The Daily Stoic13 Marras 2018

Be A User, Not A Loser

Dr. D.T. Suzuki, a 20th century Japanese author who was largely responsible for popularizing Buddhism, Zen, and Shin in the West, was once approached at the end of a dinner party. “How is it, Dr. Suzuki,” the woman asked, “we spend the entire evening asking you questions and nothing is decided.” He looked at her and replied, “That’s why I love philosophy: no one wins.”

While the Stoics, notably Cato the Elder, had a visceral disdain for sophistry and debate for debate’s sake, they would have agreed with this premise. Stoicism was not a parlor game, nor was it religious dogma with its absolutism and black and white rules.

Stoicism is ultimately a philosophy for life and life is complicated. It is also a philosophy that embraces the individual, and every individual life is different. That’s why the writings of Seneca don’t fit puzzle perfect with the writings of Marcus Aurelius, which themselves are not perfectly aligned with the teachings of Epictetus, despite the latter’s influence over the former. There is no “winner” or “best” among these equals, there is simply a wide breadth of overlapping wisdom designed for a multitude of situations.

Our job is to avail ourselves of this information and put it to use where we can, however it makes sense for the situations in which we find ourselves. What we don’t have time for are pedantic debates about whether so-and-so was a true Stoic or in-fighting about whether this person or that person is continuing the Stoic legacy properly. There are no winners in philosophy, though there certainly are losers. The best person to be, of course, is a user of the philosophical knowledge we have available to us.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(3167)

Not Everyone Is Lucky Enough To Do This | 9 Core Stoic Beliefs

We have power of movement—literally and figuratively—that not everyone has, that we ourselves might not get forever, either. The new 10th Anniversary Edition of The Daily Stoic is out NOW! 👉 Grab you...

9 Loka 25min

Go Back And Pick It Up Again | Is This the Life You Worked For?

Everyone has a book that changed their life. But how long has it been since you first read the book that hit you so hard?The new 10th Anniversary Edition of The Daily Stoic is out NOW! 👉 Grab your co...

8 Loka 10min

BONUS | A Selfish Reason To Be Good

“The person who does wrong, does wrong to themselves. The unjust person is unjust to themselves—making themselves evil.”—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.4The new 10th Anniversary Edition of The Daily ...

7 Loka 2min

How to Get the Most Out of Reading (A Stoic Guide)

To be a great reader, it's not enough that you read. It's how you read. In this episode, Ryan shares time-tested reading habits of the ancient Stoics (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and more) tha...

7 Loka 12min

You Gave Them This For Free?

“Let no one rob me of a single day,” Seneca said, “who is not going to make me an adequate return for such a loss."🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here |...

7 Loka 1min

What a Decade of Stoicism Teaches You About Life

Ten years ago, Ryan’s longtime literary agent and coauthor Steve Hanselman suggested a book that Ryan wasn’t sure he wanted to write. To mark the anniversary of The Daily Stoic, Ryan and Steve revisit...

6 Loka 52min

So Much Has Changed. So Little Has Changed.

It’s been 522 weeks. Some 3,652 days. Over 87,000 hours. More than 5,241,600 minutes.The new 10th Anniversary Edition of The Daily Stoic is out TODAY! 👉 Grab your copy here: https://store.dailystoic....

6 Loka 4min

When Everything Falls Apart, This Remains | Practice Silence

As bad as things seem today, it should console and inspire you that Stoicism is still here. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoic...

5 Loka 6min