Can You Be Still?

There is probably no piece of literature that the Stoics were more familiar with than the Odyssey. Seneca quotes it. Marcus Aurelius quotes it. Pretty much everyone in the ancient world was so familiar with Homer’s verses that they could be quoted without attribution and people would know what the speaker was referencingIt makes sense. It’s a beautiful, inspiring poem with all sorts of lessons and images. But here’s one that the Stoics never mentioned, that is easy to miss unless you read all the way to the end. In fact, in some translations it’s cut off or ignored. What does Odysseus do after nearly ten years of war and then ten more years of struggle to make it home? What does he do shortly after arriving home after having been gone so long that his wife’s hair was grey and his old dog was barely alive? After he slaughtered the invaders in his home and secured his kingdom that he was blocked from for so long? It’s almost unbelievable: Almost immediately after coming home, he gets ready to leave again! As Emily Wilson beautifully translates Odysseus giving the insane news to his long suffering wife:But now we have returned to our own bed,As we both longed to do. You must look afterMy property inside the house. Meanwhile, I have to go on raids, to steal replacementsFor all the sheep those swaggering suitors killed,And get the other Greeks to give me more,until I fill my folds. Isn’t that the human condition in a nutshell? Isn’t that restlessness exactly what got Odysseus in trouble in the first place? The insatiability and greed that nearly took him and his men to the brink a hundred times? As Blaise Pascal put it, “all of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room.” Because we cannot be happy, because we can’t just be, we waste years of our life. We go begging for trouble. We invent problems. We flee, as Seneca once put it, from ourselves. Clearly that’s what Odysseus was doing. No one who actually likes themselves or their lives spends twenty years fighting to get back to it...and then leaves the day after they get there! We must realize that stillness is the key. Stillness is how you connect to yourself and others. Stillness is where true happiness comes from. Where is all this rushing taking you? Where was Odysseus pointing his ship toward? We are rushing toward death. A life of restlessness is not what we’re after. That’s not where meaning comes from. No one is saying that Odysseus should just lay back and lounge for the rest of his life—but if he can’t take even a few minutes with his family after that long of an absence, something is wrong with him. Turns out the war with Troy was the sideshow—the real battle was in this guy’s head and heart...and it was against the fear of not being in motion constantly. Sadly it’s an affliction shared by a good portion of ambitious, talented people. There is no greatness that is not at peace, Seneca reminds us. There is no greatness if we cannot be. We must be still. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. Can You Be Still? There is no piece of literature that the Stoics were more familiar with than the Odyssey. Seneca quotes it, Marcus Aurelius quotes it. Pretty much everyone in the ancient world was so familiar with Homer's verses that they could be quoted without attribution and people would know what the speaker was referring to. It makes sense, it's a beautiful, inspiring

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  poem with all sorts of lessons and images. But here's one that the Stoics never mention that's easy to miss unless you read all the way to the end. In fact, in some of the translations, it's cut off or ignored. What does Odysseus do after nearly 10 years of war and then 10 more years of struggle to make it home? What does he do shortly after arriving home, after having been gone so long that his wife's hair was gray and his old dog was barely alive? After he'd slaughtered the invaders in his home and secured his kingdom that he had been blocked from for so long? It's almost unbelievable. Almost immediately after coming home, he gets ready to leave again. As Emily Wilson beautifully

• 1:32Ryan Holiday?

  translates, Odysseus gives the insane news to his long-suffering wife. "But now we have returned to our own bed, as we both long to do. You must look after my property inside the house. Meanwhile, I have to go on raids to steal replacements for all the sheep those swaggering suitors killed, and get the other Greeks to give me more until I fill my folds." Isn't that the human condition in a nutshell? Isn't that restlessness exactly what got Odysseus in trouble in the first place? The insatiability and greed that took him and his men to the brink 100 times. As Blaise Pascal put it, "All of humanity's problems

• 2:14Ryan Holiday?

  stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone." Because we cannot be happy, because we can't just be. We waste years of our life. We go begging for trouble. We invent problems. We flee, as Seneca once put it, from ourselves. Clearly, that's what Odysseus was doing. No one who actually likes themselves or their lives spends 20 years fighting to get it back and then leaves the day after they get there. We must realize that stillness is the key. Stillness is how you connect to yourself and others. Stillness is where true happiness comes from. Where is all this rushing taking you? Where was Odysseus pointing his ship toward? We are rushing toward death.

• 2:57Ryan Holiday?

  A life of restlessness is not what we're after. That's not where meaning comes from. No one is saying that Odysseus should just lay back and lounge for the rest of his life. But if he can't take just a few minutes with his family after that long of an absence, something is wrong with him. It turns out that the war with Troy was the sideshow. The real battles were in this guy's head and in his heart. And it was against the fear of not being in motion constantly. It's sad and it's endless. It's an endless, common affliction shared by a good portion of ambitious, talented people. There is no greatness that is not at peace, Seneca reminds us. There is no greatness if we cannot be. We must be still. And I hope you'll check out Stillness is the Key.

• 3:42Ryan Holiday?

  That's my new book, debuted at number one on the New York Times list. It's out now, and it's about this idea. How can we find stillness? How can we find peace? And how can we do it amidst the busyness of the world and all that we are trying to accomplish? I hope you check it out. I think it's my best writing. Enjoy.