The Daily Stoic - You Have A Gun To Your Head

Episode Date: April 13, 2020

It’s one of the most surprising scenes in literature and film. In Fight Club, Tyler Durden walks into a 24-hour convenience store and puts a gun to the head of the cashier. It’s an act of disturbing violence and cruelty. “Give me your wallet,” Tyler says as he presses the barrel against the man’s temple. Then he reads off his name and address: Raymond K. Hessel, 1329 SE Benning, Apartment A. “What did you want to be, Raymond K. Hessel?” Tyler asks, seeing the expired student ID card in the wallet. Then he cocks the pistol. “The question, Raymond, was what did you want to be?”You start to squirm in your seat as you witness this. Please don’t kill him, please don’t kill him. Because up to this point, Tyler Durden has been clever and cool. He has not been a murderer. Is that going to change? Finally, to our relief, Hessel, panicking, manages to stammer out an answer. A vet, he wanted to be a veterinarian, he says, but gave up because it was too hard, too much school. And now here he is, working behind a counter. Tyler, still holding the gun to his head, makes this promise: If Hessel isn’t back in school by the time he returns in a year, he’s going to kill him. It’s a dark scene, for sure. But it’s also beautiful. “Tyler is practicing a form of tough love,” Fight Club’s author Chuck Palahniuk writes in his new book, Consider This. “Tyler reminds the man of his mortality.” He is doing what the Stoics tried to do to themselves constantly: To remember that there is a gun pointed at our heads always—that we do not have time to waste or fritter away. “You could leave life right now,” Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Let that determine what you do and say and think.” Do everything as if it was the last thing you were doing in your life, he said. Seneca even tells us a story of an emperor who did have the power to kill, as Tyler Durden did in fiction, and said to a weeping prisoner, Is the life you’re living really all that different than being dead?Well, that’s the question and command today: Do not be Raymond K. Hessel. Do not give up on your dreams or live a kind of living death. You have to seize this moment. You have to let your awareness of your mortality give you urgency and purpose. You have to show up. You have to live each second as if it was the last thing you were doing in your life. Because Tyler Durden or not, it just might be. 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 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. music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stoic. For each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, 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 dailystowach.com. You have a gun to your head. It's one of the most surprising scenes in literature and film. In Fight Club, Tyler Durden walks into a 24-hour convenience store and puts a gun to the head of the cashier. It's an act of disturbing violence and cruelty. Give me your wallet, Tyler says, as he presses the barrel against the man's temple, then

he reads off the name and address from his ID. Raymond K. Hessel, 1329 Southeast Benning, apartment A. What did you want to be, Raymond K. Hessel? Tyler asks, seeing the expired student ID card in the wallet, then he cocks the pistol. The question, Raymond, was what did you want to be? You start to squirm and your seat as you witness this, please don't kill him. Please don't kill him. Because up to this point, Tyler Durden has been clever and cool. He has not been a murderer. Is that going to change? Finally, to our relief, Hessel panicking manages to stammer out an answer of that. He wanted to be

a veterinarian. He says, but he gave up because it was too hard, too much school. And now here he is working behind a counter. Tyler is still holding the gun to his head, makes this promise. If Hessel isn't back in school by the time he returns in a year, he's going to kill him. It's a dark scene, for sure, but it is also beautiful. Tyler is practicing a form of tough love, the author of Fight Club writes in his new book, Consider this. Tyler reminds the man of his mortality. He is doing what the Stoics tried to do to themselves constantly, to remember that there is a gun pointed at our head always, and that we do not have time to waste or fritter away.

You could leave life right now, Marcus Aurelius wrote, let that determine what you do and say and think. Do everything as if it was the last thing you are doing in your life, he said. Seneca even tells us the story of an emperor who did have the power to kill as Tyler did only in fiction and said to a weeping prisoner is the life you're really living all that different than being dead. Well that's the question and command today. Do not be Raymond K. Hessel. Do not give up on your dreams or live a kind of living death. You have to seize this moment. You have to let your awareness of your mortality give you urgency and purpose. You have to show up, you have to live each second as if it was the last thing you were doing in your life.

Because whether a Tyler Jordan shows up and forces you to see this or not, it might just be. Please check out the Daily Stoke Store where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these stoke lessons to the next level. Just go to dailystoke.com slash store.

Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen 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. Ah, the Bahamas. What if you could live in a penthouse above the crystal clear ocean working during the day and partying at night with your best friends and have it be 100% paid for? FTX Founder's Sam Bankman Freed lived that dream life, but it was all funded with other people's money, but he allegedly stole.

Many thought Sam Bankman Freed was changing the game as he graced the pages of Forbes and Vanity Fair. Some involved in crypto saw him as a breath of fresh air, from the usual Wall Street buffs with his casual dress and ability to play League of Legends during boardroom meetings. But in less than a year, his exchange would collapse. An SPF would find himself in a jail cell, with tens of thousands of investors blaming him for their crypto losses. From Bloomberg and Wondering, comes Spellcaster,

a new six-part docu-series about the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of FTX, and its founder, Sam Beckman-Freed. Follow Spellcaster wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, prime members, you can listen to episodes ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.