Podcast Summary: The Daily Stoic

Episode: It Picks You Up. It Puts You Down. A Hundred Times A Day. | Cultivate Indifference
Host: Ryan Holiday
Date: February 26, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the Stoic idea of "cultivating indifference"—learning not to be ruled by passion or by the endless cycle of hoping for the good and fearing the bad. Drawing from the teachings of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and other Stoic thinkers, Ryan Holiday explores how indifference, in the Stoic sense, is not nihilism or apathy but a powerful resilience that steadies us through life’s ups and downs. The episode encourages listeners to reflect on what is truly within our control, to endure what is not, and to approach fortune and adversity with an even keel.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Turmoil of Passions

• Main idea: Our emotional reactions—highs and lows—can exhaust and consume us if we allow ourselves to be ruled by them.
• Quote:

  "It picks you up, it puts you down a hundred times a day. It's exhausting, isn't it? ... For what? For the relief of something bad not happening." (A, 00:18)

• Ryan references the Stoic view of passion (“the passions”) as dangerous and destabilizing, likening them to waves that knock us down again and again.

2. The Stoic Model: The Rock in the Sea

• Marcus Aurelius analogy:

  "Try to be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it." (A, 01:21)

• The Stoic does not stop feeling but refuses to be “owned by every passing wave.”

3. Cultivating Indifference

• Definition: Not feeling nothing, but being “less pulled, less shaken, less owned by every passing wave.”
  • Instead of chasing after good things or fleeing bad things, the Stoic cultivates endurance for both.
• Seneca’s perspective:

  "There are things in life which are advantageous and disadvantageous. Both are beyond our control." (A, 06:28, paraphrased from Seneca, Moral Letters 92)

4. The Stoic View of 'Indifferents'

• Three categories: Good (virtues), bad (vices), and indifferents (everything else: wealth, health, pleasure, pain).
  • These “indifferents” are desirable or undesirable, but neither fundamentally good nor bad.
  • “Preferred indifferents”: If you had to choose, you might pick wealth over poverty, health over sickness—yet you are not defined by the outcome.
• Debate within Stoicism:

  "The early Stoics were much closer to the Cynics... everything is either good or bad, virtue or vice. But the later, more practical Stoics, say there’s stuff in between." (A, 07:45)

5. Application to Daily Life

• Not about loving misfortune or wishing for adversity, but preparing for anything.
• Being "philosophical" (even-keeled, chill) versus craving or fearing outcomes.
• Quote:

  "A wise man wants stuff, but doesn’t need it... We play the hand we're dealt. If you asked us what cards we want, sure, we have preferences. But we make do." (A, 09:01)

6. Strength in Indifference

• Resilience:

  "Indifference is not nihilism. It's resiliency—the ability to be good with whatever happens." (A, 08:47)

• Even if you would prefer different circumstances, you adapt and endure.
• Quote:

  "Seneca says you’d rather see, but if you lost your eye in battle, it wouldn’t be the end of it for you. You’d adjust, you’d make do. That’s the power of Stoicism." (A, 09:28)

7. Reflection and Practice

• Listeners are encouraged to journal about cultivating endurance and strength in the face of things beyond their control:

  "Try to cultivate the strength of endurance. Think about that this week if you want to journal about it in your Daily Stoic Journal." (A, 09:59)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• "To paraphrase the Florence and the Machine song, is this what we're here for? To be passion's slaves? To be the plaything of emotions and impulses? It can't be." (A, 01:01)
• "Let others get picked up and put down a hundred times a day. Let the others get chewed up and spit out. Let us stand back a little... persisting and resisting, refusing to let our emotions drag us out to sea." (A, 01:35)
• "Of all the things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent." —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.56 (A, 06:03)
• "Would I have loved for parts of my childhood to be different? Would I have loved to be a little bit taller?... Yeah, sure, if I had a choice. But I didn't have a choice. So I adjust and I make do." (A, 08:33)
• "We’ll endure, we’ll survive, we’ll make the best of everything. In that, we’re indifferent, but we’re actually quite strong and confident because of that indifference." (A, 09:40)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Emotional Turmoil & The Stoic Response: 00:00 – 02:00
• On Passion and Indifference: 02:00 – 03:00
• Analogies & Citations from Marcus Aurelius: 01:21, 06:03
• Preferred Indifferents & Stoic Debate: 07:45 – 08:45
• Practical Application & Reflection: 08:33 – 10:00

Final Reflection

Ryan Holiday closes by encouraging listeners to journal and practice the resilience found in Stoic indifference. The lesson: Don’t try to force life into being only pleasurable or free of adversity. Instead, steady yourself. Respond—not react—to what life brings. Through this practice, you achieve not only endurance, but true inner confidence.

For Further Study

• Daily Stoic Journal prompts: Focus on cultivating endurance and reflecting on what is (and isn’t) within your control.
• Suggested Reading: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.56; Seneca, Moral Letters 92; Ryan Holiday, Lives of the Stoics.