This Is Not What We Fight For

The Stoics were not passive. They did impressive things. They were impressive people. They were fighters. But you know what? They, like the rest of us, sometimes got carried away, sometimes hung on too long, went after the wrong things. 🏛 The 2025 LIVE session ofStoicism 101: Ancient Philosophy For Your Actual Life http://dailystoic.com/101 starts November 10th. Don’t miss your chance to join us! Read on for more about the unique opportunities you get from joining the LIVE course. 🎟️ Come seeRyan Holiday LIVE https://www.dailystoiclive.com/: https://www.dailystoiclive.com/ Seattle, WA - December 3, 2025 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/daily-stoic-live-onstage-with-ryan-holiday-tickets-1830976292379?aff=oddtdtcreatorSan Diego, CA - February 5, 2026 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/daily-stoic-live-onstage-with-ryan-holiday-tickets-1527497619499?aff=oddtdtcreatorPhoenix, AZ - February 27, 2026 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/daily-stoic-live-onstage-with-ryan-holiday-tickets-1830981698549?aff=oddtdtcreator 📖Wisdom Takes Work https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/wisdom-takes-work by Ryan Holiday is out NOW! Grab a copy here:https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/wisdom-takes-work 👉 Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing toThe Daily Stoic Premium https://dailystoic.supercast.com/ - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content:https://dailystoic.supercast.com/ 🎥 Watch the video episodes onThe Daily Stoic YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@DailyStoic/videos:https://www.youtube.com/@DailyStoic/videos 🎙️ Follow The Daily Stoic Podcast onInstagram https://www.instagram.com/dailystoicpodcast/?hl=en:https://www.instagram.com/dailystoicpodcast ✉️ Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email athttps://dailystoic.com/dailyemail 🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store:https://store.dailystoic.com/ 📱 Follow us: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/,Twitter https://twitter.com/dailystoic,YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@DailyStoic,TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@daily_stoic?lang=en, andFacebook https://www.facebook.com/dailystoic See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:05Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a Stoic-inspired meditation, designed to help you find strength and insight and wisdom into everyday life. Each one of these episodes is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women, help you learn from them, to follow in their example, and to start your day off with a little dose of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom. For more, visit DailyStoic.com.

• 0:56Ryan Holiday?

  This is not what we fight for. They didn't give up. They defied the odds. They kept going when others were stymied. They did difficult things. They sacrificed. They achieved. They made their mark. Contrary to the stereotype, the Stoics were not passive. They did impressive things. They were impressive people. They were fighters. But you know what? They, like the rest of us, sometimes got carried away, sometimes hung on too long, went after the wrong things. Seneca criticized those thirsty old lawyers and politicians who kept at it, even into old age, terrified of irrelevance and the quiet life. Yet wasn't it Seneca who stayed too long in Nero's service? Wasn't it Seneca who traded too much of his dignity

• 1:41Ryan Holiday?

  to get into and then stay at the center of things? And Cicero, didn't he do the same? Fighting for relevance and power in a fallen Rome instead of stepping away, at some point swapping public service for personal glory. In Tennyson's poem about Odysseus, he points out that the man's determination was a double-edged sword. "It got him home, but it made it impossible for him to enjoy being home. Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will," Tennyson writes, "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." It's not supposed to be an impressive picture, but a tragic one. These traits were not serving Odysseus, but torturing him.

• 2:25Ryan Holiday?

  It's good that we are determined. It's good that we fight. It's good that we keep going. But we have to be sure we know when to stop, that we know what is actually worth prizing. We have to remember what Seneca himself pointed out but failed to believe, that poverty isn't just having too little, it is also the insatiable appetite for more, more, more.