The Daily Stoic - Is This What You Spend Your Life For?

Episode Date: February 5, 2021

“Early on in Address Unknown, a haunting novel about the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s, two German entrepreneurs write to each other with much affection about their business succe...ss. One line, written from the entrepreneur Max to his friend Martin, stops us cold in the way that truth, rendered in fiction, occasionally can.”Ryan discusses the cost of the things and experiences that we chase after, and why we must spend our time wisely, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow Daily Stoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stood Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wundery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target. The new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. on music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stood Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom every day life.
Starting point is 00:00:38 Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoward.com. Is this what you spend your life for? Early on in address unknown, a haunting novel about the rise of fascism in Germany in the 1930s, two German entrepreneurs write each other with much affection about their business success. One line written from one character to the other via letter stops us cold in the way that truth rendered infection occasionally can. Is it for this we spend our lives, he says, to scheme for money and then to strut it publicly?
Starting point is 00:01:19 Boom. Isn't it? Isn't that what so many of us are doing? Seneca reminds us that success and wealth are often one at the cost of life. He speaks with great pity of the Romans, who slave away, managing their slaves, who accumulate great fortunes, which they then spend in ordinent amounts of time trying to find ways to display and fritter about. Marcus Aurelius himself, a possessor of great wealth and power would write to himself, especially when he felt self-important, are you afraid of death because you won't be able to do this anymore? Remember that every dollar you earn costs you time and energy, every minute you spend puffing yourself up or crafting an impressive profile
Starting point is 00:02:00 to cut for others is time you can't get back. Think of the richest people who ever lived. In the end, what did their money get them? Who lives in their estates now? Does anyone even care about the art they bought or the monuments they commissioned for themselves? No. These things come at the cost of life at the expense of our most precious resource. So spend it wisely. And look, obviously that's the message of the idea of momentum or you could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. I carry that momentum or even down into my pocket, as I've said before, which you can check out at store Stoic early and add free on Amazon Music,
Starting point is 00:02:50 download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Raising kids can be one of the greatest rewards of a parent's life. But come on, someday, parenting is unbearable. I love my kid, but is a new parenting podcast from Wondry that shares a refreshingly honest and insightful take on parenting. Hosted by myself, Megan Galey, Chris Garcia, and Kurt Brown-Oller, we will be your resident not-so-expert experts. Each week we'll share a parenting story
Starting point is 00:03:25 that'll have you laughing, nodding, and thinking, oh yeah, I have absolutely been there. We'll talk about what went right and wrong. What would we do differently? And the next time you step on yet another stray Lego in the middle of the night, you'll feel less alone. So if you like to laugh with us as we talk about the hardest job in the world,
Starting point is 00:03:45 listen to, I love my kid, but wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.

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