The Daily Stoic28 Feb 2024

You Can Always Possess This

This tradition of warrior Stoics continued up through and past Admiral Stockdale, who would test Epictetus’s doctrines in the prison camps of Vietnam (his book Courage Under Fire is a must read for any modern Stoic).

Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, all but predicted this would be the fate of the Stoics. “If you lay violent hands on me,” he said in 3rd century Greece, “you’ll have my body, but my mind will remain with Stilpo.” Stilpo was a Greek philosopher, meaning that you could torture Zeno, you could possess his body, but you could never control his mind. He was saying a version of what we said recently—that the idea of Stoicism is to surrender but not give yourself away.

Isn’t that what Stockdale was doing? He submitted to his imprisonment because it was a physical fact of his existence. He accepted, perhaps a bit more realistically than the Stoics, that under torture, no man was fully unbreakable, that you would ultimately have to give some information up under duress. (We talked to one of his fellow POWs, Dave Carey, on the podcast about just this idea.) But Stockdale still asserted that he had ultimate control of his thoughts, of his character, his sense of self. No one could take that from him and more important, he would never give it up.

✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail

🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.

📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook

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

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(3082)

This Is Almost a Miracle | The Epictetus Lesson Kyle Carpenter Lives By

Epictetus’s work changed Marcus’ life. Both of them have changed Ryan's life. Both of them will change your life—if you let them.--Kyle Carpenter is a medically retired United States Marine who receiv...

6 Aug 11min

These Are Things You Cannot Buy

As Epictetus, the slave-turned-philosopher who inspired Marcus, reminds us, ”Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”🎶 Song lyrics: A Satisfied Mind (Bon Iver versi...

5 Aug 2min

The Marcus Aurelius Quote Tom Junod Can’t Forget

One sentence from Marcus Aurelius made Tom Junod circle it three times, star it, and dog-ear the page. In this episode, Ryan talks with the acclaimed writer about reading Meditations for the first tim...

5 Aug 12min

BONUS | The Craziest Reasons Books Were Banned

Got a banned book at home? Send it our way — we need a lot more 👉 Address: 912 Main St. Bastrop, TX 78602🎥 Watch this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m02lZEbBY9E 📚 Sign up for Ryan’s...

4 Aug 11min

None of These Things Change | 10 Habits That Made Marcus Aurelius Great

This is what it is to be a human. Some of it good, some of it better to resist. But it’s the rhythm of life, the bleeding of eras, one into the other.🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a...

4 Aug 13min

You Can’t Stop Here | No Blame, Just Focus

Marcus Aurelius was not satisfied just getting the gist of Epictetus’ powerful teachings and you shouldn’t be, either.💡 We designed our How To Read Epictetus (A Daily Stoic Guide) as a personal field...

3 Aug 8min

Can Stoicism Fight Modern Corruption?

Corruption is everywhere, from politics and business to sports and universities. But as modern as it all feels, the Stoics saw the same thing happening thousands of years ago. So how did they resist i...

2 Aug 28min

5 American Heroes Everyone Should Know | Ty Seidule

Some of the greatest American heroes are people most of us have never heard of. In today’s episode, Ryan talks with retired Brigadier General and military historian Ty Seidule about five remarkable Am...

1 Aug 39min