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Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast where each weekday we bring you a

meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, a short passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength and insight

here in everyday life. And on Wednesdays we talk to some of our fellow students of ancient philosophy

well-known and obscure, fascinating and powerful. With them we discuss the strategies and habits that have helped them become who they are

and also to find peace and wisdom in their actual lives. But first we've got a quick message from one of our sponsors.

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It's pointing right at you. As we've said before, markets are really as expected in ordinary life for themselves.

He was bookish. He was quiet. Then suddenly he found almost literally the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He was chosen to be king of most of the known universe. Destiny called. Was he special? Of course. But was he that different from you? No. No he wasn't.

Because we're all chosen for something. Perhaps our duty is not quite as heavy as ruling the Roman Empire but each of us has a task, a calling.

It's like that line from the Iron Maiden song. Hand of fate is moving and the finger points to you.

The question is whether you will step forward and wear the purple as it were. Whether you'll shrink from it and hide.

Marcus Aurelius was scared at first. We're totally wept. We're worried that he'd be as bad as the bad emperors before him.

But Rousticus is teacher helped him. Antoninus helped him. His philosophy helped him. He dreamed one night that he had shoulders of ivory. That's how he knew he was ready. He could bear the weight.

The finger is pointing at you. Will you accept what fate has in store for you? Will you be extraordinary or will you hide? Will you shirk your duty?

Will you not just accept mediocrity but seek out being average or less than average? Will you be the person philosophy that destiny has tried to make you that is the question?

Hey it's Ryan Holiday. Welcome to another episode of The Daily Stood Podcast. I don't know about you but I readily accept that we live in a golden age of television.

There's an amazing series on every streaming platform you could possibly imagine who can watch them all.

But I have just found and I talk about this a little bit in today's interview. I just don't have the stomach for it. I mean I don't have time as much as I would like to watch some of this stuff.

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