Review: "The Daily Stoic" (manuscript)

 

            This past year I read through the daily reading of The Daily Stoic:  366 Meditations on Wisdom, 

Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday.  I have reviewed Holiday’s “stoic trilogy” 

previously.

            As one might expect, each day has a reading from the Stoics, and then a short commentary that directs the reader to put the reading into practice.

            Holiday divides the readings into three disciplines:  the discipline of perception – understanding the difference between what we can change and what we cannot change, the discipline of action – living a virtuous life and becoming the person you want to be, and the discipline of will – understanding that we can only control our own use of reason.

            Each month in the three disciplines focuses on one aspect of the discipline.

            At the end of the book, Holiday invites the reader to sign up for daily readings and book recommendations I his e-mail.  He also has a glossary of terms and a list of books for further reading.

            I did not agree with everything in the readings – I suspect it is rare that anyone completely agrees with any author much less class of authors, but I found all of it helpful in one way or another in becoming more able to think clearly and responsibly – living a life worth living – by focusing on the realities of life, who I ought to be, and my inability to make others be other than they are.

            I will use this guide again, and I am following up on suggested reading and reading the stoics in full in primary editions.  It is well worth your time to pick up this book.

            For those who are interested, Stoic philosophy is the basis for cognitive-behavioral therapy.

            [This review appears on my blog, my YouTube channel, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]