Let Us Argue With Reality No More

So much of what we do as a society could be described as arguing with reality. Turn on cable news and you’ll find talking heads screaming at their upset viewers about how whatever has happened as part of the story of the day is “Just not normal!” Look inside most businesses, especially legacy businesses, and you’ll see otherwise smart and capable individuals putting everything they have into not reading the writing on the wall, into denying the obvious change and transformation happening in the world around them. It’s almost as if their jobs are dependent on them not concluding what is obviously true, and insisting otherwise. We all spend countless hours of our finite lives talking about whether things are fair, whose fault they are, whether they should be as they are. As if that changes what they are. As if reality and truth are up for debate. This lyric from Foster the People is worth remembering always:Well an absolute measure won't change with opinionNo matter how hard you tryIt's an immovable thingOur opinions can’t alter the inalterable. Don’t waste time trying to move the immovable. That’s the essence of Stoicism isn’t it? Of course, Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus believed we still had a lot of agency in our lives, that there was still plenty of room for us to maneuver and achieve and affect change. They just accepted there were some things we could not change. That’s right. There are things outside our control. Today we’re going to accept them without argument. We’re not going to spend one minute fighting or arguing or adding opinions on top of them. “There is a truth,” Foster sings, “I can promise you that.” And we’re going to make the most of it. 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. Let us argue with reality no more. So much of what we do as a society could be described as arguing with reality. Turn on cable news and you'll find talking heads screaming at their upset viewers about how whatever has happened as part of the story of the

• 0:46Ryan Holiday?

  day is just not normal. Look inside most businesses, especially legacy businesses, and you'll see otherwise smart and capable individuals putting everything they have into not reading the writing on the wall, into denying the obvious change and transformation happening in the world all around them. It's almost as if their jobs are dependent on them not concluding what is obviously true and insisting otherwise. We all spend countless hours of our finite lives talking about whether things are fair, whose fault they are, whether they should be as they are, as if that changes what they are, as if

• 1:28Ryan Holiday?

  reality and truth are up for debate. This lyric from "Foster the People" is worth remembering always. "Well, an absolute measure won't change with opinion, no matter how hard you try. It is an immovable thing." Our opinions can't alter the inalterable. Don't waste time trying to move the immovable. That's the essence of Stoicism, isn't it? Of course, Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus believed that we still had a lot of agency in our lives, that there was still plenty of room for us to maneuver and achieve and effect change. They just accepted that there were some things we could not change. That's right. There are things outside of our control.

• 2:13Ryan Holiday?

  Today, we are going to accept them without argument. We are not going to spend one minute fighting or arguing or adding opinions on top of them. There is a truth, Foster sings, I can promise you that, which is why we are going to make the most of it. To me, this approach is also connected to the idea of amor fati. Once you accept what's outside of your control, you can embrace making the most of it. You can embrace what is within your control, what you can change. So if you want to check that out, you can go to dailystoic.com/store. We have an amor fati medallion. I carry it in my right pocket every day. And there's also an amor fati medallion, which now people all over the world wear and they touch

• 2:57Ryan Holiday?

  and reminds them of this very idea. So dailystoic.com/store.