The Daily Stoic - Real Power Can’t Be Taken Away

Episode Date: July 1, 2019

Twice, Seneca was exiled. Twice, he basically lost everything. Money. Access. Influence. It all went away, like *that.* How did he handle it? The first time, not so well. We can read the thou-dost-protest-too-much letter he wrote to his mother...and we can see what he was willing to do in order to be recalled. By Stoic standards, it wasn’t pretty.  The second time, he did a little better—as long as he could be free from Nero, the exile was worth the loss. And when he was approached by Nero’s executioner, he responded, finally, with courage and strength. Only then were the man and his philosophy aligned. “It is a vast kingdom to be able to cope without a kingdom,” Seneca wrote in his play, Thyestes. This was no mere word play. This was hard-won wisdom. Seneca really did know of what he spoke. He really did learn how to break free of the hold that material things and status had over him. And in it, he found both great power and, eventually, immortality.  Another fellow traveler in Stoicism was the slave-turned-philosopher Publilius Syrus. “If you are to have a great kingdom,” he said, “rule over yourself!” That’s what we should think about today. Real power can’t be taken away—not by the economy or by an election or by anything else. A populist surfs on the moods of the crowd, but a philosopher—a person worthy of our respect—rests on principles. They can hate you, they can send you away, they can mock you or even kill you, but no one can take away those principles. No one can stop you from ruling over yourself. It’s the best and the biggest and the strongest kingdom there is. 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 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. Real power can't be taken away. Twice Senica was exiled. Twice he basically lost everything.

Money, access, influence, it all went away. Like that. How did he handle it? The first time, not so well, we can read the thou dost protest too much, a letter he wrote to his mother, and we can see what he was willing to do in order to be recalled. By stoic standards, it wasn't pretty. The second time he did a little better, as long as he could be free from Nero, the exile was worth the loss. And when he was approached by Nero's executioner, he responded, finally, with courage and strength. Only then were the man and his philosophy aligned. It is a vast kingdom to be able to cope without a kingdom, Senika wrote in his play, The Estes. This was no mere word play. This was hard one wisdom.

Senika really did know of what he spoke. He really did learn how to break free of the hold that material things and status had over him. And in it, he found both great power and eventually immortality. Another fellow traveler in stoicism was the slaved-turned philosopher, Publilius Sirus.

If you aren't to have a great kingdom, he wrote, rule over yourself. That's what we should think about today. Real power can't be taken away, not by the economy or by an election or by anything else. A populist serfs on the moods of the crowd, but a philosopher, a person worthy of our respect rests on principles. They can hate you, they can send you away, they can mock you or even kill you, but no one can take away those principles.

No one can stop you from ruling over yourself. It's the best, and the biggest, and the strongest kingdom there is. We are all lucky enough to live at the freest time in the freest places in the history of the world, but how many of us actually feel free? We don't. We are slaves to our vices and our devices and it's awful. That's why we've made this new 21 day daily stoic freedom challenge that's designed to help you break free from all those chains and to help you build better habits, clear out bad assumptions, bad thinking,

bad ways of living. Check it out, it's at dailystoic.com slash challenge. It's gonna start on July 8th, which means signups will close at 1159 on July 7th. It's your only chance to sign up. Then this goes away forever. I can't wait to see you in it and I hope you are ready to be challenged. Hey, Prime Members. You can listen to the Daily Stoic Early and Add Free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.