You Need to Know What Happened in 1963 | Dr. Peniel Joseph

It’s good that you’re tough. It’s good that you’re a fighter—maybe even trained in wrestling, as so many of the Stoics were. It’s good that you’re a risk taker, that you’ve put yourself out there, pushed through fear and doubt to do what others were afraid to do.But it’s important you don’t forget that there is more to the virtue of courage than just this. There’s a great song that talks about “being too much a coward to admit when you’re in need.” Marcus Aurelius makes a similar note to himself in Meditations, reminding himself that even the bravest, toughest soldiers sometimes have to reach a hand up and ask a comrade for help. What of it, he basically says, that’s part of the job too.-In today's Daily Stoic excerpt, Ryan reminds us that philosophy is intimidating, that we begin our journey into philosophy when we become aware of the ability to analyze our own minds. You can grab the leatherbound edition of The Daily Stoic here.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Mar 20248min

Marcus Aurelius called it a few different things. His translators varied even more in their interpretations. Gregory Hays used the word “imperialization.” Robin Waterfield called it “becoming Caesarified” and “dyed in purple.” Pierre Hadot has it, “becoming Caesarized.” George Long translates it, “Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye.” In The Daily Stoic, we have Marcus express his worry of being “stained purple.”Ok, but what is he actually talking about? He’s talking about being corrupted by power, changed by the position and fame that he has. And we know this was a lifelong concern of his. One story has Marcus Aurelius breaking down in tears when he’s told he will someday be emperor, not because he was sad, but because his study of history taught him how few people managed to leave the job unscathed, let alone unchanged.While none of us will wear the purple cloak of the emperor (that’s what Marcus was referring to about being dyed), hopefully, we will be successful. Hopefully, we will earn positions of influence and power and respect. What will this reveal about us? What might it corrupt or corrode?It is a timeless battle, a timeless temptation. Stoicism is here to help us with it. Meditations, specifically, is one of the only books ever written by a person with that much power, one of the only books by a person who power did not make worse, and about how to remain good and decent and virtuous when there is every excuse and opportunity not to.-On today’s Thursday episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan talks with over 150 employees from Austin Central Library during their staff development and apperception day. They discuss why Ryan became an author, writing process, and the importance of reading and learning from ancient wisdom.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

29 Feb 202415min

Ryan continues his conversation with Morgan Housel, they discuss the power of storytelling, how humans are wired for status and not happiness, his latest book Same As Ever, and more. Morgan Housel is the New York Times Bestselling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever. His books have sold over 4.5 million copies and have been translated into more than 50 languages. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and winner of the New York Times Sidney Award. In 2022, MarketWatch named him one of the 50 most influential people in markets. IG and Twitter: @MorganHouselGrab a signed copy of Same as Ever and The Psychology of Money from The Painted Porch!If you want to check out the Q&A with me and Morgan, go to dailystoic.com/wealthy. If you want to listen to Ryan and Morgan’s first discussion from 2022 click here.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

28 Feb 20241h 4min

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

28 Feb 20242min

The regular person in us is frustrated by all this. But the Stoic in us knows that this is leading us, teaching us, shaping us. Seneca said that misfortune toughens us up, forges us the way that fire tests gold. Epictetus said that life pairs us with these sparring partners for a reason—to turn us into Olympic-class material. And the Book of Romans says that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”The hope is really our sense of our capacity. It’s the confidence that comes from being tested and passing that test. It’s knowing that we really can wrestle with the toughest stuff that life can throw at us. Pandemics, the whiplash of the market, extreme weather events, political unrest, personal disasters, tragedy, heartbreak. We’ve been through it. We’re still here. We’ve suffered and that suffering has produced character, character that gives us hope, gives us faith, gives us strength.The obstacles have been the way. They have produced something good. Something we can count on. Something we can believe in…our own capacity.P.S. “The impediment to action advances action,” Marcus Aurelius writes. “What stands in the way becomes the way.” In a world that is constantly testing us, we need to carry that timeless, life-changing lesson with us more than ever. That’s why we created the Obstacle is the Way medallion with Marcus’s words on the back so you can always remember that no matter the challenges life throws our way, we can always grow stronger and better. Grab one today or snag the leather-bound edition of The Obstacle is The Way and receive the Obstacle medallion for free!-We all need a little motivation from time to time. A swift kick when we’re feeling a bit uninspired. The struggle to find motivation isn’t new. Woven throughout the most famous Stoic texts are wisely chosen words designed to motivate one’s self. They knew then, as we know now, that the right words, at the right time, can inspire action. So today, as you’re looking for a little extra motivation to get after the task at hand, listen to these clips inspired by the time tested wisdom of the ancient Stoics.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

27 Feb 202422min

At this point, you should have a pretty good understanding of human nature. That’s why we read history after all (and if you don’t, we suggest this reading challenge). You’ve met people—you’ve seen what they do. People lie. People take the easy way out. People chase the wrong things.Not always, not all people, but most people, most of the time.Yet here you are, perpetually shocked and disappointed. Perpetually upset and resentful.Cato, it was said by Cicero, seemed to forget that he didn’t live in Plato’s Republic but in the “dregs of Rome” (more on this in Lives of the Stoics). Cato seemed to be pretty regularly surprised that everyone wasn’t as committed to virtue, wasn’t as disciplined about that commitment as he was. There was even a saying that folks he was disappointed often said to excuse themselves: “We can’t all be Catos.”One of the great lines from the Stoics was “not to expect figs in winter.” Cato could have done a better job of that. We could all do a better job at this. Most people have not even heard of Stoicism, let alone committed to it. Most people just do what they want in the moment, what’s easiest in the moment. Most people are not trying to live up to any kind of standard.So why are we expecting them to be anything other than what they are? Why are we surprised or disappointed? We don’t have to relax our standards but we can certainly lower our expectations.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Feb 20247min

On today’s weekend episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan talks with over 150 employees from Austin Central Library during their staff development and apperception day. They discuss why Ryan became an author, writing process, and the importance of reading and learning from ancient wisdom.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

25 Feb 202431min

Ryan speaks with author Morgan Housel in the first of a two-part conversation to discuss his near death experience as a teenager, the ephemeral and potentially toxic nature of success, his latest book Same As Ever, and more. Morgan Housel is the New York Times Bestselling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever. His books have sold over 4.5 million copies and have been translated into more than 50 languages. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and winner of the New York Times Sidney Award. In 2022, MarketWatch named him one of the 50 most influential people in markets. IG and Twitter: @MorganHouselGrab a signed copy of Same as Ever and The Psychology of Money from The Painted Porch!\If you want to check out the Q&A with Ryan and Morgan, go to dailystoic.com/wealthy. If you want to listen to Ryan and Morgan’s first discussion from 2022 click here.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

24 Feb 202457min