Who Can Teach Us More? | Stick With Just The Facts - The Daily Stoic

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[00:00]
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Welcome to the daily Stoic podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice and wisdom into the real world. Who can teach us more? He had to rule over millions of people. He had to oversee millions of square miles. He had to command an army. He dealt with critics and sycophants. There were the downsides of fame, the burden of wealth. Marcus Aurelius had problems, big problems, but they were mostly problems of power. They were the problems of privilege. Epictetus also had problems. He had a terrible boss. He was exploited, he was exiled, he was kicked around, he was disabled, he was robbed. Epictetus problems were the problems of powerlessness. He had real life problems. Epictetus can perhaps speak to us more then because he didn't live in a palace. He wasn't born into privilege or money. He fought misfortune and adversity on other armies. He triumphed despite the cruelness of fate. And therefore his lessons are far more relatable, even more urgent than Marcus Aurelius. Real freedom in life, real power, Epictetus tells us, does not come from money or a throne, comes from within. It's about mastering yourself. It's about resilience and determination, and also about acceptance and self knowledge. We don't control the role we were assigned by circumstance, but we do control how we play that role. Both Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus said this. But Epictetus made the most of a far more difficult as well as more realistic, realistic fate. And that's why his teachings have survived and endured. That's why Stockdale drew on him in prison. And ordinary people have turned to him in the ordinary moments of frustration and stress in life. It's also why this month, our Daily Stoic, we're doing a deep dive into Epictetus, his life, his philosophy, his practical lessons for living with more resilience and less anxiety about the things we don't control in life. It would be wonderful if Epictetus was as popular as Marx, Aurelius, but he simply is not. And he's intimidating to people and therefore a little bit more obscure. Well, we wanted to solve that. And that's what we're doing with our how to Read Epictetus, a daily Stoic digital guide. We're diving all into it, and we're gonna be doing a live Q and A call about it with thousands of other Stoics all over the world. I'd love to see you in there on August 27th, but that means you gotta sign up by the 26th. You can get a cop of discourses for 50% off. As I said, his work changed my life. I think it'll change your life. I can't wait to see you in there. Just go to dailystoic.com epictetus to find out more and we'll get into it. Talk soon. Recording this on a Sunday. Just spent a nice lovely day at home, kind of redecorating the house. Just, you know, school's gonna start soon. We wanna get the space like less stressful, just set up better. And so the first place we checked was Wayfair. Because on Wayfair you'll find the stuff you need, stuff that stands up to real life. They've got furniture and decor, all of it built to last. And when you shop with Wayfair Verified, you get pieces that are hand vetted by product specialists. Using a 10 point quality inspection, they test the materials, the functionality, the feature, how long it takes to build. One of the good things about Wayfair is the reviews. They've got more than 20 million verified five star reviews from real shoppers. You get to see real customer photos and feedback before you buy, right? Sometimes it looks good in the photo, but you know, if you've experienced this, like the hotel lobby looks good, but you want to see the actual room from an actual human being. Well, Wayfair lets you see that with the stuff you're buying for your house. And Wayfair Rewards members get 5% back every day, helping you get more value from your Wayfair purchases. Join Wayfair Rewards today to get 5% back on every purchase and start saving on your next home upgrade. Head over to Wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's Wayfair W A Y-F-A-I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home. Wayfair Every Style, every Home. Every time you look at your phone, there's another chaotic headline. You almost feel like you have to be glued to your screen to keep up. But saving for your future doesn't have to be this hard because Wealthfront helps you tune out the noise and earn more with a high yield cash account and sophisticated, easy to use investing products. Their cash account lets you earn up to a 4.3% variable APY with fee, free checking features and free instant withdrawals to eligible accounts. When you're ready to invest. Transferring cash into your Wealthfront investment account takes just minutes. For a limited time, you can unlock up to a 4.3% variable APY on top of the 3.3% base APY from program banks. You'll get a listener exclusive 0.75% boost for three months months on up to $150,000 as a new cash account client and then you get an additional 0.25% APY increase when you direct deposit $1,000 a month and maintain a funded investing account. Join the million plus people already building long term wealth with confidence. Start earning up to 4.3% variable APY today by heading over to wealthfront.com stoic terms and conditions apply. This has been a paid testimonial from a current Wealthfront client which creates a conflict. Experiences will vary. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank and the base APY is as of January 30, 2026 and subject to change. For more information, please see the episode Description. Stick with just the facts. This is an entry from the Daily Stoic 366 Meditations on Perseverance, Wisdom and the Art of Living. You can grab Premium Leather edition. You grab signed editions@store.dailystoic.com Our quote today is from Marcus Aurelius 8:49 don't tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report. It has been reported to you that someone is speaking badly about you. This is the report. The report wasn't that you've been harmed. I see that my son is sick, but not that his life is at risk. So always stay within your first impressions. Don't add to them in your head. And this way nothing can happen to you. At first, this can seem like kind of the opposite of everything you've ever been taught. Don't we cultivate our minds and our critical thinking skills precisely so that we don't accept things at face value? Yeah, most of the time. But sometimes this approach can be counterproductive. What a philosopher also has the ability to do, as Nietzsche put it, is to stop courageously at the surface and to see things in plain, objective form. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, the Stoics are superficial, he said, out of profundity today, while other people are getting carried away. That's what you're going to practice. A kind of straightforward pragmatism, seeing things as their initial impressions make them. I wrote this back in 2015, before I had kids, and there's something about having kids that really forced me to practice this better. Right? Especially where he says, and I don't think it's a coincidence Marx is talking about this, right? Because what you're constantly inclined to do as a parent is extrapolate. What does this mean? What if they Keep doing this. What's going to happen next? Right? And so he's saying, you know, my son is sick, but not that his life is at risk. And you can imagine for Marcus Ruiz, who buries multiple children, what an anxious, worried mess this would have made him at the first sign of a cough or. Or a sniffle or a fever. Is this it? Is this the big one? Right? The mind can run crazy because we can't just stick with things as they are. Part of us is extrapolating what they mean, how we're going to respond to this, what it's going to cost us, what the worst case scenario is. Psychologists call this catastrophizing. It's this tendency to not stick with things as they are. You know, your kid falls, right? They've fallen, and you currently don't know anything else, but you're like, oh, my God, they're just gonna be so hurt. They're gonna be upset, they're gonna cry, and then I'm gonna have to comfort them, and then people are gonna judge me, and then I gotta go, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? Or your kid smacks their brother and you go, if I don't nip this in the butt, if I don't teach them that this is wrong, they're gonna think it's okay to hit him, and then they're gonna do this, and then they're gonna do this, and then they're gonna do this, and then they're gonna end up living under a bridge somewhere and I'm gonna be a failure as a parent. Everyone's gonna judge, right? It's this. This running part of our mind. This is. This is the part of the mind that Senec said we suffer more in imagination than in reality. That's not to say that things are never serious, right? That the sickness never results in serious sickness, that slander doesn't have consequences, and that you might not have to speak up or speak out about things. Of course, it's just saying that that will reveal itself in due time. Part of our proactiveness, our on top of it ness, is actually at a disadvantage because it's jumping to conclusions, right? The additional information will reveal itself. Let's pause. Marcus Aurelius tells us in another passage that we always have the ability to have no opinion. But maybe we could just say, like that famous Zen expression about wait and see. Let's just wait and see a sec, right? Let's wait and see a sec. Let's stick with the facts for now. Stick with what we know for now. Leave things as they are. Stay courageously at the surface. Don't delve beneath just yet. Don't run it through your machine that spits out the most likely scenario just yet. Stay superficial, out of profundity. Stay disciplined here. Get your mind in check, get your assumptions in check. Don't let things race just yet. Calm down, think about it, look at it, wait and see. Let it develop, and then go from there. And this isn't something I'm great at as a parent. It's something I'm struggling with, that I'm continuing to look at, that I'm continuing to work on, as must you. But I certainly catch myself when I'm not doing it. And I'm well aware of the consequences that it causes me. So that's today's message, and I'll talk to you all again soon.
[11:06]
B
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

Summary5 min read

The Daily Stoic Podcast — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Who Can Teach Us More? | Stick With Just The Facts
Date: August 10, 2026
Host: Ryan Holiday

Overview:

In this episode, Ryan Holiday explores whose Stoic teachings—those of Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus—are ultimately more instructive for us today. Holiday argues that the practicality and relatability of Epictetus, who endured real hardship and powerlessness, provide particularly urgent lessons for resilience, acceptance, and how to live well amid adversity. The episode transitions to a meditation inspired by Marcus Aurelius on the discipline of “sticking with the facts,” cautioning against runaway imagination and catastrophizing—an especially relevant lesson for parents and anyone prone to anxious thinking.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Can Teach Us More? Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus?

(00:00 - 04:00)

Marcus Aurelius:
- Faced immense pressures—ruling millions, commanding armies, dealing with “problems of power and privilege.”
- “Marcus Aurelius had problems, big problems, but they were mostly problems of power.” [Ryan Holiday, 00:19]
Epictetus:
- Endured slavery, poverty, abuse, exile—“problems of powerlessness, real life problems.”
- His lessons “are far more relatable, even more urgent than Marcus Aurelius.” [Ryan Holiday, 00:43]
- Real power and freedom, according to Epictetus, “does not come from money or a throne. It comes from within. It's about mastering yourself.” [Ryan Holiday, 00:59]
- Epictetus teaches resilience, determination, acceptance, and self-knowledge.
- The appeal: “We don't control the role we were assigned by circumstance, but we do control how we play that role.” [Ryan Holiday, 01:16]
Why Epictetus Endures:
- His down-to-earth advice helps ordinary people in moments of “frustration and stress.”
- Cited as an inspiration for those facing incredible adversity (e.g., Admiral James Stockdale in captivity).
Initiative:
- The podcast is launching a deep dive into Epictetus—his life, his philosophy, and practical lessons.
- “It would be wonderful if Epictetus was as popular as Marcus Aurelius, but he simply is not. And he's intimidating to people and therefore a little bit more obscure. Well, we wanted to solve that.” [Ryan Holiday, 02:20]

2. Stick With Just The Facts — A Meditation on Catastrophizing

(06:48 - 11:06)

Daily Stoic Meditation:
- Quote from Marcus Aurelius:
  
  “Don’t tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report. It has been reported to you that someone is speaking badly about you. This is the report. The report wasn’t that you’ve been harmed. I see that my son is sick, but not that his life is at risk. So always stay within your first impressions. Don’t add to them in your head. And this way nothing can happen to you.” [Marcus Aurelius, quoted by Ryan Holiday, 07:02]
Applying the Teaching:
- The Stoic challenge: Resist adding interpretations or exaggerating beyond what’s immediately true.
- “At first, this can seem like kind of the opposite of everything you’ve ever been taught. Don’t we cultivate our minds and our critical thinking skills precisely so that we don’t accept things at face value?...But sometimes this approach can be counterproductive.” [Ryan Holiday, 07:30]
- Draws on Nietzsche’s view: “What a philosopher also has the ability to do...is to stop courageously at the surface and to see things in plain, objective form.”
Example as a Parent:
- “What you’re constantly inclined to do as a parent is extrapolate…Is this it? Is this the big one? The mind can run crazy because we can’t just stick with things as they are.” [Ryan Holiday, 08:37]
- The phenomenon is called “catastrophizing”—imagining the worst possible outcomes based on limited information.
- Reflects on Seneca: “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
Balanced Perspective:
- Holiday underscores this is not about minimizing problems, but about waiting for facts before reacting.
- “Of course, it's just saying that that will reveal itself in due time. Part of our proactiveness, our on-top-of-it-ness, is actually at a disadvantage because it's jumping to conclusions.” [Ryan Holiday, 09:33]
Practical Advice:
- “Maybe we could just say, like that famous Zen expression about wait and see. Let’s just wait and see a sec, right? Let’s wait and see a sec. Let’s stick with the facts for now.” [Ryan Holiday, 10:07]
- Emphasizes the discipline of “no opinion” as Marcus Aurelius urges: hold off on conclusions, stay with the facts, don’t rush into anxiety or judgment.
Personal Reflection:
- Holiday admits he struggles with this practice as a parent but recognizes its value.
- “I'm well aware of the consequences that it causes me.” [Ryan Holiday, 10:50]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On freedom and power:
“Real freedom in life, real power, Epictetus tells us, does not come from money or a throne. Comes from within. It's about mastering yourself. It's about resilience and determination, and also about acceptance and self-knowledge.”
— Ryan Holiday (00:59)
On the universality of Epictetus:
“Epictetus can perhaps speak to us more then because he didn't live in a palace. He wasn't born into privilege or money. He fought misfortune and adversity on other armies. He triumphed despite the cruelness of fate.”
— Ryan Holiday (00:37)
Marcus Aurelius on facts and perceptions:
“Don’t tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report... So always stay within your first impressions. Don’t add to them in your head. And this way nothing can happen to you.”
— Marcus Aurelius, quoted by Ryan Holiday (07:02)
On catastrophizing:
“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
— Seneca, referenced by Ryan Holiday (09:05)
Practical mantra:
“Let’s just wait and see a sec, right? Let’s stick with the facts for now. Stay courageously at the surface.”
— Ryan Holiday (10:07)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:00-04:00 — Contrasting lives and lessons: Marcus Aurelius’ privilege vs. Epictetus’ adversity
06:48-11:06 — Reflection on “sticking with just the facts,” using Stoic wisdom to combat catastrophizing, especially in parenting
07:02 — Marcus Aurelius’ quote introduced
10:07 — Practical advice to “wait and see,” stay present with what is known

Takeaways

Epictetus’ teachings on resilience and acceptance resonate deeply with anyone facing real, everyday struggles.
The discipline of “sticking with just the facts” is an antidote for anxiety and catastrophizing, particularly relevant to parenting and modern life.
Both historical and modern Stoic voices urge us to step back, resist premature reactions, and handle what is, not what might be.

For more information about the Epictetus deep dive or to join the live Q&A, visit dailystoic.com/epictetus.

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Transcript2 lines

[00:00]
A
Welcome to the daily Stoic podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice and wisdom into the real world. Who can teach us more? He had to rule over millions of people. He had to oversee millions of square miles. He had to command an army. He dealt with critics and sycophants. There were the downsides of fame, the burden of wealth. Marcus Aurelius had problems, big problems, but they were mostly problems of power. They were the problems of privilege. Epictetus also had problems. He had a terrible boss. He was exploited, he was exiled, he was kicked around, he was disabled, he was robbed. Epictetus problems were the problems of powerlessness. He had real life problems. Epictetus can perhaps speak to us more then because he didn't live in a palace. He wasn't born into privilege or money. He fought misfortune and adversity on other armies. He triumphed despite the cruelness of fate. And therefore his lessons are far more relatable, even more urgent than Marcus Aurelius. Real freedom in life, real power, Epictetus tells us, does not come from money or a throne, comes from within. It's about mastering yourself. It's about resilience and determination, and also about acceptance and self knowledge. We don't control the role we were assigned by circumstance, but we do control how we play that role. Both Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus said this. But Epictetus made the most of a far more difficult as well as more realistic, realistic fate. And that's why his teachings have survived and endured. That's why Stockdale drew on him in prison. And ordinary people have turned to him in the ordinary moments of frustration and stress in life. It's also why this month, our Daily Stoic, we're doing a deep dive into Epictetus, his life, his philosophy, his practical lessons for living with more resilience and less anxiety about the things we don't control in life. It would be wonderful if Epictetus was as popular as Marx, Aurelius, but he simply is not. And he's intimidating to people and therefore a little bit more obscure. Well, we wanted to solve that. And that's what we're doing with our how to Read Epictetus, a daily Stoic digital guide. We're diving all into it, and we're gonna be doing a live Q and A call about it with thousands of other Stoics all over the world. I'd love to see you in there on August 27th, but that means you gotta sign up by the 26th. You can get a cop of discourses for 50% off. As I said, his work changed my life. I think it'll change your life. I can't wait to see you in there. Just go to dailystoic.com epictetus to find out more and we'll get into it. Talk soon. Recording this on a Sunday. Just spent a nice lovely day at home, kind of redecorating the house. Just, you know, school's gonna start soon. We wanna get the space like less stressful, just set up better. And so the first place we checked was Wayfair. Because on Wayfair you'll find the stuff you need, stuff that stands up to real life. They've got furniture and decor, all of it built to last. And when you shop with Wayfair Verified, you get pieces that are hand vetted by product specialists. Using a 10 point quality inspection, they test the materials, the functionality, the feature, how long it takes to build. One of the good things about Wayfair is the reviews. They've got more than 20 million verified five star reviews from real shoppers. You get to see real customer photos and feedback before you buy, right? Sometimes it looks good in the photo, but you know, if you've experienced this, like the hotel lobby looks good, but you want to see the actual room from an actual human being. Well, Wayfair lets you see that with the stuff you're buying for your house. And Wayfair Rewards members get 5% back every day, helping you get more value from your Wayfair purchases. Join Wayfair Rewards today to get 5% back on every purchase and start saving on your next home upgrade. Head over to Wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's Wayfair W A Y-F-A-I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home. Wayfair Every Style, every Home. Every time you look at your phone, there's another chaotic headline. You almost feel like you have to be glued to your screen to keep up. But saving for your future doesn't have to be this hard because Wealthfront helps you tune out the noise and earn more with a high yield cash account and sophisticated, easy to use investing products. Their cash account lets you earn up to a 4.3% variable APY with fee, free checking features and free instant withdrawals to eligible accounts. When you're ready to invest. Transferring cash into your Wealthfront investment account takes just minutes. For a limited time, you can unlock up to a 4.3% variable APY on top of the 3.3% base APY from program banks. You'll get a listener exclusive 0.75% boost for three months months on up to $150,000 as a new cash account client and then you get an additional 0.25% APY increase when you direct deposit $1,000 a month and maintain a funded investing account. Join the million plus people already building long term wealth with confidence. Start earning up to 4.3% variable APY today by heading over to wealthfront.com stoic terms and conditions apply. This has been a paid testimonial from a current Wealthfront client which creates a conflict. Experiences will vary. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank and the base APY is as of January 30, 2026 and subject to change. For more information, please see the episode Description. Stick with just the facts. This is an entry from the Daily Stoic 366 Meditations on Perseverance, Wisdom and the Art of Living. You can grab Premium Leather edition. You grab signed editions@store.dailystoic.com Our quote today is from Marcus Aurelius 8:49 don't tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report. It has been reported to you that someone is speaking badly about you. This is the report. The report wasn't that you've been harmed. I see that my son is sick, but not that his life is at risk. So always stay within your first impressions. Don't add to them in your head. And this way nothing can happen to you. At first, this can seem like kind of the opposite of everything you've ever been taught. Don't we cultivate our minds and our critical thinking skills precisely so that we don't accept things at face value? Yeah, most of the time. But sometimes this approach can be counterproductive. What a philosopher also has the ability to do, as Nietzsche put it, is to stop courageously at the surface and to see things in plain, objective form. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, the Stoics are superficial, he said, out of profundity today, while other people are getting carried away. That's what you're going to practice. A kind of straightforward pragmatism, seeing things as their initial impressions make them. I wrote this back in 2015, before I had kids, and there's something about having kids that really forced me to practice this better. Right? Especially where he says, and I don't think it's a coincidence Marx is talking about this, right? Because what you're constantly inclined to do as a parent is extrapolate. What does this mean? What if they Keep doing this. What's going to happen next? Right? And so he's saying, you know, my son is sick, but not that his life is at risk. And you can imagine for Marcus Ruiz, who buries multiple children, what an anxious, worried mess this would have made him at the first sign of a cough or. Or a sniffle or a fever. Is this it? Is this the big one? Right? The mind can run crazy because we can't just stick with things as they are. Part of us is extrapolating what they mean, how we're going to respond to this, what it's going to cost us, what the worst case scenario is. Psychologists call this catastrophizing. It's this tendency to not stick with things as they are. You know, your kid falls, right? They've fallen, and you currently don't know anything else, but you're like, oh, my God, they're just gonna be so hurt. They're gonna be upset, they're gonna cry, and then I'm gonna have to comfort them, and then people are gonna judge me, and then I gotta go, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? Or your kid smacks their brother and you go, if I don't nip this in the butt, if I don't teach them that this is wrong, they're gonna think it's okay to hit him, and then they're gonna do this, and then they're gonna do this, and then they're gonna do this, and then they're gonna end up living under a bridge somewhere and I'm gonna be a failure as a parent. Everyone's gonna judge, right? It's this. This running part of our mind. This is. This is the part of the mind that Senec said we suffer more in imagination than in reality. That's not to say that things are never serious, right? That the sickness never results in serious sickness, that slander doesn't have consequences, and that you might not have to speak up or speak out about things. Of course, it's just saying that that will reveal itself in due time. Part of our proactiveness, our on top of it ness, is actually at a disadvantage because it's jumping to conclusions, right? The additional information will reveal itself. Let's pause. Marcus Aurelius tells us in another passage that we always have the ability to have no opinion. But maybe we could just say, like that famous Zen expression about wait and see. Let's just wait and see a sec, right? Let's wait and see a sec. Let's stick with the facts for now. Stick with what we know for now. Leave things as they are. Stay courageously at the surface. Don't delve beneath just yet. Don't run it through your machine that spits out the most likely scenario just yet. Stay superficial, out of profundity. Stay disciplined here. Get your mind in check, get your assumptions in check. Don't let things race just yet. Calm down, think about it, look at it, wait and see. Let it develop, and then go from there. And this isn't something I'm great at as a parent. It's something I'm struggling with, that I'm continuing to look at, that I'm continuing to work on, as must you. But I certainly catch myself when I'm not doing it. And I'm well aware of the consequences that it causes me. So that's today's message, and I'll talk to you all again soon.
[11:06]
B
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.