The Best of Ryan Holiday

People think that leadership is something that just happens. One is anointed a leader. One is promoted to leadership. One is born into leadership. And of course, this is not the case. “Leadership,”…

Marcus Aurelius never claimed to be a Stoic. Gregory Hays, one of Marcus Aurelius’s best translators, writes in his introduction to Meditations, “If he had to be identified with a particular school,…

«Be strict with yourself and tolerant of others. It’s called self-discipline. It’s called self-improvement. And remember: Stoicism is a personal philosophy that’s designed to direct your behavior.»

In his essay On the Happy Life, Seneca makes an extended list of rules for living a good life. Because it is everyone’s wish to live better, he says, but we are often in the dark on how to do so.…

«Do the verb, rather than being the noun.»

It’s a weird thing to say, but I guess I’m a professional reader. That’s really what authors are. A book is made of books. “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading; a man will turn…

«great line the Stoics loved—that we never step in the same river twice.»

Some people take pride in how little they sleep. It’s proof of their hard work, their dedication, their determination. Me? I’m prouder of the exact opposite. Despite producing over a dozen books,…

It’s kind of crazy to think how recent December 2019 feels. Not that long ago, it seems, we were getting ready for what a new decade might bring us. It’s even crazier when the truth settles in: 2019…

«”One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior,”»

Of all the things in life we don’t control, the past is the clearest. It already happened. It’s done. It’s set in stone. Perhaps we could have controlled and changed it, but the fact is, we didn’t.…

«” If you did your best, if you gave it your all, if you acted with your best judgment—you’ve won.»

For the most part, we can’t change the world. We can’t change the fundamental facts of existence–like the fact that we’re going to die. We can’t change other people. Does that mean that everything is…

It’d be wonderful if a new year magically marked a new beginning. But 2022, like all years, reminded us that the same things keep happening, that world events continue on in their own unpredictable…

«if I knew then what I know now, I would have done things differently.” That’s the end of that, she said. “Guilt is in the past, and the one thing you cannot change is the past»

When I finished my first book, I hired a publicist. I was 25. It cost $20,000 and was, to that point, the most money I had ever spent in my life. As part of the scope of work, they had me put together…

The ancients were fond of an expression: Character is fate. It means that character is deterministic, that who you are determines what you will do. Self-discipline is one of those special things that…

«22. Be strict only with yourself. It was said that the true majesty of Marcus Aurelius was that his exactingness was directed only at himself.»

Reading is a good thing. A good thing too many people don’t do enough of (or any of it all…) So obviously doing lots of it is good, right? This is why people try to figure out how to speed read (a…

«My rule is one hundred pages minus your age. Say you’re 30 years old—if a book hasn’t captivated you by age 70, stop reading it. So as you age, you have to endure crappy books less and less.»

The amount of times I had to do the math to see how old I was this year was alarming. Even as I wrote this piece, I had to check, 36, right? Wait, did I accidentally do 36 last year? I don’t know why,…

«Be patient—evaluate later. Don’t kick yourself now because you think you’re stuck. You might be the opposite of stuck and just not know it. »

One of the pleasures of re-reading a book, re-watching a film, re-visiting a place, is that you always discover something new. The Stoics were fond of the idea—which comes from Heraclitus—that we…

«you could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think”»

I remember learning how to play the recorder in elementary school. I remember square dancing. I remember cursive. I built a model of a Spanish mission out of sugar cubes. Some of this was fun. Some of…

«poverty wasn’t having too little, it was wanting more»

As parents, we worry about having all the right answers. But I think it’s better to focus on asking the right questions. The right question at the right time can change the course of a life, can still…

«All time with your kids—all time with anyone you love—is created equal.»

I dropped out of college. When this happened it was a big deal—to my parents anyway. Then it was a big deal when people met me because they were constantly surprised by it. You didn’t finish college?!…

In his letters, Seneca writes about the habit of finding one thing each day that makes you smarter, wiser, better. One nugget. One quote. One little prescription. One little piece of advice. And…

«In 2014, Researchers from Ohio State University found that most fights between couples are because someone is hungry. Same goes with parents and kids and between kids, I imagine.»