The One Thing To Be A Slave To

Slavery is one of the most common metaphors in Seneca’s writing. He talks about people who are slaves to sex and slaves to work. He talks about people who are slaves to their anxiety. He even mentions-—without much self-awareness for such a generally compassionate person—about his fellow slave owners who are slaves to their slaves. So it might seem strange that there was something he said we should be a slave to. As always, this counter-intuitive observation came from one of his favorite thinkers to hate, Epicurus, who said:“If you would enjoy real freedom, you must be the slave of philosophy.”What does Seneca mean to say by quoting that line? It’s not that we should slave away reading endless amounts of books on philosophy. It’s not that we should work ourselves to the bone writing or researching or getting advanced degrees. Seneca talked quite negatively about people who did all of that. He meant that we had to obey philosophy. That is, the words from these wise Stoics weren’t things to just nod our heads to and then move on. Philosophy isn’t something that we are supposed to take the bits and pieces we like from and then generally behave how we like. The Stoic virtues of Justice, Temperance, Courage and Wisdom are not just buzzwords. They should be our masters. We have to follow them. We have to let them dictate our every move and decision. We have to accept that they own us and that when we attempt to go in another direction, we are fugitives. That’s what Seneca meant. There are many things a human being can be a slave to these days. Drugs. Social media. Personal ambition. Money. Whatever. There’s no freedom in any of that. But in obeying timeless principles, the ones with proven superiority and authority? That’s worth surrendering to. Even if that goes against every freedom-loving bone in our bodies. 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

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• 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?

  The One Thing to Be a Slave to One of the most common metaphors in Seneca's writing is slavery. He talks about people who are slaves to sex and slaves to work, talks about people who are slaves to their anxiety. He even mentions, without much self-awareness for such a generally compassionate person, about his fellow slave owners who are slaves to their slaves. So it might seem a little strange that there was something he said we should be a slave to. As always, this counterintuitive observation in Seneca came to us via a quote from one of his favorite thinkers to hate, Epicurus, who said, "If you would enjoy real freedom, you must be

• 1:09Ryan Holiday?

  the slave of philosophy." So what does Seneca mean by quoting that? It's not that we should slave away reading endless amounts of books on philosophy. It's not that we should work ourselves to the bone writing or researching or getting advanced degrees. Seneca talked quite negatively about people who did all that. He meant that we had to obey philosophy. That is, the words from the wise Stoics wasn't something that we just nod our heads to and then move on. It wasn't something we take the bits and pieces we like from and then generally behave however we like. The Stoic virtues of temperance, justice, courage, and wisdom, these are not just buzzwords. They should be our masters. We have to follow

• 1:50Ryan Holiday?

  them. We have to let them dictate our every move and decision. We have to accept that they own us and that when we attempt to go in another direction, we are fugitives. That's what Seneca meant. There are many things a human being can be a slave to these days. Drugs, social media, your ambition, your money, whatever. There's no freedom in any of that. But in obeying timeless principles, the ones with proven superiority and authority, that's worth surrendering to, even if it goes against every freedom-loving bone in your body. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.