There’s No Excuse For Being Surprised

Fabius was one of Ancient Rome’s great generals, though he was not the bold, reckless type that usually gets all the attention in history books. No, he was the cautious type. He was strategic and reserved. He preferred to let enemies defeat themselves more than anything else. He was far less exciting than his most famous counterparts, but without him, Rome almost certainly would have been defeated by Hannibal in the 200s BCE. In the book Of Anger, Seneca draws on Fabius to teach a lesson from war that every citizen and leader and business person should be familiar with: “Fabius used to say that the basest excuse for a commanding officer is ‘I didn’t think it would happen,’ but I say it’s the basest for anyone. Thinking everything might happen; anticipate everything.”When the Stoics talk about the exercise of premeditatio malorum, that’s what they’re trying to train into you. To make sure you’re not surprised by the twists and turns of life, or by the moves of the enemy. Because there is no excuse. But what about black swans? you say. True black swans are rare. They have never happened before. That is what makes them black swans. Most of what we are unprepared for are not those kind of freak occurrences. Look at Fabius’s quote closely: To say “I didn’t think it would happen,” means you’re already aware of the possibility and have dismissed it. When that happens, it’s not bad luck—it’s ego come home to roost. We must keep our eyes open. We must consider all the potential consequences, even the unlikely or the unusual or the unintended ones. We must be ready. Fortune behaves as she pleases. So do our opponents. Don’t be surprised. There’s no excuse...except that you haven’t been doing your work. 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. There's no excuse for being surprised. Fabius was one of ancient Rome's great generals, though he was not the bold reckless type that usually gets all the attention in history books. No, he was the cautious type. He was strategic and reserved. He preferred to let enemies defeat themselves more than anyone else. He was far less exciting than

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  most of his famous counterparts. But without him, Rome almost certainly would have been defeated by Hannibal in the 200s B.C. In the book on anger, Seneca draws on Fabius to teach a lesson from war that every citizen and leader and businessperson should be familiar with. He writes, "Fabius used to say that the basest excuse for a commanding officer is, 'I didn't think it would happen.' But I say it's the basest for anyone: thinking everything might happen. Anticipate everything." When the Stoics talk about the exercise of premeditatio melorum, that's what they're trying to train into you, to make sure you're not surprised by the twists and turns of

• 1:35Ryan Holiday?

  life, or by the moves of the enemy, because there is no excuse. "But what about black swans," you say. "True black swans are rare. They have never happened before. That's what makes them black swans." Most of what we are unprepared for are not those kind of freak occurrences. Look at Fabius's quote closely. It's about saying, "I didn't think it would happen." Which means you are already aware of the possibility and have dismissed it. When that happens, it's not bad luck, it's ego come home to roost. We must keep our eyes open. We must consider all the potential consequences, even the unlikely, or the unusual, or the unintended ones. We must be ready.

• 2:20Ryan Holiday?

  Fortune behaves as she pleases, so do our opponents. Don't be surprised, there's no excuse, except that you haven't been doing your work. I hope you'll check out our pre-Meditatio Melorum medallion. I think it's a must have for anyone who's in a position of authority or leadership, who's in the market, whether you're a VC, or you're an investor, you're on Wall Street. It's the kind of thing that I think reminds you to consider all the possibilities, to meditate in advance of bad things that can happen, to have contingency plans, to be prepared, to keep all the parts of the human experience before our eyes, and to be ready for them. Check it out, it's something I carry with me all the time. You can see it at dailystoic.com/store.