be...

You Have To Be Ready | Stake Your Claim

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“In his 91st Letter, Seneca tells Lucilius about his friend Liberalis who is “in some distress at the present moment following the news of the com...

5 More of the Most Stoic Moments in History

20 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan discusses 5 of the most Stoic moments in history with examples from Agrippinus, Steve Scott, Kerri Strugg, Frederick Dougla...

The National’s Matt Berninger On Ego, Collaboration, and Slowing Down

19 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to the lead singer of indie rock band The National about the false glamour of the rock n’ roll lifestyle, staying c...

The Better You Get, The Less You Care…

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“Whether it’s a great athlete or a great comedian, the truth is the same. The better they get, the less they care about results. That’s not to s...

We Are All In This Together

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“One of the strangest pejoratives that has come up in this new divisive political era is the idea of calling someone a “globalist.” It’s parti...

This Is What You Have Been Working For

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“A quarterback can spend thousands of hours in the gym, watching footage, and working on their throwing accuracy. But ultimately, what matters is wh...

UFC Fighter Michelle Waterson On Training the Mind and the Body

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to champion MMA fighter Michelle Waterson about the philosophy of being a mother, a business owner, and a world renow...

You Have to Be Willing to Change

15 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

“We’ve been this way for a while. We are set in our ways. We’ve always had a short fuse. We’ve always been sad about our childhood. We’ve al...

Yes, This is Unfair, Yet... | Keep the Rhythm

14 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"You didn’t cause the pandemic. You might have even been one of the people who was vocal about the dangers early on. Perhaps you didn’t vote ...

Death and the View From Above — An Excerpt from Don Robertson’s “How to Think Like a Roman Emperor”

13 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan features another clip from the audiobook of Donald Robertson’s 2019 book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, published by ...

Ramit Sethi on How to Live the Rich Life

12 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to his longtime friend, author and financial expert Ramit Sethi. From backbreaking summer jobs in Sacramento to finan...

A Leader Must Be a Reader

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"A leader will be forced into countless situations that they have never been in before. Trying, painful, stressful, baffling dilemmas and difficu...

Greatness Should Be Put Up For Display

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"Go stand in front of the Jefferson Monument in D.C. on an early morning, watch the sun rise through the columns and shining on those words, “W...

Author Connor Towne O’Neill On the Battle to Shape History

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan talks to a fellow Southern transplant, writer Conor Towne O’Neill. They nerd out over their mutual fascination with the g...

This Is the Power You Have

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"Life is hard. We face insurmountable odds with so many problems. We get bad news. We mess up. We find out that what we wanted—what we deserve,...

Each of Us Has a Job to Do

08 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"Today, we find ourselves in the teeth of a global pandemic, one with a mortality rate close to the Antonine Plague that killed millions of peopl...

How Do You Not See This? | Be Stingy With Time

07 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"You consider yourself a programmatic thinker, a political realist, a student of history, a righter of wrongs, a teller of truths. The world is g...

Temporary Madness — An Excerpt from Don Robertson’s “How to Think Like a Roman Emperor”

06 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan features a clip from the audiobook of Donald Robertson’s 2019 book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, published by Macmil...

Pop Star Camila Cabello On Stoicism, Creativity and Success

05 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today’s episode, Ryan talks with Camila Cabello on training your mind to work for you, finding courage and happiness in your career, how she valu...

You Think You’re So Powerful

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"You’re smart. You’re experienced. You’ve made a bunch of money. You have a few prestigious letters before or after your name. You’re a ...

Who You Spend Time With Matters

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

"We’d like to think we are above being influenced by others, but of course that’s not true. We are shaped by the people we spend time with, a...

It’s Not If You’re Reading, But WHAT You’re Reading

02 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Reading is an indisputable good. How could it not be? It’s hard to criticize anyone who takes the time, in this crazy, busy (and shockingly ignorant...

ESPN's Wright Thompson On What Makes Us Great… And Human

02 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan speaks with writer Wright Thompson about what drives an author to cover a topic, the similarity between writing and sports, their differing writi...

Who Will You Look For?

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you look out at the world right now, what you’ll see at first glance is a pretty terrible picture of desperation. Steep market declines. Fear. Pa...