I love to read.

As a kid, my idea of a good time was being in the hammock in the backyard of my house in Dallas, Texas, reading a book. My parents supported this, letting me read anything I wanted from their bookshelves (I read The Drifters at much too young an age). I loved buying books, and today, I have an infinite number of unread books on my Kindle. I vary my reading diet and log it all in Goodreads (ignore the stars).

One of my “book heroes” is Ryan Holiday. We met at a dinner at SXSW in 2007 or 2008, and I’ve been a fanboy ever since. I’ve read all his books, happily get his monthly reading newsletter (which motivates me to buy a book or two he recommends each month), and am inspired by his Painted Porch Bookshop.

His op-ed in the New York Times on April 19, 2025, titled The Naval Academy Canceled My Lecture on Wisdom stopped me in my tracks. Nothing much is surprising me daily anymore (per my long-time philosophy about my business life, that now applies to a much broader range of things, that I wrote about in Something New Is Fucked Up In My World Every Day.)

The first book I remember reading about censorship was Fahrenheit 451. I remember being repulsed by the idea that a government would ban (and burn) books. I was young (probably less than ten) and followed it quickly with 1984. Yeah, I read a lot of dystopian sci-fi as a kid.

Thoughtcrimes, Newspeak, and Doublespeak were grotesque ideas to me. I hated the idea of the Memory Hole. I grew up feeling like it was important to read everything, even if I didn’t like it or disagreed with it.

I still try to do that in today’s world, but I limit it to reading. I don’t apply the same concept to watching videos or TV. I don’t learn verbally and have trouble synthesizing information when visually stimulated. While my retention from listening is fine, I don’t effectively incorporate ideas unless I read or write something about them. I’ve tried to address this by taking notes when listening to a video or a lecture, but that doesn’t work for me, so I’d rather just read the transcript.

Ryan described a story about James Stockdale, which he would have discussed in his canceled Naval Academy talk on Wisdom. The story aligns exceptionally well with the meta-level of his talk’s cancellation and includes a great ending.

“Compromises pile up when you’re in a pressure situation in the hands of a skilled extortionist,” Mr. Stockdale reminded us. I felt I could not, in good conscience, lecture these future leaders and warriors on the virtue of courage and doing the right thing, as I did in 2023 and 2024, and fold when asked not to mention such an egregious and fundamentally anti-wisdom course of action.

From Ryan Holiday’s amazing and wonderful book The Daily Stoic.

Thanks Adam for the email exchange and for sending this to me today.

Ryan Holiday’s newest book, Stillness Is The Key, came out at the beginning of October. I ended up with two copies and thought I’d read it over the weekend after they showed up at my house. The weekend slipped by and I didn’t pick it up until mid-day on Thanksgiving.

It was pouring rain in San Diego all day so it was a perfect laying on the couch reading afternoon. I just finished and, once again, Ryan delivered with this book.

Ryan divided the book into three sections: Mind, Spirit, and Body. He has a thorough exploration, broken up into about a dozen chapters, for each category. As is his style, there are many detailed and powerful examples.

He leads with Seneca, a friend of all Stoics and a frequent visitor in Ryan’s writing. He tells a short story around apatheia, or upekkha, or aslama, or hishtavut, or samatvam, or euthymia, or hesychia, or ataraxia, or aequanimitas – a word that finally comes closer to translation into English.

That word is stillness. In the intro to the book, Ryan says,

“To be steady while the world spins around you. To act without frenzy. To hear only what needs to be heard. To possess quietude—exterior and interior—on command.

Buddhism. Stoicism. Epicureanism. Christianity. Hinduism. It’s all but impossible to find a philosophical school or religion that does not venerate this inner peace—this stillness—as the highest good and as the key to elite performance and a happy life.

And when basically all of the widom of the ancient world agrees on something, only a fool would decline to listen.“

I thought the chapters in each section were extremely well-titled and are listed below. Like reading a poem, slow yourself down and, instead of skimming the next three paragraphs, read them aloud.

Mind: The domain of the mind, Become present, Limit your inputs, Empty the mind, Slow down think deeply, Start journaling, Cultivate silence, Seek wisdom, Find confidence avoid ego, Let go.

Spirit: The domain of the soul, Choose virtue, Heal the inner child, Beware desire, Enough, Bathe in beauty, Accept a higher power, Enter relationships, Conquer your anger, All is one.

Body: The domain of the body, Say no, Take a walk, Build a routine, Get rid of your stuff, Seek solitude, Be a human being, Go to sleep, Find a hobby, Beware escapism, Act bravely.

If even one chapter in each section strikes a chord with you, I encourage you to grab a copy of Stillness Is The Key.

Ryan – thanks for adding another phenomenal book to my bookshelf.

This book was a delight. I started reading it earlier this year, caught up quickly (I started in July), and then mostly read a page each day when I was in the bathroom in the morning. I let it unfold slowly, reading the daily quote and Ryan Holiday’s (and Stephen Hanselman’s) thoughts on the quote, and then rereading the quote.

I was near the end so I finished it off last night. I smiled when after I read the December 31 meditation.

Stoicism is fascinating to me. While I don’t categorize myself as anything and try to resist being put in boxes, I like to take elements of different philosophies, religions, approaches, and styles and weave them into the fabric of me. As I was reading The Daily Stoic I found many ideas that spoke to me.

I’ve known Ryan from a distance for a while. We ended up at a dinner together at either SXSW or CES a number of years together and I remember an interesting and engaged conversation. For a while, I subscribed to his monthly Reading List email but in a fit of unsubscribing from everything, I unsubscribed.

I just re-subscribed.

Several times a year, I send a book (or two) to all the CEOs in our portfolio. I sent this one out this fall. I’ve heard back from a few that they enjoyed it, and I’m hoping that most of the CEOs are at least dipping into it.

If you’ve heard any of the names Zeno of Citium, Chrysippus, Cato the Younger, Seneca, Epictetus, Hierocles, or Marcus Aurelius, then you’ve heard of at least one of the famous Stoic philosophers. If you’ve studied any of them, you are in for a treat with this book as it presents Stoicism in a unique and very accessible way.

For a taste of the kind of quotes Holiday and Hanselman riff off of in the book, take a look at the fun Brain Quotes pages for Marcus Aurelius and Seneca.

The book starts with a quote every day on January 1st. You’ve still got a few days to grab a copy from Amazon and start the year out with a daily dose of Stoicism.