What Are We Fighting About, Really?
Episode Date: October 7, 2019There’s a great lyric in the bridge of the new Bruce Springsteen song, Tucson Train: We fought hard over nothin'We fought till nothin' remain...
For centuries, all sorts of people—generals and politicians, athletes and coaches, writers and leaders—have looked to the teachings of Stoicism to help guide their lives. Each day, author and speaker Ryan Holiday brings you a new lesson about life, inspired by the thoughts and writings of great Stoic thinkers like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca the Younger. Daily Stoic Podcast also features Q+As with listeners and interviews with notable figures from sports, academia, politics, and more. Learn more at DailyStoic.com.New episodes come out every day for free. Listen 1-week early on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday and to all episodes ad-free, with Wondery+ or Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.
2209 episodes transcribedThere’s a great lyric in the bridge of the new Bruce Springsteen song, Tucson Train: We fought hard over nothin'We fought till nothin' remain...
Here’s a way to feel good every single day, no matter what happens. A way to appreciate even a day stuck in the airport or putting out fires....
The philosopher and writer Nassim Taleb once said that, “Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a B...
In one of his letters, Seneca tells us of an old Roman pleasantry that friends would exchange when greeting each other: “If you are well,” on...
Why did Marcus Aurelius study philosophy? What were Seneca or Confucius or Buddha trying to achieve as they pored over their books or sat dee...
Following today’s politics is easy. You turn on the news and a bunch of pretty people tell you that your side is good and the other side is i...
At the beginning of The Odyssey, Zeus utters a famous lament that must, one imagines, be shared by all gods and parents and presidents alike:...
Late last year, a man named Ken Watson died at age 87, but before he did, he made sure to gift wrap fourteen presents for his two year old ne...
You know sometimes you hear a quote or an aphorism and you think, That’s it. That’s me. That’s my philosophy for life. Well it turns out that...
You try to turn on your television, only to find that the batteries in the remote are dead and no one bothered to replace them. Your computer...
When one looks at the dark moments of history, it’s hard not to be a little afraid. Look at what people have done to each other—look at how b...
When we think of greatness, we think of success. We think of strength. We think of influence. We think of the man or woman exerting their wil...
We spend a lot of time worried about what other people are going to do. Will that colleague muscle you out of the way for the promotion? Will...
Nobody cared more about statues than the Greeks and the Romans. In fact, the only reason we know what many of the Stoics looked like is becau...
One way to read The Odyssey is that it’s a story of human perseverance. Odysseus is cunning and determined, he’s willing to do everything and...
During the American Revolution—as in any war—the British quite rightly targeted the estates and the landholdings of the leadership on the Ame...
Epictetus could not have summed up Stoicism better than when he said: “It’s not things that upset us, but our judgement about things.” What h...
This was a big argument amongst the early Stoics: What was necessary for the good life? What was actually important to the wise man? They cam...
Here’s a question to ask yourself about your work and your life: Do you create value for society or do you extract it? Are you a giver or a t...
It must be said that the Stoics were cowardly when it came to slavery. Marcus Aurelius, who believed that we were all part of a common whole,...