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

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus lived in Turkey, Rome, and Greece from 50 CE to 135 CE. Born enslaved by Epaphroditus, secretary to Emperor Nero, Epictetus learned philosophy from the Stoic scholar Musonius Rufus as a youth. After being freed in adulthood, Epictetus became a professional philosopher, teaching Stoic lessons in Rome until Emperor Domitian ordered all philosophers to leave the city in 93 CE to minimize the potential political damage from their dissent to his reign.

Epictetus fled Rome and moved to Nicopolis, Greece, where he established his own academy. One of his students at this school, Arrian, wrote down Epictetus’s teachings in eight books named Discourses, which remain the only source of Epictetus’s opinions, though only four books of the Discourses have survived to the present day.

Holiday frequently references Epictetus’s Discourses in his work, often sampling his quotations to begin his daily devotionals. Epictetus’s work endorses the Stoic principles of self-mastery, reasoned choices, and rejecting superficial measures of success. Holiday explains that Epictetus played a large role in spreading Stoicism since Marcus Aurelius described in Meditations reading Discourses and incorporating its teachings into his life.

Seneca, also known as Seneca the Younger, was a Stoic philosopher who lived from 4 BCE to 65 CE in ancient Spain and Rome. In addition to his contributions to Stoic philosophy, which have been preserved in his letters and essays, Seneca was a prolific and renowned playwright of tragedies. Seneca is also famous for being an advisor to Nero, the young and unpredictable Emperor of Rome. Seneca is remembered as a stable figure who tried to rein in Nero’s violent and indulgent behavior. However, when Nero’s unruly behavior had alienated many powerful figures in Roman politics, Seneca allegedly participated in a plot to assassinate Nero. Seneca lost his life when Nero discovered this betrayal and commanded the philosopher to kill himself.

Seneca’s Stoic teachings are preserved in his work Moral Letters, which Holiday quotes many times to begin his devotionals. Some historians note the discrepancy between Seneca’s Stoic beliefs and the fact that he ambitiously pursued wealth and status. However, Holiday has his own interpretation of Seneca’s mindset, noting that while he was a very wealthy man he was “indifferent” to material luxury: “He enjoyed them while they were there, but he accepted that they might someday disappear” (67). This “pragmatic approach to wealth” (257) may make it easier for Holiday’s readers to accept the Stoic command to stop wanting luxury—reader who already have copious wealth can simply embrace this version of acceptance rather than giving up their material possessions.

Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher who lived from 121 CE to 180 CE. Aurelius was also the Emperor of the Roman Empire from 161 CE until his death in 180 CE. While Aurelius did not teach philosophy or author any texts he intended to be published, his personal notes and reflections, called Meditations, are a major text in the Stoic canon. These writings have been categorized into 12 sections, according to different periods of Aurelius’s life.

Holiday refers to Aurelius as a “philosopher King” (51), since he relied on his Stoic beliefs as he governed Rome and its territories. Because of his thoughtful decision-making and the relative stability that Rome enjoyed during his reign, Aurelius is generally remembered as one of Rome’s most successful and competent rulers.

Aurelius was influenced by his mentor Quintus Junius Rusticas, and Epictetus’s text Discourses. Holiday frequently quotes Aurelius’s Meditations and shares his admiration for Aurelius, claiming that by adhering to his Stoic virtues the ruler remained uncorrupted by power.

Musonius Rufus was a Roman Stoic philosopher who lived and taught in the first-century CE.

Rufus was opposed to Emperor Nero’s violent reign and saw him as a tyrant. Later, Rufus was, like many philosophers, exiled from the city of Rome by the Emperor Vespasian. Rufus had a significant impact on the development of Stoicism: He taught Epictetus, who went on to teach very similar practices, and whose work was later studied by other famous Stoics like Marcus Aurelius. Rufus’s teachings are preserved in texts called Lectures, written by two of his students. Holiday quotes Rufus in daily devotionals about the need for philosophy to be embodied in habits, valuing giving over receiving, and using philosophy to inform decisions and wield power responsibly.