Will You See What Everyone Else Missed?

It's unfortunate Epictetus isn't more widely read—because when he is, he changes lives.💡 We designed our How To Read Epictetus (A Daily Stoic Guide) as a personal field guide —part book club, part masterclass, part daily practice. It’s designed to help you not just read the words of Epictetus, but live them—to turn his timeless wisdom into real change in your own life and the lives of those around you. And if you get the guide before July 26th, you’ll receive a private invitation to an exclusive LIVE Q&A with Ryan Holiday, where he’ll go deep on all things Epictetus, Stoicism, and how to apply these ideas right now, in today’s world. Head to dailystoic.com/epictetuscourse to learn more and get your book, guide, and bundle today!👉 Get How To Read Epictetus (A Daily Stoic Guide) & all other Daily Stoic courses for FREE when you join Daily Stoic Life | dailystoic.com/life📖 Preorder the final book in Ryan Holiday's The Stoic Virtues Series: "Wisdom Takes Work": https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/wisdom-takes-work🎙️ Follow The Daily Stoic Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoicpodcast🎥 Watch top moments from The Daily Stoic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dailystoicpodcast✉️ 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.

• 0:05Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a Stoic-inspired meditation, designed to help you find strength and insight and wisdom into everyday life. Each one of these episodes is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women, help you learn from them, to follow in their example, and to start your day off with a little dose of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom. For more, visit DailyStoic.com.

• 0:55Speaker 01

  Will you see what everyone else missed? One emperor had him in his court and ignored him completely. Another was curious enough to go and listen at his feet, but hardly applied what he heard. A third was so threatened by him, he had him banished. And a fourth was so enthralled by him, he devoted his life to practicing what the man taught. It's remarkable that a single Greek slave intersected with the lives of so many Roman emperors. Yet Epictetus, whose name literally means acquired one, brushed shoulders with Nero, Domitian, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. And the one who was most influenced by him?

• 1:38Speaker 01

  That was the one that only met him in the pages of a book. Marcus Aurelius, who received a copy of Epictetus's lectures from his teacher, Risticus, would quote Epictetus throughout meditations. He would reflect on Epictetus's teachings while in war camps, in the palace, in sickness, in old age. He seemed to understand what the others missed, that freedom doesn't come from power or status, but from self-mastery. That Stoicism is about freeing yourself from the desires and fears and impulses that enslave so many. And that's the challenge that Epictetus presents to us all. Will we do that? Will we really listen?

• 2:20Speaker 01

  Will we grapple with his teachings? Will we test them in our actual life? Use them to change how we live? As Epictetus pointedly asks, if you don't learn these things and demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for? It's unfortunate that Epictetus isn't more widely read because when he is, he changes lives. He changed Marcus Aurelius, and he can change you. And that's what we've been exploring this July here at Daily Stoic. We're calling it Epictetus Month, a deep dive into the life, the lessons, and the legacy of this incredible teacher. And if you've been curious about Epictetus, you want to know why he is your favorite philosopher's

• 3:02Speaker 01

  favorite philosopher, as he was for Marcus Aurelius? Well, then we would love for you to join us. We're kicking it off with this course, How to Read Epictetus: A Daily Stoic Guide. If you join us before January 26th, you can do this live Q and A, and it's going to be awesome. We're going to be answering questions. We're going to be exploring together. We're going to get through Epictetus together. And you can buy a copy of the discourses and this course all together. It's a great discount. All of that is available at dailystoic.com/epicthecourse. I'll link to that in today's show notes. And I'm excited to see you all there. Let's get after it.