In 1922, an unknown, struggling writer named Ernest Hemingway was covering events in Switzerland when he met an editor interested in publishing his work. At last, he thought, his big break had arrived. His wife, Hadley, packed up all the writing Hemingway had accumulated in their tiny, unheated Paris apartment—manuscripts, short stories, poetry, an unfinished […] The post It Will Make You Better appeared first on Daily Stoic ..read more

As we work and achieve, we pile up titles and money. We accumulate assets and influence. We build a life, as they say. And a life is made up of things: Our job. Our house. Our car. Our relationships. Our reputation. Looking around at what we possess, what we’ve poured so much sweat and blood […] The post You’re Only Loaning This appeared first on Daily Stoic ..read more

They can break the rules. They can bury you in paperwork. They can lie. They can abuse their power. They can hurt people. They can do all this impunity. It’s not just that they can. It’s that they almost certainly will. Injustice is not an aberration in this world, it’s practically the norm. Anyone who has tried to bring about change, who has tried to do the right thing, who has tried to follow virtue to its natural conclusions has found this out. But you know what they can’t do? They can’t make you be like them. This is what Marcus Aurelius reminds himself at the beginning of Meditations. “No ..read more

The word “justice” is now often associated with courts, lawsuits, prosecutors and defenders, judges and juries.. We debate the meaning of justice, the functioning of the legal system, its complexities, its flaws, ambiguities, limitations, and inconsistencies. We get bombarded by the news cycle of stories of injustice, verdicts which were fair or unfair, and people who did or didn’t get the justice they deserve. But the Stoics understood justice differently—not simply as a noun, but also as a verb. Not something we get, but something we do. Not something we demand from other people, but somethi ..read more

What Is Regret? “Two elements must therefore be rooted out once for all, – the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet.” – Seneca, from Letters from a Stoic After a long day at work and terrible traffic, you finally make it home. The stress has taken its toll, and you’re exhausted, bored, and frustrated with the day’s events all at once. You walk into your kitchen to find a heaping pile of dishes–something you asked your spouse to take care of this morning! Yet, they’re relaxing in front of th ..read more

“The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money.” – John Henry Jowett We’ve all heard stories of people encountering the world’s greatest riches, ending in either tragedy or triumph. Those of Annie, the struggling orphan whose charm ushered her into a life of privilege and wealth. Those of Cinderella, the mistreated servant whose resilience and character led her to wealth. Even those of King Midas, whose greed and desire for wealth left him tragically alone and impoverished.  But why do we read these stories? Why are we so devoted to these characters ..read more

“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.” — Marcus Aurelius The question of why and how we are supposed to live has been contemplated for centuries.  Absurdist Albert Camus wrote that life is like the Sisyphean task of pushing a boulder up a mountain for all of eternity. Existence itself, in other words, is persevering. Camus writes, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”  So, how do we persevere well? How do we persevere happily? Thankfully, we can look to the Stoics. The Stoics not only wrote about how ..read more

  Amazon Music •  Apple Podcasts •  Spotify • Overcast • Wondery   Ryan speaks with Alexander Ludwig about how studying Stoicism gave him the discipline to quit drinking, the power of surrendering to the moment, pursuing mastery of the crafts of acting and songwriting, the mindset he has maintained while navigating his career, and more.  Alexander Ludwig is a Canadian actor and country musician. He is most known for his starring and supporting roles in the History Channel series Vikings and the films Bad Boys for Life, Lone Survivor, The Hunger Games, and Race to Wit ..read more

Just over sixteen years ago, I bought Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations on Amazon. Amazon Prime didn’t exist then and to qualify for free shipping, I had to purchase a few other books at the same time. I was 19 years old. I didn’t know what Stoicism was. I didn’t know who Marcus Aurelius was (besides the old guy in Gladiator). I certainly didn’t know who Gregory Hays, the translator, was. I’m not even sure why I got that translation—it just came up first in the searches. But if I hadn’t ordered that book, if it hadn’t shown up at my college apartment a few days later, I’m not sure who I would have ..read more

The Daily Stoic Podcast  The Daily Stoic podcast is a weekly podcast hosted and recorded by bestselling author Ryan Holiday. Guests have included global pop star Camila Cabello, Academy-Award winning actor Matthew McConaughey, #1 New York Times bestselling author Tim Ferriss, three time Olympian Dominique Dawes, best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell, former NASCAR champion Danica Patrick, radio host Charlamagne Tha God, former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, and dozens more.  Role This role will aid in the production of the Daily Stoic and Daily Dad podcasts. This w ..read more