Wundry Plus subscribers can listen to the Daily Stoic Early and Ad Free right now.

Just join Wundary Plus in the Wundry App or on Apple Podcast. Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient

wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom, everyday life.

Each one of these passages is based on the

2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and

women. For more you can visit us at daily stoic.com.

This is what to do with joy. We tend not to see the Stoics as happy people. Marcus Aurelius' meditations is dark, his critics say. Even a fan would concede,

it's not the lightest fair. Epictetus spoke of the brutality of existence often, mostly because as a slave he knew it well.

Seneca for his part spoke so much about death there's literally a modern collection of

his writings titled How to Die.

It's actually quite good by the way.

So where was the room for happiness, for joy,

for sucking the marrow out of life?

Paradoxically, it was right there in that dark stuff, or rather it was a product of that dark stuff.

In one of his consolation essays, Seneca, who himself lost a child and was exiled in the same

short period,

writes to Marcia that she must snatch the pleasures

that your children bring, let your children in turn

find delight in you.

He says, drain joy to the dregs without delay.

No promise has been given you for this night.

Nay, I have offered too long a respite, he says.

...