The Daily Stoic

his second volume in the series about Gandhi's years in India is also amazing I'm talking about Ramashandran Guha he goes by Ram he is a fantastic writer these are two of the best biographies I've read in a very long time

Sam's book, Rebel Yell about Stonewall Jackson is really good.

I begin it and end it with is this the power we want, we get the power we deserve

we don't want a bigger piece of the pie we want a different pie

one of the books would be um toviancine's movement comics do you know the moments for like this little like cartoon character family and I read those books when I think my youngest was like three two or three and I read these books and I was like this is where I want to live like this is what I don't want this is what I want my house to look like like there's movement pop up there's movement mama and there's no so um like I like the game and I like the we even have gang like lingo like we have a lexicon on our house I like I always I love that families do you ever think about like in your family or like where you grew up like did you have weird words that no one else would understand or like weird phrases and stuff like that like we have something on our house that I just love and I'm like this is it this is like the best ticket you know this is good this is good no one has this good to do right yeah it's not the one book it has it better than us yeah I love that part of the book

This book has a weird title, it's a word you wouldn't recognize, it's a word you don't immediately know how to pronounce. And it translates in a kind of strange context but basically it means a defensive weapon, it means at hand.

I'm talking about epictetus's in Curidian, a handbook, which was seen as a defensive weapon against adversity and difficulty in the blows of fate.

Epictetus born a slave, he enters incredible adversity and difficulty, he's tortured, he walks with a limp his whole life, he serves in the corrupt, decadent court of Nero and then is eventually exiled.

But from all this difficulty in adversity, epictetus cultivates a life of resilience and strength, and fortitude and honor.

This is a new translation by Robin Waterfield, it's got all this stuff in here. If you haven't read epictetus, if you're doing yourself into service, you're not as strong or as well armed as you could be, you must read this book.

I've been talking about this book recently but have you read Walter Lord's book about the sinking of the Titanic A Night to Remember

I don't think I've read that one though it's it's it's incredible I'll send it to you

I love Danny Myers book which I carried at the paint of porch called Setting the Table.

i love to quote what i think is the greatest book of leadership of the 20th century which is the godfather by mario prusado and uh in the book don cor leone says don't make the mistake of hating your enemies it clouds your judgment and that is so true again this isn't about whether it's ethically morally right or wrong to lose your temper i happen to believe it is ethically and morally wrong in the in the failure to treat others as we would be treated ourselves it's a failure but here i'm making the case pragmatically why it's a very good idea not to lose your temper for the host of reasons we've just explored

i cannot commend it more highly to people what what strikes you most about the letter i'm a huge arthur ash fan but i haven't i haven't read this first that he would write it in such a kind of practical way and ash was a practical kind of thinker he wasn't a hugely emotional person and the letter is full of very specific admonitions to camera about about dating about um what would happen to her growing up as an african-american about her mother and her it's a very moving in that it's very practical it's very moving in that it also hits some grace notes that are that will pluck at your heartstrings as any such letter will do and then thirdly simply knowing it's from arthur ash and as you alluded to what he uh overcame in his life kind of the male version of althea gibson the great first african-american who went through all this ash sailed in her wake truly but was always very cognizant of it and um he manages to capture all this in just a lovely letter he has a great expression that he tries to play physically loose but mentally tight which i think sort of is a great way to to do any sort of high performance elite activity