The Daily Stoic - Don't Limit Yourself

Episode Date: January 24, 2019

Epicurus’s dictum was that “One sage is no wiser than another.” Clearly, Seneca agreed with this idea because he loved quoting Epicurus, even though he belonged to a rival school. His famous line was that he’d quote even a bad author if the line was good.This is a good example that does not go far enough. We should actively pursue and engage with anyone who can be a source of wisdom to us, regardless of the school of thought from which that wisdom arose. That does not mean you have to become best friends, or abandon your philosophical first principles, just that you should listen. And not just listen, but hear. Because if there is wisdom out there to be had, we’d be wise to avail ourselves of it—and ignorant (or worse, stupid) not to.So don’t let your studies stop with Stoicism. Make sure you read widely. Pick up Epicurus and Confucius. Look at the best teachings of the Christians and the Buddhists, and the Islamists and the polytheists. There is good stuff in all these schools.The ancients were voracious consumers of knowledge and information, but they had nothing compared to the access and tools we take for granted today. They would have loved to be able to carry around thousands of digital books in their pocket, or have access to a website that let them get every book ever written delivered to their door in minutes. Can you imagine what they would have thought about a digital subscription service like Scribd that gives you basically every book ever published for less than $10 a month?What would they think of a world where, for free on YouTube, you can watch the lectures of the wisest people ever captured on film? You can bet they would have watched everything they could of Viktor Frankl, Alan Watts, the Dalai Lama, Ayn Rand, Richard Feynman, David Foster Wallace, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Camille Paglia, Maya Angelou, Stephen Hawking—the list is endless, just as their options would be.Don’t limit yourself. There are many wise sages out there—all with different takes on the same essential truths. You can benefit from learning and listening to all of them, even if only your disagreements with some of their teachings serve to clarify what you do believe.There’s a wide world of knowledge out there. Quote it and consume it all.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowic.com. Don't limit yourself. Epicurius's dictum was that one sage is no wiser than another. Clearly, Seneca agreed with this idea because he loved quoting Epicurus. Even though he belonged to a rival school, his famous line was that he'd quote even a bad author, if the line was good.

This is a good example that does not go far enough. We should actively pursue and engage with anyone who can be a source of wisdom to us, regardless of the school of thought from which that wisdom arose. That does not mean you have to become best friends or abandon your philosophical first principles, just that you should listen, and not just listen, but here. because if there is wisdom out there to be had, we'd be wise to avail ourselves of it, and ignorant, or worse, stupid, not to. So don't let your studies stop with stoicism. Make sure you read widely. Pick up Epicurus and Confucius. Look at the best teachings of the Christians and the Buddhists and the Islamists and the Polytheists.

There is good stuff in all these schools. The ancients were voracious consumers of knowledge and information, but they had nothing compared to the access and tools we take for granted today. They would have loved to be able to carry around thousands of digital books in their pocket or of access to a website that let them get every book ever written delivered to their door in minutes. Can you imagine what they would have thought about a digital subscription service like scribbed that gives you basically every book ever published for less than $10 a month? What would they think of a world where for free on YouTube you can watch the lectures of

the wisest people ever captured on film? You bet they would have watched everything they could of Victor Frankl, Alan can watch the lectures of the wisest people ever captured on film. You bet they would have watched everything they could of Victor Franco, Alan Watts, Nidale Lama, Iron Rand, Richard Feynman, David Foster Wallace, Tana Hossie Coates, Camille Paglia, Jordan Peterson, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis, Stephen Hawking, the list is endless just as their options would be. Don't limit yourself. There are many wise sages out there, all with different takes on the same essential truths. You can benefit from learning and listening to all of them, even if only your disagreements with some of their teachings serves to clarify what you do believe.

There is a wide world of knowledge out there quoted and consume it all. If you're liking this podcast we would love for you to subscribe. Please leave us a review on iTunes or any of your favorite podcast listening apps. It really helps and tell a friend. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. with Wondering Plus and Apple Podcasts.