The Daily Stoic - These Are Things You Cannot Buy

Episode Date: August 5, 2026

As Epictetus, the slave-turned-philosopher who inspired Marcus, reminds us, ”Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”🎶 Song lyrics: A Satisfied Mind (Bon Iver version)🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here |  https://www.dailystoiclive.com/🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/🎥 VIDEO EPISODES| Watch the video episodes on The Daily Stoic YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DailyStoic/videos✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's dell.com slash deals. Welcome to the daily stoic podcast designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. These are things you cannot buy. It doesn't matter how much you have. It doesn't matter how much you make. It doesn't matter how powerful you are. When it comes to time, when it comes to health,

when it comes to the reality of existence, all of us are poor and weak. As the great song, a satisfied mind goes, my money can't buy bad. Your youth when you're old. Youth. A friend when you're old. or a love that's grown cold.

Nobody knew this better than Marcus Aurelius. He was rich. He ruled over a vast empire. Armies stood at his beck and call. And yet so much of his life was outside of his control. He was as defenseless as the rest of us when it came to old age. He was as defenseless as many of us when it came to his poor health. When it came to betrayal as he was by Evidius Cassius.

and possibly his wife, and when it came to so many human problems. We fantasized that our success will save us from these inconveniences and worries, and it's true that money can insulate a little bit, can make some things go away, but it will never do for us the things that only philosophy, only wisdom, can solve, that only endurance and fortitude can get us through.