Yours Is Not to Reason Why

"It just doesn’t make sense, does it? They have every incentive in the world to get it right, and they can’t. They’re putting their own livelihood at risk. All the information is out there. They had the same opportunities as you did, maybe even better ones. And yet… and yet… "Ryan discusses how you can keep from being distracted by the actions of others. This episode was brought to you by Magic Spoon. Magic Spoon makes delicious cereal just like you remember from when you were a kid—only this version has only 3g carbs and 11g of protein. Use code DAILYSTOIC at magicspoon.com to get free shipping.****If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanholidayInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanholiday/Facebook: http://facebook.com/ryanholidayYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee 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?

  Yours is not to reason why. It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't make sense, does it? They have every incentive in the world to get it right, and they can't. They're putting their own livelihood at risk. All the information is out there. They've had the same opportunities as you, maybe even better ones. And yet, and yet, it doesn't matter what we're talking about or who. The reality is that life is going to be filled with baffling events and baffling people. You better get used to it. Marcus Aurelius knew this. He reminded himself in meditations how fruitless it was to go around asking why. It doesn't matter why things happened the way they did. It doesn't matter whose fault it was. "Nothing is more

• 1:12Ryan Holiday?

  pathetic," he wrote, "than people who run around in circles, delving into the things that lie beneath, and conducting investigations into the souls of the people around them." All of that is a distraction. It's a distraction from what's at hand. It's a distraction, he said, "from the real power that you have over yourself, over what you do." Today, we must focus. We must ignore those vexing, unanswerable questions. We must resist the temptation to speculate and delve and debate, because we have work to do. We have real power to exercise.