The Daily Stoic

"Cato did not want a civil war. Julius Caesar probably thought that if he marched on Rome, Cato’s opposition would evaporate. He was mistaken. James Garfield didn’t want a civil war either. As the South ratcheted up their aggression in the 1860s, Southern fire-eaters assumed that the North would compromise, as they had time and time again. They weren’t counting on resistance like the kind the...

"In Meditations, we have Marcus Aurelius writing notes to himself about who he wanted to be, what he expected of himself. In Book X, he writes about how he never wants to be overheard complaining—not even to himself. In Book X, he talks about greeting death cheerfully, bravely, because what choice do we have? But as we’ve said before, to talk about something is one thing, to do it is another....

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks with co-author Stephen Hanselman about their latest book, Lives of the Stoics , and what their experience has been writing it for the past year. This is the first part of the interview that Ryan recorded as a bonus gift for pre-ordering Lives of the Stoics ; to hear the rest, just visit DailyStoic.com/Lives. Stephen Hanselman is a longtime collaborator of Ryan’s, hav...

"In Seneca’s writings, he is almost unbelievably Stoic. He speaks truth to power, he never despairs, he tries his best to be ethical and good. But in real life? Seneca was often afraid to challenge Nero, he felt sorry for himself while in exile, he chased wealth and fame. This is not to indict him, but to show the difference between theory and practice." What explains this distinction? R...

"There’s no questioning that the Stoics were victims of severe injustices. Marcus Aurelius was betrayed by his most trusted general in what amounted to an attempted coup that threatened him and his family. Epictetus had thirty years of his life stolen by slavery. Musonius Rufus was exiled on bogus offenses, not once, but possibly four separate times... As unfair as all these situations were,...

In today's Sunday Podcast, Ryan talks about Epictetus, who from birth was enslaved yet still managed to become one of the most significant founders of Stoicism, and gives five of his most important quotes. This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic . Four Sigmatic is a maker of mushroom coffee, lattes, elixirs, and more. Their drinks all taste amazing and they've full of all sorts o...

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks with NBA legend Manu Ginóbili about how he reads books to help his athletic career, using your emotions to perform better, and how to find a mentor in competitive situations. Manu Ginóbili played 16 seasons with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, winning four championships as the quintessential sixth man. Ginobili led the 2004 Argentina national basketball team to Olympic...

"How does a Stoic feel about this global pandemic in which innocent people have been utterly failed by their governments? Leaders who denied that the threat was real and failed to prepare. Whose negligence and incompetence were downright criminal. This should make a Stoic mad. But what a Stoic must do is prevent themselves from getting angry." Ryan explains the distinction between being...

"Things happened. Bad things. Things you never wanted, that hang over you wherever you go. We close our eyes and we see them. We worry that they’re going to happen again; we worry that we were to blame, that it was our fault." How does a Stoic deal with all this baggage? Ryan explains on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. *** If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave...

On today’s Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks to his longtime writing partner and friend Nils Parker. They discuss Stoicism, their ongoing collaboration with Daily Stoic and Ryan’s other written works, and more.  Nils Parker is one of the most sought after writers and editors in the business, having worked on books that have grossed more than $100M in earnings in the last fifteen years. He and Ryan h...

"When things are hard, when things are scary, when we’re tired, when we’ve had a run of bad luck, that’s when it happens: Magical thinking kicks in. This will all be over soon, we convince ourselves. This one thing will solve all our problems. Our ex is going to walk through the door any minute now. The pandemic will just disappear because we want it to. This kind of thinking makes us feel be...

"Just a few more years we tell ourselves. Just until I make enough money. After I make rank. Almost there.  These are the lies we tell ourselves, the rationales for why we’re doing the thing we hate or being the kind of person we’d rather not be." Ryan tells us why you must leave the intolerable situation you find yourself in, on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. *** If you enjoyed this...

"No one would have chosen this. No one is that crazy. To have your life disrupted. To be out of work. To lose money or people you love. To see institutions taxed beyond their capacities. To see people scared or frustrated.  But this pandemic is a classic 'there it is' situation. It’s here. It happened. Now what?" Ryan lays out the perspective you should use in considering the p...

In today's Sunday Podcast, Ryan goes over seven lessons for life that you can learn from the ancient Stoics (learn more about these philosophers in Ryan’s new book, Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius ). Learn about the preorder bonuses and virtual book tour events for Lives of the Stoics: https://dailystoic.com/lives This episode is brought to you by GiveWell...

On today’s Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with How I Built This creator and host Guy Raz about how we deal with big collective action problems in an era of increased polarization, harnessing entrepreneurial energy to help society, and more. Guy Raz is a podcast creator and host with a combined audience of over 19 million downloads a month. He is the creator and host of How I Built This , a podcas...

"On the surface, Cicero appears the perfect Stoic. He studied with all the right teachers. He served in office for decades. He was friends with Cato. Diodotus, the old Stoic philosopher, even died in Cicero’s house and left his estate to him. But it’s ironic that Cicero, the author of a book called Stoic Paradoxes, would himself fail to embody a paradox that goes to the core of the philosophy...

"It’d be wonderful if everyone could agree on some very basic things. Like, you can’t use racial slurs. And no, you shouldn’t judge a person for their gender or their sexual orientation. It’d be wonderful if nobody littered, if people didn’t blast music at 2 AM, if we observed some standard rules of civility for behavior in public. It’d be wonderful if everyone wore a mask and socially distan...

On today’s Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with author and former NFL player Martellus Bennett about the clarifying effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their day-to-day lives, how readers should engage with the books they acquire, how Marcus persevered to help the New England Patriots come back from the largest Super Bowl score deficit in NFL history, and more.  Martellus Bennett is a fo...

"There are lots of things you should be doing today. Your journaling. Your reading. Taking care of your work, of your children or family. Following the instructions of the authorities (to stay inside, to eliminate unnecessary travel, to make sure you have food and supplies on hand). All this is good. Most of it takes work. But the thing you should be working hardest at? Being calm." Ryan...

"It was Seneca who told us how to learn from history and literature. Ignore the facts and figures, he said, focus on the moral lessons. Focus on what the characters can teach you about life. Plutarch, the great moral biographer of history, would take this lesson to heart. Unlike the biographers of our time, who publish big, thick books filled with footnotes and postmodern digressions, Plutarc...

"You want it, don’t you? That 'I told you so.' That 'Thank You.' That recognition for being first, or being better, or being different. You want credit. You want gratitude. You want the acknowledgement for the good you’ve done, for the weight that you carry." Ryan discusses why the last thing you need is that recognition on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. *** If you...

In today's Sunday Podcast, Ryan talks about five quotes from Seneca, one of the three founding fathers of Stoicism and a famous writer and advisor as well, and how they can change your life for the better.. This episode is brought to you by Four Sigmatic . Four Sigmatic is a maker of mushroom coffee, lattes, elixirs, and more. Their drinks all taste amazing and they've full of all sorts...

On today’s Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with lacrosse star Paul Rabil about the mental obstacles that come with being a pro athlete, the experience of starting a professional sports league, and more.  Paul Rabil is one of the best lacrosse players in history and the best in the world at the sport right now—some have called him the LeBron James of lacrosse. He has played for championship lacross...

"Never underestimate the ability of human beings to focus on the wrong thing. Think about the number of people this past summer who—as the world’s economy was melting down, as the bodies piled up from the global COVID-19 pandemic, as millions lost their jobs—decided that what we should really be focused on are the ethics of selling tiger cubs and the sexual cultic undertones at play among the...

"The Stoics were hard on themselves. No question about it. They knew what was right and they insisted on holding themselves to that. They were absolutists. Even if it meant death. Even if it meant avoidable suffering. Even if it meant passing on acceptable pleasures." But as Ryan explains, the Stoics judged themselves by a double standard—the results of which he talks about on today&apos...