The Daily Stoic - If You Don’t Read, You’re Functionally Illiterate

Episode Date: January 30, 2020

General James Mattis is part of a long line of tradition of Stoic warriors. Just as Frederick the Great carried the Stoics in his saddlebags as he led his troops, or Cato proved his Stoicism by how he led his own troops in Rome’s Civil War, Mattis has long been known for taking Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations with him on campaign. “Reading is an honor and a gift,” he explains, “from a warrior or a historian who—a decade or a thousand decades ago—set aside time to write.” Yet many people spurn this gift and still consider themselves educated. “If you haven’t read hundreds of books,” Mattis says, “you’re functionally illiterate.” Channeling Marcus Aurelius, Mattis notes that human beings have been fighting and dying and struggling and doing the same things for eons. To not avail yourself of that knowledge is profoundly arrogant and stupid. To fill up body bags of young soldiers while a commander learns by experience? It’s worse than arrogant. It’s unethical, even murderous. Well, the same is true for much less lethal professions. How dare you waste your investor’s money by not reading and learning from the mistakes of other entrepreneurs? How dare you so take your marriage or your children for granted that you think you can afford to figure this out by doing the wrong things first? What is the upside of trying to make it in the NFL all on your own, and not looking for shortcuts and lessons from seasoned pros and students of the game who have published books? There is no real job training for an emperor or the advisor to the emperor, but you can imagine both Marcus Aurelius and Seneca read heavily from and about their predecessors. The stakes were too high for them not to. In Mattis’ view, no Marine, and no leader, is excused from studying. Consider yourself assigned to this as well. It’s wonderful that you’re reading this email, but more is demanded of you. Drink deeply from history, from philosophy, from the books of journalists and the memoirs of geniuses. Study the cautionary tales and the screw ups, read about failures and successes. Read constantly—read as a practice.Because if you don’t, it’s a dereliction of duty.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000 Gerald philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. If you don't read, you're functionally illiterate. General James Mattis is part of a long line of tradition

of stoic warriors. Just as Frederick the Great carried the Stoics in his saddlebags as he led his troops, Orcato proved his Stoicism by how he led his own troops in Rome's Civil War, Mattis has been known for taking Marcus Aurelius' meditations with him on campaign. Reading is an honor and a gift he explains from a warrior or a historian who a decade or a thousand decades ago set a sign time to write. Yet too many people spur in this gift and still consider themselves educated, if you haven't read hundreds of books, Mattis says, you're functionally illiterate. Channeling Marcus Aurelius, Mattis notes that human beings have been fighting and dying

and struggling and doing the same things for eons. To not avail yourself of that knowledge is profoundly arrogant and stupid, to fill up body bags of young soldiers while a commander learns by experience, it's worse than arrogant. It's unethical, even murderous. Well, the same is true for much less lethal professions. How dare you waste your investors' money by not reading and learning from the mistakes of other entrepreneurs?

How dare you so take your marriage or your children for granted that you think you can afford to figure this out by doing the wrong things first? What is the upside of trying to make it in the NFL all on your own and not looking for the shortcuts and lessons from season pros and students of the game who have published books? There is no real job training for an emperor or an advisor

to the emperor, but you can imagine both Marcus Aurelius and Sennaka read heavily from and about their predecessors. The stakes were too high for them not to. In Mattis' view, no marine and no leader is excused from studying. Consider yourself assigned to this as well then. It's wonderful that you're reading this email, but more is demanded of you.

Drink deeply from history, from philosophy, from the books of journalists, and the memoirs of geniuses. Study the cautionary tales and the screw-ups. Read about failures and successes, read constantly, read as a practice, because if you don't, it's a dereliction of duty. Hey everyone, as you know, reading books is a huge part of my life. They've helped me accomplish my goals and become a better person. And if you're listening, reading this,

you probably feel the same way. But like me, you probably feel you're not getting all you can out of the books that you read. And maybe you feel like you're kind of reading the same books over and over again that you're stuck in a rut, or that your reading habits could be elevated, taken to a new level. Well, we've come out with a new 13 day challenge to help you do just that. It's called read to lead. We've got 13 days of stoke inspired challenges to help you take your reading to the next level. It comes with exercises and a new reading list each day and some really awesome bonus material. You can check it out at dailystoke.com slash reading. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad free with Wondery

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