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Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast. On Thursdays, we do double duty, not just reading our daily meditation,

but also reading a passage from the book, The Daily Stoic, 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living, which I wrote with my wonderful co-author and collaborator, Steve Enhancelman.

And so today, we'll give you a quick meditation from one of the Stoics, from Epititus Markis Relius, Seneca, then some analysis for me, and then we send you out into the world to do your best to turn these words into works.

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Do this unflinchingly. We've talked a lot about reading here at The Daily Steal. But it's important to remember what Epic Titus had to say. It's not that you read. It's what you read.

To study history, for example, is important, but not if one goes through and only looks for the stuff that they like. You have to go through and read and study history unflinchingly.

You have to engage with the good stuff and the dark stuff, the glory and the low points, and you have to look at it all with clear eyes.

To study philosophy is similarly essential, but not if you only read stuff that you agree with. To study stoicism is important, but it's important as we said recently.

To look at the failures of the stoics as much as you look at their successes, the pursuit of wisdom is not always going to be pleasant. That's why Epic Titus compared his school to a hospital.

It's not always a fun place. You're going to see and feel some unpleasant things, but this is all a part of growth. People have done horrible things in the past, including the stoics.

How can we hope to avoid or learn from missteps and mistakes and injustices if we refuse to see them? The job of a book is to provoke you, to challenge you, to be a hard sparring partner.

Truth is not your friend. It is objective. It sits beyond us. It does not care about our feelings.

So be brave, be bold, be prepared, read and study unflinchingly. It won't be easy, but it will make you and the world better for that effort.

If you want to read more about the stoics and some of their failings and successes, check out the lives of the stoics.

I think if you do want to engage in this unflinching reading practice, I recommend our Daily Stoke Read to Lead Challenge. Not all readers are leaders, as Truman said, but all leaders have to be readers.

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