The Winds May Howl But…

As history repeats itself in new and unfamiliar forms, we will once again choose to stand firm, knowing that while the storm may be relentless, our resolve will always be stronger.📚 Check out Mike Duncan’s books Storm Before the Storm and Hero of Two Worlds at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/🎙️ Listen to Mike Duncan’s interview on the Daily Stoic | Apple Podcasts & Spotify✉️ Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee 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.

• 0:03Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday 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, dailystoic.com.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  The winds may howl, but you could say that Stoicism seems to reemerge when the world is thrown into crisis. Whether it was during the American Revolution or Viktor Frankl following the world wars, writers and thinkers and doers throughout history have turned to the Stoics in search of answers to the problem of their day. Isn't that what we're doing here at Daily Stoic? Looking for ways to deal with the craziness of our times that have included political division, unstable economies, and a global pandemic, to name just a few issues of the recent past? We asked Mike Duncan, who's done the history of Rome and revolutions. He has this amazing book called The Storm Before the Storm, which I've raved about.

• 1:14Ryan Holiday?

  We carry it at the Painted Porch. We asked him, why does Stoicism seem to reappear when we need it most? And his answer was great. He says, "Anytime the world starts to feel like it's being engulfed by entropy, chaos, and noisy disunity, the mind naturally seeks out something that offers cohesion, order, and quiet unity. We get carried away by events and certainly feel our passions leading us into behavior that we might, upon reflection, regret. Stoicism," he said, "offers a solid place to plant your feet and says, 'The winds may howl, but I will not be swept away.'" That's a fantastic definition of the attitude the Stoic seeks to cultivate.

• 1:57Ryan Holiday?

  "The winds may howl, but I will not be swept away." As we head into the coming weeks where an election here in America promises an ever swirling storm of uncertainty, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, frustrated, pulled in a thousand different directions. The mob might react with anger, there might be confusion and misdirection from every corner, voices screaming for our attention, trying to pull us into the madness. Might feel like what we do doesn't matter very much. But as Stoics, we have to remember one thing. We can't control the actions or opinions of others, only how we choose to respond, only what we do. No election, no crisis, no fleeting outrage will push us from our principles, from responding to whatever obstacles we face with virtue.

• 2:40Ryan Holiday?

  The world has faced turbulence before. Stoicism has always been there to guide those who sought it. And now, as history repeats itself in new and unfamiliar forms, we will once again choose to stand firm, knowing that while the storm may be relentless, we do not have to be swept away. And like we've been saying, vote, definitely vote. It's the one little thing that's up to you entirely.