What To Learn From History

When one looks at the dark moments of history, it’s hard not to be a little afraid. Look at what people have done to each other—look at how bad things have gotten. In Seneca’s time, many horrific acts were not only common but commonly accepted. Like decimation, a common enough practice, where one in ten people were killed just to send a message. And that word lives on in the lexicon two thousand years later. Perhaps the terrifying capriciousness of a practice like this is why Seneca tried to reassure himself that there was little use in being scared. He writes in one of his essays how that if an invader came and conquered your city, the very worst he could do is sentence you to what you’ve been sentenced to from birth—death. Yes, a Hannibal or a Hitler could throw you in chains and drag you away from your family—but the truth is that you were already being dragged away. Yes, each second that ticks by on the clock takes us one instant away from our families. But, “since the day you were born,” Seneca writes, “you are being led thither.” Sometimes the first time our civilizations realize just how vulnerable we are is when we find out we’ve been conquered, or are at the mercy of some cruel tyrant. We realize that we are mortal and fragile and that fate can inflict horrible things on our tiny, powerless bodies. So we should study history then for two reasons: One, to gain some humility. We are not nearly as safe or important as we think we are. In the end, each of us is only a statistic. Each of us is at the mercy of enormous events outside our control. Two, to prepare for the reality of this existence. We may face trying times, but nothing can stop us from being brave in the face of them. We can still, always, as Stockdale said, decide how to write the end of our story—and to write it well. 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?

  What to learn from history. When one looks at the dark moments of history, it's hard not to be a little afraid. Look at what people have done to each other. Look at how bad things have gotten. In Seneca's times, many horrific acts were not only common, but commonly accepted, like decimation, a common enough practice where one in 10 people were killed just to send a message. And that word lives on in the lexicon 2,000 years later. Perhaps the terrifying capriciousness of a practice like this is why Seneca tried to reassure himself that there was nothing to be scared of. He writes in one of his essays how if an invader came and conquered your city, the very worst he could do would be

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  to sentence you to what you've been already sentenced to from birth: death. "Yes, a Hannibal or a Hitler could throw you in chains and drag you away from your family, but the truth is that you were already being dragged away. Each second that ticks by on the clock takes us one instant away from our families," he writes. "Since the day you were born," Seneca said, "you are being led thither." Sometimes, the first time our civilizations realize just how vulnerable we are is when we find out that we've been conquered or at the mercy of some cruel tyrant. We realize that we are mortal and fragile, and that fate can inflict horrible things on our tiny, powerless bodies. So we should study history,

• 1:55Ryan Holiday?

  then, for two reasons. One, to gain some humility. We are not nearly as safe or important as we think we are, and the end, each of us, is only a statistic. Each of us is at the mercy of enormous events outside of our control. Two, we should prepare for the reality of this existence. We may face trying times, but nothing can stop us from being brave in the face of them. We can always, still, as Stockdale said, decide how to write the end of our story and to write it well.

• 2:28Ryan Holiday?

  Hey, just a quick reminder, stillness is the key. It's the key to success. It's the key to happiness. It's the key to insight. It's also the title of my next book. You can get Stillness is the Key. It comes out October 1st, everywhere books are sold. It's currently available for preorder. You can get it in audiobook, ebook, physical. Barnes & Noble even has a few signed copies. If you've gotten anything out of my writing, anything out of this podcast or my emails over the years, I would love your support. Stillness is the key. Available everywhere books are sold. You can preorder it now, and it comes out October 1st.