The Daily Stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perserverance, and the art of living by Ryan Holiday

For those not aware, Stoicism is an ancient philosophy. It is where the word ‘Stoic’ originates in popular culture. The meaning of the word is different from the practices of the philosophy, though.
 
The philosophy originates from ancient letters. Sent either to others or written to the philosophers themselves. The letters are notes on wisdom and how to live and persevere. They serve as reminders to the writers on where to focus their energy and their focus to live a life of purpose.

My thoughts

So I finished a round trip of Italy. On the way, I thought it apt to do some philosophic reading to compliment the sightseeing.
 
I heard about stoicism from many famous thinkers. I have tried (read: failed) making it through copies of Seneca’s letters before. They were difficult to digest as the English can be pretty disjointed. Leaving the quotes open to interpretation.
 
Discovering The Daily Stoic had me excited. Ryan transcribes the quotes, decorating them with his thoughts. This gives it a modern day twist – much easier to digest.
 
The Daily Stoic didn’t disappoint. Rather than a history of Stoicism, the book is a foray into the ideas without much fluff. A much better way to get into the ideas in a more actionable fashion. I found it a great entry into stoicism and would definitely recommend.

Format

This book requires a quick note on formatting. Every page has a stoic quote on it (translated) preceded by Ryan’s interpretation of the quote. Ryan expands on the stoic quotes with decoration of modern day thinkers/examples. Each page is a day of the year, but you don’t have to read it as such … I didn’t.

Read the book if …

  • You want an introduction to stoicism
  • You enjoy Buddhist principles or ideas
  • You find other stoic reading particularly hard going
  • You want to add a short reading to a morning/night time ritual
Lou Bichard
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