It’s Hard Work

Marcus Aurelius wasn’t magically Marcus Aurelius. Cato wasn’t born that way. All their virtues–their assiduous self-control, their patient wisdom, their commitment to justice, their courage at critical moments–this didn’t just happen. It wasn’t a biological freak event. It was the result of hard work.🎓 Sign up for the Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge to create better habits in 2023: https://dailystoic.com/challenge✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, 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.

• 0:27Ryan Holiday?

  It's hard work.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  Marcus Aurelius wasn't magically Marcus Aurelius. Cato wasn't born that way. All their virtues, their assiduous self-control, their patient wisdom, their commitment to justice, their courage in critical moments. This didn't just happen. It wasn't some biological freak event. It was the result of hard work. "No one worked harder at being Fred Rogers than Fred Rogers himself," Joanne Rogers, his wife of 51 years, once said. In fact, she made it clear many times in interviews that she didn't want her husband to be seen as some kind of saint. She believed that this was actually an insult to his memory because it obscured just how much effort and intention went in to who he was and what he did. Perhaps one of the reasons we're so quick

• 1:14Ryan Holiday?

  to ascribe superpowers to people like this, whether it's the Stoics or otherwise, is that it's a way of letting ourselves off the hook. If we raise them above ourselves, then we excuse ourselves. But in reality, they are no better, no more gifted than us. Marcus Aurelius had the same strengths and weaknesses we all do, and the same goes for Epictetus. In fact, he had more disadvantages than you do. But they loved virtue and wanted virtue enough that they worked for it. Even Marcus had to remind himself of this, too. "If it's humanly possible," he wrote, "know that it's possible for you also." It's true, if you want to do the work.

• 1:59Ryan Holiday?

  Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. If you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. Check it out at dailystoic.com/email.