Ryan Holiday's Response to Ivanka Trump

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Stoicism, I think like Marcus Aurelius's meditations is so informative on so many levels. I mean, here you have somebody who was literally an emperor and he's writing this journal in a tent in a battlefield. So, his perspective is amazing. And he once wrote that the soul becomes dyed the color of its thoughts.

[00:00:20]And I think about that all the time. the cost to me of living in a way that's inconsistent and not aligned with what feels right, what models the right thing for my children, what feels inherently true to me. It's too expensive.

[00:00:35]>> I mean, look, here's the thing. She's totally right. That's exactly what Marcus Re said. That's exactly what stoicism is about. She's just not living or acting in accordance with it in any way. If you did, you'd have an intervention with your dad whose life would be died with his horrible, negative, mean bullying thoughts all the time.

[00:00:55]>> Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?

[00:00:57]You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN. Don't talk to me that way. You're just a You're just a lightweight.

[00:01:04]>> Gavin Nuskum has admitted that he has learning disabilities. Elon Omar is garbage. She's garbage. Her friends are garbage. So, he's totally incoherent.

[00:01:15]And he goes, "Ah, thank thank you."

[00:01:20]>> I'll give you another great Mark Cerelius quote, Ivanka. He says, "Waste no more time talking about what a good person is like. Just [ __ ] be one."

[00:01:31]Look, this this is just obviously incredibly cringe. the sort of performative philosophy, the popularity of stoicism with people who have no idea that this is a philosophy built around an ethical core, which justice is the true north of the philosophy. I'll tell you what stoicism is not. Stoicism is not a way for you not to have to care about the consequences of the things that are happening around you. It's not a way to turn inward and turn away from other people, from what's happening in the world, from not having to care. It's not, oh, I'm just going to think nice thoughts so I can have a nice life. I'm not going to let critics or criticism penetrate because then I'd have to, you know, actually make some changes or take some accountability or or stare in the face the reality of what I have been complicit in, what I am responsible for.

[00:02:27]Ivanka Trump quoting Marcus Reelus. I mean, that's as eye rolly as you can get. The only similarity you have with the the Aurelius family is that you're a comedist and so are your shitty brothers. Look, nobody loves seeing people talk about Marxelius and stoicism more than me. This is what gets me out of bed in the morning. My life's work is getting people to pick up meditation. So that's awesome. I love to see it. Also, this is as cringe as it possibly gets cuz it's not real and it's totally missing the point. You know, Marcus Realis wasn't just saying these things for his health. He wasn't just quoting random bits of stoic wisdom. He was trying to live it, right? Trying to live it. Trying to put it into practice.

[00:03:08]That's the whole point of meditations.

[00:03:10]As I said, he's fighting to be the person that philosophy tried to make him. Not performatively, but in his private journal. These were reminders to himself to do better. And yes, sometimes they're about, you know, directing your thoughts properly. But most of the reminders in meditations are ethical reminders. Reminders to be a better person, to follow the stoic principles, to put them into practice, to be a better person than his job and his wealth would let him get away with being. You know, Markx is the most powerful person in the world. and he wrote obsessively about what that responsibility meant about justice about not letting power corrupt you. Now, stoicism is not a brand. It's a practice. And it demands honesty. It demands self-awareness. It demands accountability. It demands doing the right thing even when it costs you something. Even when it's painful, even when it would mean, I don't know, confronting your horrible family members. So, no, quoting Marcus Realist doesn't make you a stoic. It doesn't make you wise. You have to live and act with integrity. You have to be involved in public life in a way that is beyond reproach, in a way that contributes rather than extracts value from the government. Over the last couple years, we developed this deep dive into Marcus's meditations. We really struggled to come up with a title for it, but we just call it how to read meditations. a guide, a course, a challenge, a companion for understanding one of the most important works ever put down in any language in any era by any person. How do you take the insights from 2,000 years ago from one of the most impressive people to ever live and imply them to your daily life? And we'd love to have you join us. We're we're we're digging into it here in the month of March. Marcus Trulius was born in March. We're calling it Marcus Rules month here at Daily Stoke. We'd love to have you and you can join us. Sign up right now at dailystoic.com/meditations.