The Daily Stoic13 Nov 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.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(3151)

It Shows Us This | Your Actual Needs Are Small

On the one hand, history is a catalog of human misdeeds. On the other hand, is history not also a catalog of human greatness?📚 History Matters by David McCullough🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday i...

28 Sep 6min

11 Stoic Lessons Ryan Learned in Rome

The streets of Rome still carry the lessons the Stoics left behind nearly 2,000 years ago. In today’s episode, Ryan walks through the places where Stoicism was lived and tested and shares 11 lessons t...

27 Sep 20min

Inside the Final Years of Marcus Aurelius

By the final years of his life, Marcus Aurelius had lost nearly everyone he loved, endured years of war, and watched the Antonine Plague devastate the empire. In today’s episode, Professor William O. ...

26 Sep 17min

BONUS | 3 Stoic One-Liners You Need Today

Today's bonus episode: three Stoic one-liners to help you start the day with the right mindset.🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailys...

25 Sep 1min

No Time Like The Present To Drink These Draining Seconds | The Most Secure Fortress

There is no time like the present because, really, there is no time but the present. 📔 Pick up your own leather bound signed edition of The Daily Stoic! Check it out at the Daily Stoic Store: https:/...

25 Sep 6min

Does The Tantrum Help? | 6 Stoic Reminders You Need to Hear

Does yelling and screaming change anything? Does spiraling fix it? Does finding someone to blame make you feel better for more than a few minutes?🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a cit...

24 Sep 8min

You Come From This

You have it pretty good. We all do. You have modern conveniences. So it is easy to get a little spoiled…it’s also easy to assume that you are spoiled and soft.📚 History Matters by David McCullough🎟️...

23 Sep 2min

The 3 Signs Something Will Bring You Joy | Kate Bowler

We often wait for the perfect conditions to feel joyful, but joy rarely arrives as expected. In today’s episode, Kate Bowler and Ryan discuss three surprising signs that something might bring you real...

23 Sep 28min