The Daily Stoic
Episodes
If You Need A Friend…
05 Sep 2019
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...
Fulfilling Your Destiny Will Not Be Easy
04 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s pretty incredible to think that Hadrian was able to see the potential in Marcus Aurelius. Hadrian somehow, even though Marcus was just a boy, c...
The Most Powerful (and Underrated) Force in The World
03 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius, on nearly a dozen occasions in Meditations, speaks of reaching or achieving “stillness.” Most beautifully, he writes of trying to...
What is Required of You
02 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Marcus Aurelius was an incredibly lucky man. He was born a Roman and he was born a man in a time where to be anything other than a man or a Roman citi...
Heaven Beside You…Hell Within
30 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s late summer now and you might be thinking it’s time to squeeze in a last minute vacation. Or maybe you’ve been looking forward to a long-pl...
Where is The Courage?
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
These are times of increasing political extremism. They are also times of corruption and rising inequality. Enormous, alarming trends are sweeping thr...
It’s Easy To be Sad
28 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In his new book, Comedy Sex God (as well as on his wonderful podcast and on his HBO show) the comedian Pete Holmes talks about the aftermath of the di...
Forgiveness Isn’t Easy, But It’s Essential
27 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The great C.S Lewis observed that we all find forgiveness to be a lovely idea...right up until we have someone to forgive. It’s true. Forgiveness is...
Don’t Forget To Go Home
26 Aug 2019
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...
It’s About What You Do (And Don’t Do)
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“If it is not right, do not do it,” Marcus Aurelius wrote, “if it is not true, do not say it.” But it’s worth pointing out that as a philoso...
Look With Both Eyes
22 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One way to look at an iconic or important landmark like the White House is with reverence. This is the seat of a global power. This is where Kennedy s...
But What If We’re Wrong?
21 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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—...
What Kind of Ambition To Have
20 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There are different kinds of ambition. There was, on one end of the spectrum, the ambition of someone like Abraham Lincoln. This was the ambition that...
Be Aware, But Not Troubled
19 Aug 2019
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,...
This Is The Secret To Wealth
16 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is wealth? It’s having plenty, right? The variables in the equation are pretty simple. What you have, what you’ve got coming in, and what’s...
Be Obsessed With Living
15 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is a morbid theme running through the music of Johnny Cash. His deep, haunting voice is rarely far from a lyric about death or murder or loss or...
If You Were Tried, Would You Be Convicted?
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One of the undeniable realities of the history of religion is persecution. The Christians have been persecuted. So have the Jews, the Muslims, the Hin...
What Will You Do Next?
13 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics believed that stressful and dangerous situations unfold like this: Something happens—we wake up to reports that the stock market has tak...
You Don't Need Credit
12 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Perhaps you remember reading The Odyssey in high school or college (or possibly you picked up Emily Wilson’s fabulous new translation). Even if you ...
We All Must Go Into The Wilderness
09 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca was exiled once in AD 41 and then again from Nero’s service at the end of his career. Epictetus was exiled in Nicopolis, Greece by the Empero...
Be A Generalist
08 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you look at any of the great Stoics, you’ll notice that philosophy was just one of their many diverse interests. Seneca was a philosopher and a p...
How Not To Be Angry
07 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One gets the sense that Seneca, like many smart and active people, was often frustrated by other people. It is inevitable that someone like him—some...
What Do You Gain By Worrying?
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When did Jesus deliver his famous Sermon on the Mount? We don’t know. But we know that Seneca and Jesus were born at roughly the same time and were ...
Winning The Ultimate Victory
02 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is a tradition in Stoicism that few notice, but is possibly one of the most inspiring and chilling parts of the entire philosophy. There’s no ...
Try The Opposite Remedy
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In his essay Of Clemency, Seneca tells a story of a time Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire, had his temper severely tested. Augustus rec...
Be Careful About Who You Want To Impress
31 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When you listen to people talk about choices they regret, whether it was working for the guy who put on Fyre Fest or joining a gang or a cult, it’s ...
We’re Lucky Not To Get What We Want
30 Jul 2019
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 ...
What To Take From All This
29 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Very few people, if they’re being honest, would want their kids to grow up to be like Donald Trump. And that includes the folks who had perfectly go...
Spare Time Is Not Enough Pt II
26 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The great Athenian statesman Pericles once explained to his people that being a great naval power was not some hobby. It was the key to their survival...
Good or Evil...The Choice Is Yours
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck thought the tug between good and evil was a necessary contradiction of human nature. There is no better ...
There’s No Excuse For Being Surprised
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Fabius was one of Ancient Rome’s great generals, though he was not the bold, reckless type that usually gets all the attention in history books. No,...
Haven’t You Done That Before?
23 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It is certainly true that people can do some awful things to each other. We hear of a trusted representative who is stealing from their clients. We he...
What Do You Look Like Angry?
22 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Getting angry is not a good look. We know this because we see how ugly other people look when they get mad. How childish they seem. How pathetic their...
You’re Not That Important
19 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A few weeks ago, a horse at The Preakness threw its jockey right out of the gate and kept running. Like really kept running. It ran the whole race twi...
This Is Universal
18 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Traveling—that itch to get away, to hit the road, to see the world—feels like a distinctly modern craze. Yet it was common in Ancient Rome for peo...
Are You Self-Aware?
17 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Evan Thomas, in his incisive and humanizing biography of Richard Nixon, asks a penetrating question: How many great men of history were truly self-awa...
Nothing Wrong With Nice Stuff
16 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Seneca was a very rich man. He had nice stuff. Critics at the time, and ever since, have found this to be indisputable proof of his hypocrisy. How can...
These Things Have No Power Over You
15 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
So much has happened in the past. We’ve messed up. We’ve been hurt. We’ve missed opportunities and we’ve embarrassed ourselves. So much can h...
Does Greatness Require Ego?
12 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
While we all hold up humility as an admirable trait, we’re not always sure it can get us to the goals we aspire to. We look at a Kanye West or a Don...
We Must Increase What We Have Been Given
11 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the Book of Matthew, we are told of the parable of the talents. Three servants are left sums of money (talents) by their master. The first, who the...
Assume Everyone Is Lying
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve probably caught yourself doing it. Life has been rough or depressing, but your social media feed looks awesome. Someone asks how much money y...
Pity The Ego
09 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Stoics were not unacquainted with awful people. They saw tyrants. They saw cheats. They saw toxic egomaniacs and insatiable ambitions. And what wa...
Just A Few Seconds Of Courage
08 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2006, Benjamin Mee bought a zoo. Literally a zoo. It was broken down and in desperate need of a caring owner. Mee and his family were struggling to...
Are You Ready To Be Challenged?
05 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s very easy to get comfortable. To build up your life exactly how you want it to be. Minimize inconveniences and hand off the stuff you don’t l...
Freedom Isn't Free
04 Jul 2019
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...
Do Less
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Unlike so many of the other philosophical schools, the Stoics were doers. The Epicureans might have been content to play in their gardens and the Cyni...
Who The True Stoics Were
02 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you were to run down the list of the great Stoics of history, who would come to mind?Seneca. Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus. Maybe if you really knew y...
Real Power Can’t Be Taken Away
01 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Twice, Seneca was exiled. Twice, he basically lost everything. Money. Access. Influence. It all went away, like *that.* How did he handle it? The fir...
You Have To Take Care of Yourself
28 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
King George IV was a notorious glutton. His breakfast supposedly consisted of two pigeons, three steaks, a near full bottle of wine, and a glass of br...
Justice Doesn't Have To Be Angry
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When we hear about an athlete who was doubted and kicked around, or an entrepreneur who ends up buying the previously dominant company that once spurn...
What Do You Live By?
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
William Alexander Percy, the uncle of the great writer Walker Percy, and one of the last Southern Stoics, was a famous host. His mansion in Greenville...
Never Attribute To Malice…
25 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
People do a lot of things that feel mean. That frustrate us. That cause problems for us. That make the world a worse place. They vote for bad politici...
Break Out and Break Free
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We live in the freest time in the freest places in the history of the world. Yet many of us feel far from free. We are slaves to vices and devices, to...
It’s About The Paring Down
21 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Really what the Stoics were trying to do is pare down what they had to worry about. That’s why Epictetus said our first job was just to determine wh...
Practice These Virtues
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Virtue is one of those words that contains multitudes. If you think about it, being virtuous is not doing one thing all the time, or even lots of thin...
You Must Think It
19 Jun 2019
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 cannot think it...
Do You Want To Be Less Angry?
18 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The best way to make sure you are always offended and upset is to be on the lookout for things to be offended by and upset about. The sharper your ear...
Tell The Truth, Even If They Hate You For It
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is a certain archetype that is as old as literature and history themselves. One of the first times we see it in the West is with Cassandra in th...
It’s OK To Struggle
14 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nietzsche’s classic line was “what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” It’s a nice sentiment, but is it true? Don’t people who were born w...
It Doesn’t Matter What You Do, It Matters How You Do It
13 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The occupations of the three most well-known Stoics could not be more different. Seneca was a playwright, a wealthy landowner, and a political advisor...
Never Abandon Your Ideals
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Anne Frank would have celebrated her 90th birthday today. Although her life was cut tragically short, so much of her preternatural wisdom survives to ...
Why It’s Important To Be Healthy
11 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It wouldn’t seem like eating well would be an important part of the philosopher’s job, but indeed it is. Antoninus Pius, the adopted stepfather of...
How To Think About Obstacles
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We can think of hardship many ways: As failure. As unfairness. As the end of the conversation. Clearly, this was not meant to be, we can say. They don...
When You Need Help...
07 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you’re having a difficult time in your relationship. Or work has worn you down. Maybe things have gone exceedingly well in your business and n...
What The Simple Life Is
06 Jun 2019
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 a typ...
The Earth Is Big And Has Room For Everyone
05 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is a line in the Odyssey (most recently translated by Seneca’s wonderful biographer, Emily Wilson). Odysseus, still early on in his journey ho...
Good Stuff Comes Out Of Bad Circumstances
04 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If Marcus Aurelius had his choice, he probably never would have been emperor. If he could have chosen how his reign would go, he probably wouldn’t h...
An Easy Source of Encouragement
03 Jun 2019
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 abilities—he ...
Stop Wasting Time on Trivialities
31 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In his twenty-third letter to Lucilius, Seneca opens with some meta snark that is relatable to anyone who has ever been trapped in a banal conversatio...
The Best Technology Ever Invented
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There have been all sorts of wonderful technological innovations since Marcus Aurelius’s time, particularly in the domain of writing. We got the pri...
It’s OK To Cry
29 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We know that Marcus Aurelius cried when he was told that his favorite tutor passed away. We know that he cried that day in court, when he was overseei...
What Do You Have To Draw On?
28 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For most of us, things are pretty good right now. The economy is booming. Our jobs or our personal lives are going well. Most of the doomsday predicti...
Things Don’t Make The Man
27 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s very easy to associate our possessions and our positions with our identity. There’s even an expression to that effect: The clothes make the m...
It’s Not As Unfortunate As It Seems
24 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Things we didn’t want to happen happen to all of us. A business deal falls through. A grade comes back that we didn’t expect. A person we care abo...
The Road To Ladies and Gentlemen Again
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Two years ago, the world lost a great scholar and Stoic philosopher, Peter Lawler. Peter, a longtime writer for National Review and political science ...
You’ll Be Happier If You’re Realistic
22 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We tell ourselves that if we just get paid more or get promoted, we’ll stop being so miserable at work. Or we dream for months in advance about some...
Eat And Be Merry
21 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A few years ago a study by Brad Bushman at Ohio State University found a link between low blood sugar and arguments between spouses. It pretty much co...
Make It Happen. Whatever It Takes.
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this day in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. Her solo exploits are well known. Less so is that Earhart ...
Don’t Let Yourself Be Rushed
17 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Caro is getting old and people are getting worried. He’s now 83 and each day that passes makes it increasingly unlikely that he’ll ever fin...
Find The Space
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Think about the last time that someone made you upset. What did they say? What did they do? Now think back: How did you react? What did you say? What ...
How To Overcome Selfishness
15 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bertrand Russell was no fan of the Stoics. He thought they were cold, hated riches and passion. He thought Seneca and Marcus were hypocrites. But then...
The Only Measure of Success
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There’s plenty written about people pushing through failure, pulling themselves out of the depths of despair, rising above against all odds. There a...
Look For Teachable Moments
13 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On the eve of the 2008 election, the journalist Joe Klein asked Barack Obama how he’d made his decision to respond to the brewing scandal about Obam...
If It’s Right, It’s Right For You
10 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes we get asked or tasked with doing stuff in life we’d rather not have to do. Maybe that’s working a less than glamorous job when we’re ...
You Decide The End of The Story
09 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When James Stockdale was shot down in Vietnam, he was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese. He spent seven years being tortured and subjected to uni...
The First and Most Important Victory
08 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy to look at people who are calm and self-disciplined and assume that their disposition comes naturally to them, or that it is somehow divin...
Who To Be Friends With?
07 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Of the Stoics, Seneca seems like the one who had the most fun. He’s the one who it’s easiest to picture spending time with friends or mingling at ...
Don’t Sell Out
06 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In his Discourses, Epictetus asks a probing question: “Your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a...
Be Sure To Love Them While You Still Can
03 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In one of the darkest passages in all of Stoic thought, Epictetus discusses the prospect of putting your child to bed and saying goodbye to them in yo...
Do Your Duty, Every Day, Everywhere
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy was recently interviewed by the New York Times about his grueling travel schedule, which will include 22 c...
You’ll Never Get To Perfect
01 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Rosanne Cash tells a story in her memoir, Composed about a performance she did with George Harrison. Dress rehearsal had gone wonderfully but the perf...
You Can Admit You Were Wrong
30 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A Stoic is determined, but not obstinate. A Stoic controls what they can, recognizes they cannot change that which is out of their control, but that t...
Make Beautiful Choices
29 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Epictetus says that “if your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.” It’s simple and it’s true. You are what your choices make you, nothin...
Do This For Your Future Self
26 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The musician, producer, circus performer, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and author, Derek Sivers, recently wrote an article that began, “You know those...
Always Think Of Their Intentions
25 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We live in a culture where people sit on the sidelines and pass a lot of strong judgements. We look at people we don’t know and decide whether they’...
Difficulty Is Forging Us Into Who We Need To Be
24 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Look, nobody wants to go through hard times. We’d prefer that things go according to plan, that what could go wrong doesn’t, so that we might enjo...
We All Share This Thing Together
23 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday was the 49th year we celebrated Earth Day...in the 4.5 billionth year of the Earth’s existence. In 1970, at the height of counterculture i...
When You're Having A Bad Day
22 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Theodore Roosevelt famously said that comparison is the thief of joy. Using what other people have or what they’ve done to chart your progress, hold...
The Race To Run Is Against Yourself
19 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It can be deceiving to hear the Stoics talk about an indifference to external recognition or rewards. Marcus says that fame is meaningless. Seneca tal...
Look For The Good
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Ingalls Wilder had a hard scrabble existence. From the Kansas prairies to the backwoods of Florida, she and her family eked out a life from some...