The Daily Stoic - It’s Time To Get Up. It’s Time To Get Up

Episode Date: October 1, 2018

One of the best passages in all of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is the opener to Book V. In it, Marcus has a dialog with himself as he struggles to get out of bed in the morning. It’s just marvelously relatable. Here we have an extraordinary man, some twenty centuries ago, struggling just like every ordinary man and woman has, to get up the willpower to get up from his warm bed and get to work. Who hasn’t had a similar conversation with themselves? Who hasn’t thought, just as Marcus did, that “it’s nicer here” under the covers? As Dante wrote in his Divine Comedy, “beneath the blanket is no way to fame.” Not that Marcus or the Stoics would have advocated chasing fame. Still, Marcus did get out of bed that morning and every other morning. Why? Because he had to. He had a job to do. We all do. Ordinary and extraordinary alike, we weren’t put on this planet and evolution didn’t mercilessly improve and refine our species to do nothing. No, we have skills to deploy and duties to fulfill. We have things to do. It’s time to get up and do them. 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 the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. 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 dailystowick.com. It's time to get up. It's time to get up. One of the best passages in all of Marcus Aurelius'

Meditations is the opener to book five. In it, Marcus has a dialogue with himself as he struggles to get out of bed in the morning. It's just marvelously relatable. Here we have an extraordinary man some 20 centuries ago, struggling just like every ordinary man and woman has to get up the willpower, to get up from his warm bed, and to get to work. Who hasn't had a similar conversation with themselves?

Who hasn't thought just as Marcus did that it's nicer here under the covers? As Dante wrote in his divine comedy, beneath the blanket is no way to fame. Not that Marcus or the Stokes would have advocated chasing fame. Still, Marcus did get out of bed that morning and every other morning. Why? Because he had to. He had a job to do. We all do.

Ordinary and extraordinary alike, we weren't put on this planet and evolution didn't mercilessly improve and refine our species to do nothing. No, we have skills to deploy and duties to fulfill. We have things to do. It's time to get up and do them. 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 Plus in Apple podcasts.