Share
The Daily Stoic
Just Shrug It Off
Ep. 303
•
In 1961, Walker Percy published his great Stoic-inspired novel The Moviegoer. Like all classics, the book's success was by no means guaranteed. In fact, it became the subject of one of the strangest controversies in publishing history. You see, even though the novel was brilliant, its publisher, Alfred Knopf, was no fan. He even fired the editor who acquired it and had been so instrumental in shaping it into the masterpiece it became.
When it came time to nominate one of his titles for the National Book Awards that year, Knopf submitted The Château by William Maxwell, a now mostly forgotten book. It was only a bit of random luck for Percy that followed—the husband of a woman on the committee happened to have read a review of Percy’s book in the paper, read the book, loved it, gave it to his wife, who gave it to the other committee members a few days before the final decision needed to be made. Out of nowhere, Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer—the first novel of a doctor, not a trained writer—ended up winning the National Book Award.
Again, you’d think that Knopf would have been ecstatic. One of his writers won book of the year! But he wasn’t. Even as the book started selling like crazy. He was too jealous. He thought it reflected badly on his judgement that he missed this, that he was obviously wrong. So he began to spread the rumor that the prize had somehow been fixed that year—that the husband (someone Knopf didn’t like) had forced his wife to vote for the book just to show him up. It was an ugly mess for everyone involved.
Everyone, that is, except Walker Percy. Because, like a true Stoic, he just laughed at the whole thing. He accepted the award with gratitude, marvelling at all the good and bad fortune that had occurred beyond his control with this book. And then—as we should do today, whether we’re the recipient of a huge honor or an utterly unfair controversy—he got back to work on his next project.
More episodes
View all episodes
This Is How You Should Think About It | 3 Stoic Exercises to Stop Taking Life for Granted
15:09|We are lucky to get to do these things. Let’s think and act like it.🪙 We have a collection of items in the Daily Stoic store to help you in your own memento mori practice, check them out here: https://store.dailystoic.com/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailYour Obligation Remains The Same | Why Did You Choose Stoicism?
14:19|Our job today and tomorrow is the same as it’s always been—to be good, to be wise, to stand up for what’s right, to resist what is wrong and evil. Nothing changes that.🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
How To Stay Calm When The World Feels Out Of Control
16:52|Political dysfunction and uncertainty are nothing new. The Stoics lived through their own times of chaos, cruelty, and disorder. But they understood something about surviving times like these that we would do well to remember today.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_itTQaiu4G0🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailThis is Your Chief Task
02:40|The act of casting a ballot is in your control. You control whether or not you engage in the democratic process. And the Stoics are explicit on this point: the philosopher, they say, is obligated to contribute to the polis, and to participate in politics. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
BONUS | 3 Shows in 72 Hours
21:35|In this bonus episode, follow Ryan behind the scenes as the Daily Stoic Live Tour takes him through Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit.🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9Your Job is This Simple | Accepting What Is
08:23|When misinformation and extremism and utter nonsense pervades…When cruelty and meanness become acceptable…When the system is falling apart and the center looks like it may not hold…Your job is simple. 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
Stoicism, Democracy, and Personal Responsibility | Stacey Abrams
44:48|You can't control everything that happens in politics, but you can control what you do with the power you have. In today’s episode, political leader, voting rights activist, and bestselling author Stacey Abrams joins Ryan to talk about the importance of accountability, the difference between outrage and action, why good leadership requires more than good intentions, and what Stoicism teaches us about our responsibility to make things better. Stacey Abrams is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, voting rights advocate, and political leader. She served 11 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, including seven as Democratic Leader, and made history in 2018 as the first Black woman to become a major-party nominee for governor in the United States. Following the election, she founded Fair Fight Action to protect voting rights and expand access to the ballot box.— Grab signed copies of Stacey’s books: Stacey’s Extraordinary Words | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/staceys-extraordinary-words?_pos=1&_sid=56a0eb53a&_ss=rWhile Justice Sleeps: A Thriller | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/while-justice-sleeps-a-thriller-avery-keene?_pos=2&_sid=56a0eb53a&_ss=rCoded Justice: A Thriller | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/coded-justice-a-thriller-avery-keene?_pos=3&_sid=56a0eb53a&_ss=rFollow Stacey on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/staceyabrams/?hl=enStacey’s podcast Assembly Required | https://www.youtube.com/@AssemblyRequiredPodcastGet Involved at 10StepsCampaign.Org | https://10stepscampaign.org/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
43 Stoic Rules That Will Change How You Live
34:16|Philosophy isn't supposed to be an intellectual exercise reserved for scholars. It's supposed to help you make better decisions, face difficulties, and figure out how to live. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vultJhU9XLU🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailIf We Were Dying, It Would Be Easier | What Grief Teaches Us About Being Alive
18:41|If only we could, as Marcus Aurelius said, let everything we do and say be that of a dying person, then we would get so much more right.Kate Bowler is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and professor of religious history at Duke University. She is the host of the podcast Everything Happens, where she has honest conversations about grief, joy, faith, love, and the realities of being human.Grab signed copies of Kate’s books Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, No Cure For Being Human (And Other Truths I Needed To Hear), and her latest book Joyful, Anyway at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/Follow Kate Bowler: Instagram, YouTube🪙 We have a collection of items in the Daily Stoic store to help you in your own memento mori practice, check them out here: https://store.dailystoic.com/🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/Boston, Massachusetts - November 16 Nashville, Tennessee - November 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 8Washington D.C. - December 9 🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail--Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ironwall.com/DAILYSTOIC and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are.