It is incredible that Marcus Aurelius, the most powerful man in the world of his time, could write a journal with advice that the most common man could apply in his life
@@KS-nm6rt Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him, For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away.
Hey Ryan I just want to say Thank you, your content has helped me a lot. I have struggled a lot in my early teens, But Iam so lucky that I have access to your amazing content inspite of living in a small village in Sindh Pakistan where literacy rate is somewhere 20% but ahhhhh JUST THANK YOU SO MUCH
Greetings from Ireland. A young man living in your part of the World but who is interested in Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism reaffirms my faith in humanity! Greetings from a small green island in the Atlantic Ocean
Thank you Ryan ….I gain mental fortitude from these presentations. Marcus Aurelius is still living within the minds of us stoics everyday . He’s our ‘go to ‘ mentor and Ryan is his sidekick . Cheers boys Luv from John , Halifax UK
Ryan... you are getting very popular now... please just keep being you and doing what you have been called to do. We believe in what you are doing. Keep it up.
[From the UK, May 2023] I've just 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 across this channel - to discover that it's a (the?) channel of one of my favourite 'real-World philosophy' authors - Ryan Holiday! I'm very much in a phase of my life where I need to absorb things auditorily - so I've been listening to him on Audible - & thank God he's reading out his own work - much more potent & effective that way (in Ryan's case).
I'm a new subscriber and enjoy your videos very much. I just turned 73 years of age and have a background in studying philosophy. I would not call myself a stoic or even a philosopher. Rather I prefer calling myself a literary ditch digger. I write every day but only fragments inspired by my daily readings of a wide range of serious books. A relatively reclusive life and a collectively unconditioned distance has gotten me to this state of expressive joyfulness.
You may enjoy some of the videos of John Butler, he is in his 80s, lives in Bakewell England, and is writing books based on a lifetime of meditation. He uses the little notes and scraps of paper he has jotted down through life, also journals of meditation notes, to help him write his books. The humor and peace in his talks is so peaceful.
I think what is most remarkable is not his sense of honor, the fact that he was merciful, loved his wife and was generous. The most remarkable realization when we learn all these things comes when we look at them not from our modern point of view but when we frame it in his time. This was the time of betrayal, murder galore, roman society was cruel and bloody, marriages were arranged and treason was the norm in Roman political history. And here comes this guy who would be an excellent human being by today's standards (2000 years later let's remember) and behaves in such a strange way for that context. To say he was ahead of his time is to say nothing.
Really enjoyed this, helps to get the full picture. It is easier for me to absorb the lesson when I see the context in which the words were written. Thanks.
We need to introduce Meditations to the school system much earlier than college. It seems like ethics and moral values are declining in the Western world at a frightening rate these days. We reap what we cultivate, thus me must begin cultivating positive human traits in our population as early as possible during the developmental stages.
Ryan I have been going through a lot I came across this and couldn’t get enough. I need this you know what they say “when the student is ready the teacher will come”
It takes a lot to say for people to be better, but in the end, it does a lot more good to be the change you want to see in other people. Be an inspiration and know that others will be benefitted by you.
I don't comprehend how such a confident philosopher had Insomnia. A peaceful mind and heart gives peaceful sleep. Was it all just a facade? Do you have any literature on his beliefs in Jesus? I am curious if he had peace of his soul. Thank you for the content.
The five great emperors - the best period of Roman history to me. They finally got the transition of power down correctly by chance - wise kings essentially training a chosen next king; not by birthright. I don't know enough about Roman history but I don't think that it is a coincidence.
Finding pupose with truth and intention. Sacrifice, letting go of things which don't define me. Putting down those things that distract and steal time.
Marcuses Meditations, is a good read, but it seems he like most stoics were trying to figure everything out on their own, pragmatic due to pagan gods that left them with no statutes, commandments and laws. This is why stoics had no fundamentals on money, no principles and only ever leaning on virtuous based on reactions, while David and his kin based things not on reactions but responding to the commandments of God, which encompassed money, principles, virtuous, statutes and giving us a clear cut difference between wisdom vs folly, righteous vs wicked, good vs evil. Already paving the way for expanding of prosperity, while stoics tried to seek wisdom they were far from it, even apostle Paul in acts made their so called self proclaimed wisemen look like fools, in which Paul had only a iota of knowledge and wisdom like that of Solomon, Moses, David and others. Crazy how it took the stoics a thousand years to accumulate proverbial works that are true, yet king solomon had the same words, same experiences, same outcomes as them in a fraction of the time and even more so before their time. Stoicism is based on pragmatic to practical, on trial and error, while the bible shows us it is more so from mysticism to practical was in reverse given my knowledge and wisdom already predained. This is why I don’t use stocisim as a whole, to tedious, trying to reinvent the wheel, questioning everything, doubting everything, when we work by faith, the rythem is already set, what is there to figure out? But kootles to Ryan, for some stoics like Epictetus, Pythogarus, Marcus, Solon, Aristotle, Plato have some gems, that aid us. But as a whole, I don’t use stoicism, I stick to the Bible’s practices.
@@thehairyfemale lol Men of faith beat out men of godlessness all day every day. All through out history all whom were atheistic and pagans lost. And even when they won these so called battles we read into their dying words how they were empty. Even more comical, Pythogarus, Seneca, and other Greeks got their teachings from the people of kemet, they said so themselves, so in reality those things they penned down weren’t of their own thinkings but copying the ways of the Egyptians whom were pagans, this is why the God of the Bible punished the Egyptians and they learned their lessons, but the Greeks and Roman’s didn’t learn their lessons, they held on to this petty paganism for 1400 years of barbarism, no ethics, no money and only ridiculing themselves, until Jesus came and educated them. Why doesn’t holiday mention they learned from the Egyptians if he’s so he’ll bent on thinking stoics made these philosophies. You think you’re a lone thinker? By all means, stay a fool.
@@thehairyfemale Marcus Aurelius meditations also only comprises of 12 chapters mainly on virtuous and how to treat people, wooow, 12 chapters what a well of knowledge and wisdom you got there. Davids psalms alone has over 150 chapters, on the exact same things as Marcus, virtuous, principles, and more added wisdom on money, counsel, aid, devotions, practices, tithing, strength, endurance, perseverance and many other walks of life. Like the likes of stoics, they were limited, they were poor, they were void of fundamentals, no ethics and guys like Marcus who are the only gems of them. This explains why European had to seek other endeavors and ho out and steal other peoples lands and riches, educations and other means, because they had none for themselves.
Can you stop this spam? I'm gonna keep reporting your comments and tell others too. They never have anything to do with the videos you comment them on, you're always demeaning stoic philosophers, and always promoting Christianity.
@@connorstar164 David psalms and a lot of the Bible itself just steals virtues from many other ancient philosophies, including even buddhism and paganism, not to mention the Bible nor any section in was a personal journal. If this book contains do many virtues and wisdom, why have wars been fought and people burned, in it's name?
You should focus more on religion and less on some guy you admire. Be yourself ffs, because no matter what you are not Marcus and you are not going to be Marcus ever. I wonder what would happen if you had to come up with your own ideas instead of following others before you? Also, being a stoic seems kind of weak to me. Someone who focuses on working out and lifting heavy could crunch a stoic, and then what's the benefit of being a stoic? Justifying that it's okay to get beat up? Stoic is low-T
Controlling what you can (i.e emotions and your actions) and learning to accept what you cant control (i.e other people and what they think of you) is weak to you? A lot of Stoics in the old days were known as warrior poets. They were well trained in combat and philosophy. Their lives were also far more difficult than our own.If anything, we are the ones that are Low-T compared to our ancient ancestors.
