All We Control Is The Beginning of Things

Clearly the Stoics were doers. They ran for public office. They fought in the army. They started business ventures. They created artistic works. How can this fit, though, with what Marcus called “the art of acquiescence?” Isn’t this resignation a contradiction? If you believe in a kind of predetermination, why bother? Perhaps the way through this puzzle is best captured in a quote from Democritus, a pre-Socratic philosopher admired by the Stoics (Seneca most of all). Democritus said, “Boldness is the beginning of action. But fortune controls how it ends.”What that means is that the Stoic believes in their power to, say, write a book, but not in their power to determine whether people will like it or buy a lot of copies of it. A Stoic will fight bravely in battle but know that the outcome is determined by so many other things. They will run for office, they will start a business, they will compete in an athletic event—but whether they win? That’s not up to them. Whether they give it their best, boldest, and hardest effort? Well, that is. That’s the message for today—in fact, it’s the perfect message for today, as we begin a new year and a new decade. All we control are the beginnings of things. We control how we start. We control our first move. Whether we say hello to a pretty stranger, but not whether they reciprocate. We can make the pitch, or the apology, but fortune controls whether its accepted. We can plan the trip, but not when or if we arrive. We control this first minute of the long year ahead. It’s not a lot...but it’s enough, so let’s do it right. Let’s do it boldly. 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  All we control is the beginning of things. Clearly, the Stoics were doers. They ran for public office. They fought in the army. They started business ventures. They created artistic works. How can this fit, though, with what Marcus Aurelius called "the art of acquiescence"? Isn't this resignation a contradiction? If you believe in a kind of predetermination, why bother? Perhaps the way through this puzzle is best captured in a quote by Democritus, a pre-Socratic philosopher admired by the Stoics, Seneca most of all. Democritus said that boldness is the beginning of action, but fortune controls how it ends.

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  What that means is that the Stoic believes it is in their power to, say, write a book, but not in their power to determine whether people will like it or buy a lot of copies of it. A Stoic will fight bravely in battle, but know the outcome is determined by so many other things. They will run for office. They will start a business. They will compete in an athletic event, but whether they win, that's not up to them. Whether they give their best, boldest, or hardest effort, well, that is. That's the message for today. We control the beginning of things. Whether we say hello to a pretty stranger, but not whether they reciprocate. We can make the pitch or the apology, but fortune controls whether it's accepted. We can plan the trip, but not when or if we arrive.

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  It's not a lot, but it's enough, so let's do it boldly. If you like the podcast that we do here, and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoic.com/email.