Think About How Lucky You Are

"Marcus Aurelius was wealthy on a scale you cannot even imagine. Seneca too. These were men with enormous fortunes… and control of imperial power. They controlled life and death. They had fame beyond fame. And yet, you are far more blessed and fortunate than they are."Ryan describes how lucky we all are to live in this day and age in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee 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?

  Think about how lucky you are. Marcus Aurelius was wealthy on a scale you cannot even imagine. Seneca, too. These were men with enormous fortunes and control of imperial power. They controlled life and death. They had fame beyond fame. And yet, you are far more blessed and fortunate than they are. If Marcus Aurelius wanted to read a book at night, think of all the energy and effort that would have been required to fulfill his wish. Slaves would have to be called, torches lit and held if it was cold outside. Think of what was required to keep him warm. If Seneca wanted to travel, he had few options, and most of them involved serious risk, from pirates to shipwrecks and disease. You?

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  You get light by flipping a switch. You can hop in your car, you can zip up a hoodie or pull on some socks, two minor engineering marvels that may rival the great Roman aqueducts. Compare the pandemic of 2020 to the Antonine Plague. Would you rather be poor today or wealthy in Rome 2,000 years ago? Right, because you are immensely lucky. You have things that wealth and power and fame would not even have dreamed of buying in the ancient world. You have security, you have comfort, you have access and knowledge that the most brilliant doctors of antiquity would have genuinely seen as magic. It is good to remember this. We are incredibly lucky. We should be grateful today and every day.

• 1:54Ryan Holiday?

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