You Are Worth Fighting For

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. Given that a number of prominent Stoics committed suicide, and that suicide was described by Epictetus as the “open door” it might seem like a strange theme to write about here today. But the truth is the Stoics did not take this topic lightly. Nor were they in any way advocates for such a thing, excepting the most extreme circumstances. If we could summarize the Stoic attitude towards it, we’d have trouble doing better than Churchill’s line that one should “Never abandon life. There is a way out of everything but death.” When we look at a Stoic like Admiral James Stockdale who considered suicide in a North Vietnamese prison camp, it should be noted that he wasn’t considering killing himself because he was depressed. He was heroically declining to aid the captors and torturers who wished to make him betray his country. When Seneca committed suicide—a man who had written eloquently on this topic many times—it was not because he was tired of living. He was being executed by the tyrant Nero who demanded his death. The same goes for Cato, who had fought to the bitter end to save the Roman Republic. The point being: These men, like Churchill, were fighters. They never, ever, ever, ever gave up. And neither should you. Because you’re worth fighting for. Your life is worth fighting for. No matter who you are, or what you’re going through the course of our ordinary lives, you have options. Lots of them. Please remember that, always. Remember what you’re capable of. Remember how much is left in your control—your choices, your thoughts, your ability to turn this experience and this pain into something that makes the world a better place. Please don’t give up. And don’t be ashamed to ask for help either. There’s nothing un-Stoic about that. 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  You are worth fighting for. Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. Given that a number of prominent Stoics committed suicide, and that suicide was described by Epictetus as "the open door," it might seem like a strange theme to write about here today. But the truth is that Stoics did not take this topic lightly, nor were they in any way advocates for such a thing, except in the most extreme circumstances. If we could summarize the Stoic attitude toward it, we'd have trouble doing better than Churchill's line that "one should never abandon life. There is a way out of everything but death." When we look at a Stoic like Admiral James Stockdale, who considered suicide in a North

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  Vietnamese prison camp, it should be noted that he wasn't considering killing himself because he was depressed. He was heroically declining to aid the captors and torturers who wished to make him betray his country. When Seneca committed suicide, a man who had written eloquently on this topic many times, it was not because he was tired of living. He was being executed by the tyrant Nero who demanded his death. The same goes for Cato, who had fought to the bitter end to save the Roman Republic. The point being, these men, like Churchill, were fighters. They never, ever, ever, ever gave up, and neither should you, because you're worth fighting for. Your life is worth fighting

• 1:58Ryan Holiday?

  for. No matter who you are, or what you are going through in the course of our ordinary lives, you have options, lots of them. Please remember that.

• 2:09Ryan Holiday?

  Always. Remember what you are capable of. Remember how much is left in your control, your choices, your thoughts, your ability to turn this experience and this pain into something that makes the world a better place. Please, don't give up. And don't be ashamed to ask for help either. There's nothing unstoic about that. If you need someone to talk to, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in both English and Spanish. Outside the US, you can also find a list of international resources at suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html.