Review: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I took on this book as a test of my ability to keep up with something for an entire year. I began the book on January 1, planning to read the short blurb for each day, but with the realization that I would certainly miss days. I created a rule for myself that if I got behind, I would only read two days per day in order to catch up. I wanted to limit my catch up reading because I believed that this book was written to prompt personal thought, and I wanted to spend time on reflection. And this is how I read the book.

“The Daily Stoic” provided a short, one or two page reading for each day of the year. The months were divided loosely into themes. Each day’s reading contained a passage from a famous Stoic writer and a discussion by the author. These prompts for thinking were quite general and workmanlike. They were not religious in any way. And in my case, they did allow me to think about the topics discussed and to learn how the Stoics think. There is an appendix that includes definitions used by Stoics as well as a short bibliography. I would recommend reading this with a little time for reflection around each post.

I enjoyed this daily ritual so much that I intend to start again for this year on or near January 1 with a different book. I found the afterward of “The Daily Stoic” a bit of a killjoy, though, in that it recommends that you now have studied enough, you don’t need excuses to read more, and the Stoic way is in the doing. Hmm.


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