What Will You Do Now?

In the winter of 1824, things were not looking good for Simon Bolivar. He was at one of the lowest points of his decade-plus long revolution of South America. Many of the countries he had freed from Spanish rule were in chaos or at risk of being re-conquered. His own health had begun to fail from so many hours in the saddle on campaign. He was haggard and gaunt--skeletal, really. Would he give up? Would he die? Would all this turn out to be for naught? With this in mind, a man asked Bolivar, as it appeared that he neared rock bottom, “What will you do now?”The great liberator didn’t pause, he didn’t hesitate. All his charisma returned in an instant and he answered simply and definitively, “Triumph!”It’s one of those scenes from history that sends chills down our spine. It’s Napoleon shouting, “There will be no Alps!” It’s the Spartans retorting to the Persians who claimed the arrows of their overwhelmingly superior forces would blot out the sun, “Then we shall fight in the shade.” It’s Churchill, “We shall go on to the end...we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be...we shall never surrender.” It’s incredible bravery, fortitude, and strength. But here’s the thing: Those lines came from people just like you. Bolivar was a spoiled rich kid for most of his life. Napoleon started in the army as an artilleryman. No one, including Churchill’s parents, thought he’d amount to much. But these men did it--they put countless people on their backs and dragged their cause to victory. Just like you can do. Remember Marcus’s line: If it’s humanly possible, know that you can do it. And think about Bolivar in that moment and how Stoic it was. He was focused not on the past, not on how bad things were, but on what he would do next. Because that’s all that matters. Because that’s all he controlled. And then he got to 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. What Will You Do Now? In the winter of 1824, things were not looking good for Simon Bolivar. He was at one of the lowest points of his decade-long-plus revolution of South America. Many of the countries he had freed from Spanish rule were in chaos or at risk of being reconquered.

• 0:48Ryan Holiday?

  His own health had begun to fail from so many hours in the saddle on campaign. He was haggard and gaunt, skeletal, really. Would he give up? Would he die? Would this all turn out to be for naught? With this in mind, a man asked Bolivar, as it appeared that he neared rock bottom, "What will you do now?" The great liberator didn't pause. He didn't hesitate. All his charisma returned in an instant, and he answered simply and definitively, "Triumph!" It was one of those scenes from history that sends chills down our spine. It's Napoleon shouting, "There will be no Alps!" It's the Spartans retorting

• 1:29Ryan Holiday?

  to the Persians who claimed the arrows of their overwhelmingly superior forces would blot out the sun. "Then we shall fight in the shade!" It's Churchill. "We shall go on to the end. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall never surrender!" It's incredible bravery, fortitude, and strength. But here's the thing, those lines came from people just like you. Bolivar was a spoiled, rich kid for most of his life. Napoleon started in the army as an artilleryman. No one, including Churchill's parents, thought that he'd amount to much.

• 2:13Ryan Holiday?

  But they did it. They put countless people on their backs and dragged their cause to victory, just like you can do. Remember Marcus's line, "If it's humanly possible, know that you can do it." And think about Bolivar in that moment and how stoic it was. He was focused not on the past, not on how bad things were, but on what he would do next, because that's all that matters, because that's all he controlled. And then he got to work. 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.