Know It Inside And Out

Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear navy in the United States and an unsung hero in the history of the world, was once asked by a Congressman if he was prepared for the upcoming hearing in which Hyman needed to speak about a number of complex, important issues. "Yes," Rickover replied, "I shaved and put on a clean shirt." Rickover didn’t need to prepare because he was prepared. He wasn’t some figurehead who had to be briefed before answering questions. He knew his science and his department inside out. Because he lived and breathed his work—famously interviewing something like 14,000 college grads himself for various positions over the years. He also personally tested every nuclear submarine during its initial sea trial after construction. His joke about preparing by getting dressed calls to mind an analogy by Marcus Aurelius, who said that a true philosopher is a fighter not a fencer. A fencer has to put on armor and pick up a weapon. A fighter just has to close their fist. That should be our model too. We shouldn’t be cramming the night before a test, or frantically looking for advice once a crisis has arrived. We need to be prepared. We need to be so on top of our work—and the knowledge required—that everything we need is right there, already in our hands and in our heads. If you’re rushing, you’re already too late. If you’re looking for your weapons, you’re already beaten. You gotta know your stuff inside and out. You have to live it and breathe it. You gotta be ready. 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.

• 0:28Ryan Holiday?

  Know it inside and out. Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the Nuclear Navy in the United States, and an unsung hero in the history of the world, was once asked by a congressman if he was prepared for the upcoming hearing in which Hyman needed to speak about a number of complex, important issues. "Yes," Rickover replied. "I shaved and put on a clean shirt." Rickover didn't need to prepare because he was prepared. He wasn't some figurehead who had to be briefed before answering questions. He knew his science and his department inside out, because he lived and breathed his work, famously interviewing

• 1:08Ryan Holiday?

  something like 14,000 college grads himself for various positions over the years. He also personally tested every nuclear submarine during its initial sea trial after construction. His joke about preparing by getting dressed calls to mind an analogy from Marcus Aurelius, who said that "a true philosopher is a fighter, not a fencer. A fencer has to put on armor and pick up a weapon. A fighter just has to close their fist." That should be our model, too. We shouldn't be cramming the night before a test or frantically looking for advice once the crisis has arrived. We need to be prepared. We need to be so on

• 1:50Ryan Holiday?

  top of our work and the knowledge required that everything we need is right there, everything already in our hands and in our heads. If you are rushing, you are already too late. If you are looking for your weapons, you are already beaten. You gotta know your stuff inside and out. You have to live it and breathe it. You gotta be ready.

• 2:14Ryan Holiday?

  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.