They were different. Some of them were downright weird. Cleanthes made quite a spectacle of himself in Athens, a philosopher who did manual labor for a living. Cato walked around bareheaded and barefooted, violating most of the social and class norms of his time. Marcus Aurelius was seen reading books at the Coliseum, indifferent to the popular past times that got everyone else excited. Agrippinus, one middle Stoic who lived in the time of Nero, cared nothing for the niceties and obeisance expec...
Jan 30, 2024•27 min•Ep. 1989
Marcus Aurelius knew this, but he didn’t let it get him down. In fact, he found some reassurance in it. “When we cease from activity, or follow a thought to its conclusion,” he observed, “it is a kind of death.” But this doesn’t harm us, he pointed out. In fact, we look forward to many of these cessations and conclusions. “Think about your life,” he said, “childhood, boyhood, youth, old age. Every transformation a kind of dying. Was that so terrible?” -- In today's Daily Stoic Journal reading, R...
Jan 29, 2024•9 min•Ep. 1996
As one of history’s most important biographers and essayists, Plutarch studied deeply the traits of great Greek and Roman leaders to identify just what it is that made them great. In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan shares an excerpt from How to Be a Leader: An Ancient Guide to Wise Leadership , in which Plutarch clearly and succinctly lays out his thoughts on the subject, as well as his advice to anyone striving to become a leader. This book is part of the fantastic Princeton University Ancient ...
Jan 28, 2024•20 min•Ep. 1982
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with English author Adam Nicolson on greek mythology, real meaning of the oceans, travel, the grand question about philosophy, that what really matters more? to understand the higher things above you, or the material actualities, along with his new book How To Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks Adam is an English author who has written about history, landscape, great literature and the sea. He is noted for his books Sea Room , God’s Secr...
Jan 27, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 1981
In the muck and mire of daily life, it’s easy to get frustrated with people. It’s easy to prioritize the wrong things, to lose perspective. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment or forget the actual magnitude of your problems. Which is why the Stoics remind us to zoom out . At least twice in Meditations , Marcus Aurelius speaks of taking “Plato’s view” and by that he means getting up high and looking down on humanity. “To see them from above,” he writes, “the thousands of animal herds, the ri...
Jan 26, 2024•9 min•Ep. 1988
The Stoics talk about a lot of things. But they don’t speak that much about happiness. Is that because they were too tough or too resigned to their bleak view of life to care about it? Did they mean to imply that there isn’t room for happiness for the Stoic? That it wasn’t possible? Not at all. They talked about other things—virtue, resilience, self-command, managing the passions—because they believed when you handled that, happiness would ensue. As Dr. Becky Kennedy writes in her wonderful book...
Jan 25, 2024•13 min•Ep. 1986
The image of the philosopher is typically that of an academic, one preoccupied with big, theoretical ideas. You know, the kind of brilliant but absent minded professor. The one so hard at work on the mysteries of the universe…that they put on mismatching socks. The one that can’t remember where they put their car keys, the one who doesn’t have time for the pesky issues of life or human affairs because they’re on the verge of some breakthrough. But what’s so refreshing and relatable about the Sto...
Jan 24, 2024•3 min•Ep. 1985
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with author and early-stage technology investor/advisor Tim Ferriss on the essence of Stoicism, fear setting, and exaggerating the downside of things. How stoicism helped Tim manage the catastrophe of success and criticism and his podcast Tim Ferriss Show, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads. It has now exceeded 900 million downloads. Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovat...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 1977
Agrippinus once told another philosopher that while everyone else wanted to blend in, he was content to stand out—to ‘be the red thread’ in the sweater, the one that makes the garment beautiful. It wasn’t attention and fame he was after, nor was he rewarded for standing out in this way. In the end, Agrippinus was exiled (his father was executed for similar crimes). Cato could have made a fortune in politics, if he was after the same things his peers were after. He could have wielded enormous pow...
Jan 23, 2024•13 min•Ep. 1984
Emotions are a part of being human. They’re a part of us. They’re hardwired in. So it’s a mistake to think that Stoicism is about the suppression or elimination of this —how would that be part of “living in accordance with nature?” In her wonderful book about parenting , Good Inside , Dr. Becky Kennedy reminds parents that it’s impossible to simply remove your children’s uncomfortable feelings. You can’t—just as your parents couldn’t—tell them to stuff them down. You can’t gaslight them into thi...
Jan 22, 2024•9 min•Ep. 1983
In today's weekend episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks Unlocking Human Potential, and Conquering your ego with YPO West Michigan and YPO Gold Chapter in West Michigan. YPO is the global leadership community of extraordinary chief executives. ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail 🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more. 📱 Follow us: Instagram , Twitter , YouTube , TikTok , Facebook See Privacy Policy at h...
Jan 21, 2024•30 min•Ep. 1974
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with author and early-stage technology investor/advisor Tim Ferriss on the essence of Stoicism, fear setting, and exaggerating the downside of things. How stoicism helped Tim manage the catastrophe of success and criticism and his podcast Tim Ferriss Show, which is the first business/interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads. It has now exceeded 900 million downloads. Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovat...
Jan 20, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 1973
When you consider the insane amounts of money that some people feel the need to accumulate, when you see their estates, when you see them pinch every penny, what they’ll do for a dollar, when you reckon with the costs—to family and friends—it took to earn all this, you might assume they get to take it all with them when they die. Of course, we don’t. The Roman poet Juvenal joked that while Alexander was living, the whole world could not contain him, but in death, a coffin was sufficient . The hu...
Jan 19, 2024•7 min•Ep. 1980
We talked recently about a piece of advice from the therapist and children expert Dr. Becky Kennedy (she has a great book called Good Inside and was an awesome recent guest on the Daily Stoic podcast ). She was saying that the key to raising happy children is to focus on emotional regulation first. By helping them name and manage their emotions, she explains, we are creating room for happiness. “Regulation first,” she writes, “happiness second.” - And In today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan talks disci...
Jan 18, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1979
It feels like it will make a difference, that long awaited trip. That exciting new job that will keep you very busy, make you very rich. That pioneering new plant medicine. That distracting pleasure. “Thus does each man flee himself,” Seneca says, quoting Lucretius, in his criticism of those Romans who sought out every opportunity to indulge their wanderlust. We like to think we can get away from our problems , that it will be different there, that a change of scenery will change us. ✉️ Sign up ...
Jan 17, 2024•2 min•Ep. 1978
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with successful hospitality entrepreneur and bestselling author Chip Conley on boutique hotels and stimulating the 5 senses, the importance of reflection, understanding what the ego is telling you but not identifying with it, the most powerful idea from the Stoics, along with his New York Times bestselling book Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age. Chip Conley is on a mission to reframe our relationship with agi...
Jan 17, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 1970
It’s a story as old as it gets. Marcus Aurelius felt it when Cassius attempted his coup. Maybe he felt it with his step brother Lucius Verus. Epictetus , waking up to find his house broken into , his shrine desecrated. Imagine the feeling of Rutilius Rufus , learning that he’d been found guilty of trumped up charges by his peers back in Rome (this story in in Lives of the Stoics ). Marcus Aurelius would say that the best revenge for these kinds of things was to not be like that, to not be like t...
Jan 16, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1976
The business failure. The blown meeting. The marriage that fell apart. These things didn’t go the way you wanted. It’s frustrating and painful. It’s hard to see anything good about it. Surely, that’s what Hemingway felt when, as we talked about recently, his entire literary output was lost in one unfortunate incident . Don’t tell me this is ‘good,’ he wrote to Ezra Pound. “I ain’t yet reached that mood.” We can imagine, in fact we know Marcus Aurelius felt similarly about devastating moments in ...
Jan 15, 2024•10 min•Ep. 1975
The Obstacle Is the Way has become a cult classic, beloved by men and women around the world who apply its wisdom to become more successful at whatever they do. In this episode of the podcast, Ryan reminds us to revert to the present moment by focusing on what we can control. This is how we see the opportunity within the obstacle and that results from self discipline and logic. Get The Obstacle Is The Way from The Painted Porch Bookstore Get a signed copy of the special leatherbound edition of T...
Jan 14, 2024•13 min•Ep. 1966
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with American author, lawyer, and legal scholar Kermit Roosevelt III on Honoring and doing what is right, Why peoples values and sense of honor are collapsing, How many people know who Marcus Aurelius is because of Gladiator, and his book The Nation That Never Was. Kermit is an American author, lawyer, and legal scholar. He is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a great-great-grandson of United States President Theodore ...
Jan 13, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 1965
It’s just not true. The Stoics were not magically stronger, wiser, more mentally tough than you. In fact, they were exactly the same as you. They felt fear. They felt frustration. They felt annoyance. They had expectations. They had desires. And when things didn’t work out for them? They got upset. But it’s what happened next that separates them from us. The one habit that Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca—a slave, an emperor, a power broker and playwright, respectively—had in common? - In ...
Jan 12, 2024•7 min•Ep. 1972
Even the people who obstruct us, who fight against progress are playing a role. Certainly every historical period has had those people, so why should our moment be any different? That’s the role the play of life picked out for them, that’s who their character happens to be. When we understand that everyone is playing a part , that we’re all involved in the same big, messy project that is the world, we can be more understanding. We can be more patient. At the very least, we can be more tolerant a...
Jan 11, 2024•12 min•Ep. 1971
In a sense, this is also the secret to happiness. No one can give us step-by-step instructions for achieving happiness—not even the Stoics. But they did teach us how to be resilient, how to think, how to manage frustration, how to do hard things, how to endure, how to laugh, how to focus on process vs outcomes, to try to be useful, to be empathetic, how to love. It’s with these tools—with the ability to adapt to circumstances, to find the opportunity in obstacles big and small —that we’re able t...
Jan 10, 2024•2 min•Ep. 1969
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with American author, lawyer, and legal scholar Kermit Roosevelt III on Honoring and doing what is right, Why peoples values and sense of honor are collapsing, How many people know who Marcus Aurelius is because of Gladiator, and his book The Nation That Never Was. Kermit is an American author, lawyer, and legal scholar. He is a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a great-great-grandson of United States President Theodore ...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 1962
You do a lot. You try hard . You hold yourself to high standards—higher anyway, than most people. You’re not exactly a reincarnation of Cato but still, you’re doing great. But do people appreciate this? Not really. Not nearly enough. But as we’ve said before, appreciation and recognition is not a thing we control. It’s not something that’s up to us. The line from that play about Cato , the one the Founders were so fond of, reminds us that we can’t demand a good reputation but we can deserve one....
Jan 09, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1968
Some time around the year 141 CE, Junius Rusticus gave Marcus Aurelius a gift. “The remembrances of Epictetus,” as Marcus would refer most gratefully to the book Rusticus gave him, “which he supplied me with out of his own library.” How well-worn this copy must have become! As Marcus would say, Rusticus had taught him to never be satisfied with just “getting the gist” of things he read, but encouraged him to read deeply, repeatedly, and forcefully. Considering how many times Marcus quotes Epicte...
Jan 08, 2024•12 min•Ep. 1967
In today's weekend episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan presents an excerpt touching on grief and the 10 timeless strategies read by voice actor Micheal Reid. If you want to spend time with more dedicated Stoics, if you want to join a culture full of people rising together, we invite you to join the 2024 Daily Stoic New Year New You Challenge . We did the first New Year New You Challenge in 2018, and year after year, we’ve realized more and more that one of the core benefits of the challenge...
Jan 07, 2024•38 min•Ep. 1958
Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews throughout 2023. This year, we had a handful of great comedians come onto the podcast and I got the pleasure of having them in the Daily Stoic Podcast studio where we talk about ego, discipline, procrastination, memento mori, and of course why some of the funniest jokes come from a dark place. Here's a recap of some of our best topics with Christina P, Tom Segura, Whitney Cummings, Katherine Blanford, Drew Michael and Pete Holmes. ✉...
Jan 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 1956
The pages were a safe space. A place away from the intrigues of court. A place away from war and death and pestilence. A place to process his stress, his anxieties, his fears. We can see in Meditations what these meditations were doing for Marcus Aurelius—they were doing what journaling can do for all of us. Give us space to think, space to calm down, space to get perspective, space to be grateful, space to remind ourselves of what’s important. - And in today's Daily Stoic journal reading, Ryan ...
Jan 05, 2024•8 min•Ep. 1964
We know what Seneca thought of Alexander the Great. We know what he thought of Marius. We know what he thought of entitled and gluttonous Romans. We have his seething satire of Claudius. His prolific writings condemn and judge—rightfully so—these hypocritical and often miserable folks. We have hundreds of his letters ( a must read! ), dozens of essays, volumes on natural history, multiple books that explore countless topics at incredible depth. But you know what we don’t know much about? What Se...
Jan 04, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1963
