Stoic philosopher Ryan Holiday says that one of the keys to life is the ability to control your responses to things that happen to you.
Key Details
- In a recent episode of The Daily Show, Holiday joined for a segment to discuss his new book The Daily Dad and his work helping teach people about ancient Stoic philosophy.
- In a recently released clip, Holiday argues that Stoicism teaches that people do not have the ability to control their life circumstances but do have the power to control their responses to those events.
- He says that “Stoics are doers” and that people at any station in life can benefit from these ideas. “They’re doing what we’re all trying to do, to make sense of the crazy world we live in.”
Why It’s Important
As we previously reported, Neo-Stoicism has become one of the most popular ideas on the internet, with dozens of bestselling philosophy books reaching back to the works of ancient philosophers like Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius to find solutions to modern problems like stress, anxiety, rational thinking, and meaning.
Ryan Holiday has built a very successful career as an author and philosopher, having released 12 books on the subject of Stoicism and operating online classes and blogs to help users improve their lives through ancient philosophy.
He is the author of multiple recent books, including Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control, and regularly publishes blog posts on the importance of reading and leadership advice.
Notable Quote
“We don’t control what happens to us in life, but we control how we respond to what happens in life. The Stoics say in every situation—big ones, small ones, ones you want, ones you didn’t want—are opportunities to respond with the four virtues—courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom. That is what life is asking from you—one or all of these virtues in some combination—is what it demands of you,” says Holiday.