Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, Should Stop

"If you’ve ever made it to the end of Homer’s Odyssey, you might have noticed a rather strange part of the ending. It’s a part that’s talked about a lot less than the rest of the poem, possibly because it makes so little sense. You see, despite spending every waking second for ten years fighting to get home, despite overcoming nearly insurmountable obstacles on his way, despite all the carnage of the final battle to reclaim his kingdom, Odysseus does something almost inconceivable the second he possesses what he longed for…"Find out what that is, and how you can avoid doing the same thing, 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/ryanholidayInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanholiday/Facebook: http://facebook.com/ryanholidayYouTube: 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?

  Can't stop, won't stop, should stop. If you've ever made it to the end of Homer's The Odyssey, if you haven't, please check out Emily Wilson's translation, as well as our new interview with her for dailystoic.com. You might have noticed a rather strange part of the ending. It's a part that's talked about a lot less than the rest of the poem, possibly because it makes so little sense. You see, despite spending every waking second for 10 years fighting to get home, despite overcoming nearly insurmountable obstacles along the way, despite all of the carnage of the final battle to reclaim his kingdom, Odysseus does something almost inconceivable the very second he possesses what he longed

• 1:14Ryan Holiday?

  for. He starts planning to leave again, on another mission, another voyage. Didn't he learn his lesson? Can't he be happy or still for even like, one minute? Apparently not. Perhaps this is really the message of the epic. We are incapable of being still. Even when we get what we want, we immediately crave something else. We are addicted to the hunt, to the journey, and home is just a lie we tell ourselves. Isn't that sad? Seneca, an ambitious guy, if there ever was one, wrote about the shameful spectacle of the lawyer whose dying breath passes while at court at an advanced age, pleading

• 1:57Ryan Holiday?

  for unknown litigants and still seeking the approval of ignorant spectators.

• 2:02Ryan Holiday?

  He was just talking about Odysseus in another form. He was talking about all of us who can't stop, who have to keep going, who have to keep achieving, who are incapable of knowing what enough is. The key to a great life and to happiness is stillness. It's contentment. It's enjoying what we have. It's the ability to say no, to reject the temptation to do more, more, more, even if more is another impressive journey or an occupational honor. Stop, at least for today. Just stop. Be still. If you're looking for more stillness in your life, if you've come to believe that stillness would make things better for you, I hope you can check out my new book, Stillness is the Key.

• 2:47Ryan Holiday?

  It's the sequel to The Obstacle is the Way, An Ego is the Enemy. It's out everywhere books are sold. You can get it on Audible. You can get it as an ebook. You can get it at your local independent bookstore. I hope you check it out. I think it's the best thing I've ever written, and I think it will help you, not just in your journey to stillness, but in your study of Stoicism.