Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own

There’s no way around the fact that the Stoics talked about suicide. A lot. To the Stoics, suicide was famously the “open door”—the option available to anyone, at any moment. Cato, one of the most vaunted and towering Stoics, went through that door, gruesomely and bravely. So too, did Seneca. But it is worth pointing out, in a summer that saw the world lose two truly great musicians to suicide, and in a world that loses over 2,000 people to suicide every day (on average, a U. S veteran commits suicide nearly every hour), that the Stoics knew that life was hard and they knew what depression was like. It’s very unlikely that they would have ever encouraged suicide from despair or depression. Because they knew that as real as these feelings were, as deep as that pain might be, that life was worth living and how easily the mind can become temporarily trapped in prisons of its own making. The Stoics believed that we needed to be here for each other, that we were made for cooperation, and that sometimes we have trouble making it on our own. Marcus Aurelius wrote in his journal “Don’t be ashamed of needing help. You have a duty to fulfill just like a soldier on the wall of battle. So what if you are injured and can’t climb up without another soldier’s help?” If you’re struggling, don’t let the concept of Stoic toughness deter you from reaching out. What Cato did, what Seneca did, what James Stockdale threatened to do and nearly did, these were the brave actions of men defying the tightening grip of tyrants. That’s the only reason. Thankfully, this is almost certainly not where most of us are. If you need something, ask. You don’t have to do this alone. Just as you have been there for other people, other people will be there for you—that’s fact. But only if you let them. 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.

• 0:05Ryan 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 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com. Sometimes you can't make it on your own. There's no way around the fact that the Stoics talked about suicide, a lot. To the Stoics, suicide was famously "the open door," the option available to anyone at any moment. Cato, one of the most vaunted and towering

• 0:47Ryan Holiday?

  Stoics, went through that door, gruesomely and bravely. So too, did Seneca. But it's worth pointing out, in a summer that saw the world lose two truly great musicians to suicide, and in a world that loses over 2,000 people to suicide every day, on average, a US veteran commits suicide nearly every hour, that the Stoics knew that life was hard and they knew what depression was like. It's very unlikely that they would ever have encouraged suicide from despair or depression, because they knew that as real as these feelings were, as deep as that pain might be, that life was worth living, and how easily the mind can become temporarily trapped in prisons of its own making. The

• 1:30Ryan Holiday?

  Stoics believed that we needed to be here for each other, that we were made for cooperation, and that sometimes we have trouble making it on our own. Marcus Aurelius wrote in his journal, "Don't be ashamed of needing help. You have a duty to fulfill, just like a soldier on the wall of battle. So what if you are injured and can't climb up without another soldier's help? If you're struggling, don't let the concept of Stoic toughness deter you from reaching out. What Cato did, what Seneca did, what James Stockdale threatened to do and nearly did, these were the brave actions of men defying the tightening grip of tyrants. That's the only reason. Thankfully, this is almost certainly not where most

• 2:15Ryan Holiday?

  of us are. If you need something, ask. You don't have to do this alone." Just as you have been there for other people, other people will be there for you. That's a fact, but only if you let them.