Who The True Stoics Were

If you were to run down the list of the great Stoics of history, who would come to mind? Seneca. Marcus Aurelius. Epictetus. Maybe if you really knew your stuff, you’d mention Zeno or Cleanthes or Chrysippus. What do all those people have in common? They were all men. In fact, you really have to look—and stretch—to come up with even one or two “accepted” female Stoics. Does this mean that Stoicism is just for men? Or that it’s been entirely composed of men for the last twenty five hundred years? Do you think Seneca and Marcus Aurelius and the male Stoics had a monopoly on suffering? On courage? On mastering emotions? On being disappointed? Of having to make due with an imperfect world? No. Not at all. It’s an omission that needs to be addressed. When the biographer Robert Caro was researching what life in Texas was like in the late 19th and early 20th century, he and his wife were appalled by what they found. Just how primitive and tough things were. Most of all, how much backbreaking work was expected of women—doing loads of laundry by hand, carrying endless amounts of water, cooking so much food in such incredible heat, fear of Native Americans, the terrible loneliness and isolation. After speaking to one woman, his wife, Ena, finally said, “I don’t ever want to see another John Wayne movie again.” She was just disgusted at how much of the picture had been left out by historians and writers. Robert Caro would write later about how much this experience opened his eyes: “You hear a lot about gunfights in Westerns; you don’t hear so much about hauling the water after a perineal tear.” Women have had to deal with trials like these as much as, if not more than, the famous Stoics we read and talk about so much here. Certainly, they had to put up with being underappreciated, misunderstood, taken for granted, and being deprived of many critical rights. They did all that on top of having to give birth…and know that they might well die going into it. The fact that they did this, along with countless other sacrifices and daily obligations, and did so bravely and patiently for so long is proof that they are true Stoics. And not only do they deserve our respect for it—but they have a thing or two to teach everyone else about what focusing only on what you can control really looks like. 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?

  Who the true Stoics were? If you were to run down the list of the great Stoics of history, who would come to mind? Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus? Maybe if you really knew your stuff, you'd mention Zeno, or Cleanthes, or Chrysippus. What do all these people have in common? They're all men. In fact, you really have to look and stretch to come up with even one or two accepted female Stoics. Does this mean that Stoicism is just for men, or that it's been entirely composed of men for the last 2,500 years? Do you think that Seneca and Marcus Aurelius and the male Stoics had a monopoly on suffering, on courage, on mastering

• 1:09Ryan Holiday?

  emotion, on being disappointed, of having to make do with an imperfect world? No, not at all. It's an omission that needs to be addressed. When the biographer Robert Caro was researching what life in Texas was like in early 20th century, he and his wife were appalled by what they found, just how primitive and tough things were. Most of all, how much backbreaking work was expected of women, doing loads of laundry by hand, carrying endless amounts of water, cooking so much food in such incredible heat, fear of Native Americans, the terrible loneliness and isolation. After speaking to one woman, his wife Ina finally

• 1:49Ryan Holiday?

  said, "I don't ever want to see another John Wayne movie again." She was disgusted at how much of the picture had been left out by historians and writers. Robert Caro would write later about how much this experience opened his eyes. You hear a lot about gunfights in Westerns. You don't hear so much about hauling water after a perineal tear. Women have had to deal with trials like these as much as, if not more, than the famous Stoics we read and talk about so much here. Certainly, they have had to put up with being underappreciated, misunderstood, taken for granted, and being deprived of many critical rights.

• 2:29Ryan Holiday?

  They did all that on top of having to give birth and know that they might well die going into it. The fact that they did this, along with other countless sacrifices and daily obligations, and did so bravely and patiently for so long, is proof that they are true Stoics. Not only do they deserve our respect for it, but they have a thing or two to teach everyone else about focusing on only what you can control really looks like.

• 3:00Ryan Holiday?

  In exciting news, we now have an obstacle is the way pendant. If you want to carry this idea with you everywhere you go, it's a necklace you can wear. It says, "The obstacle is the way," in the front. It has a mountain, a path carved through the steep mountain up to the top. And on the back, it has that quote from Marcus Aurelius, "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." You can check it out at dailystoic.com/store.