The Daily Stoic13 Maalis 2019

Why You Should Read Biographies

“I don’t have time to read a book that long,” you might say when someone recommends one of those epic volumes from the Ron Chernows and Robert Caros and Stacy Schiffs of the world. And Alban Butler’s The Lives of the Saints? Or Plutarch? Who has time to read that dusty old collection about the lives of the ancient Greeks and Romans?

The answer is that you do. Or rather, that you should make time to study the greats of history.

In Book Four of Meditations, Marcus writes::

“And then you might see what the life of a good man is like—someone content with what nature assigns him, and satisfied with being just and kind himself.”

What’s the “if” that came before the “then” he is referring to? We can only guess. That is the entirety of his writing on this point. But not unlike a Jeopardy answer with multiple possible questions, this one fits:

What is it to study history and biographies?

Marcus and Seneca and Epictetus were all intimately familiar with the lives of the greats (and not-so-greats) that came before them. And in this study they had come to know, as Marcus said, what a good life looked like. They learned from the experiences and the follies of the earlier generations—they saw across the pages of many books why contentment and justice and kindness were so important (and the perils of the opposite traits).

So make a commitment today—this month, this year—to start reading more biographies. It’s an important step in the path to wisdom.

P.S. If you want to try any of a lot of books for free, you might like Scribd, which is essentially Netflix for books. Click here to sign up for a one month free trial of unlimited audiobooks and ebooks plus free subscription to magazines like Bloomberg Business Week, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Fortune and the New York Times. Sign up today.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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

Jaksot(2981)

It Can Change Everything | A Real-Life Example of How to Build a Coaching Tree

Great leaders don’t just build winning teams, they build people who can go on to lead without them. In today’s episode, Ryan talks about the idea of “growing a coaching tree” and what it means to crea...

11 Touko 25min

We Owe It All To Them | What Marcus Aurelius Learned From His Mother

In honor of Mother’s Day, Ryan talks with Donald Robertson about the powerful influence Marcus Aurelius’ mother had on his life and philosophy. Even though Stoicism is usually talked about as a philos...

10 Touko 13min

Rock Bottom, Recovery, and Starting Over at 40 | Jon Gustin

Jon Gustin got sober at the beginning of 2023, but as he explains in today’s episode, getting sober was not the end of the struggle. It was the beginning of finally facing everything he had spent year...

9 Touko 22min

The Stoic All the Stoics Admired

Cato’s life was his philosophy, and the Stoics never stopped looking to his example. In today’s episode, Ryan explores why Cato the Younger became one of Stoicism’s most admired figures, and what his ...

8 Touko 30min

BONUS | 6 Stoic Rules of Arete (Excellence)

Arete. To the Greeks, it meant excellence. It was the ultimate expression of human greatness—moral, physical, spiritual. It’s what the Stoics were chasing. It’s what you’re chasing today. But how do w...

7 Touko 3min

It Can’t Think About You | How to Be a Better Friend, According to the Stoics

These are impersonal forces. This is fortune and fate. It’s not targeting you. It’s not favoring or picking on you. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here ...

7 Touko 15min

You Think You Want Autonomy. You Don’t. | David Epstein

You think you want more freedom, but too much of it can work against you. In this episode, Ryan talks with David Epstein about why constraints can actually make us better. They discuss how deadlines s...

6 Touko 20min

They’re Not Thinking About You At All

They’re awful. They’re frustrating. They need to be stopped. These are the people who take up so much space in our head.🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to ...

6 Touko 1min