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Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control (The Stoic Virtues Series)
In his New York Times bestselling book Courage is Calling, author Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a bold and brave life. In this much-anticipated second book of his Stoic Virtue series, Holiday celebrates the awesome power of self-discipline and those who have seized it.
To master anything, one must first master themselves–one's emotions, one's thoughts, one's actions. Eisenhower famously said that freedom is really the opportunity to practice self-discipline. Cicero called the virtue of temperance the polish of life. Without boundaries and restraint, we risk not only failing to meet our full potential and jeopardizing what we have achieved, but we ensure misery and shame. In a world of temptation and excess, this ancient idea is more urgent than ever.
In Discipline is Destiny, Holiday draws on the stories of historical figures we can emulate as pillars of self-discipline, including Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth II, boxer Floyd Patterson, Marcus Aurelius and writer Toni Morrison, as well as the cautionary tales of Napoleon, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Babe Ruth. Through these engaging examples, Holiday teaches readers the power of self-discipline and balance, and cautions against the perils of extravagance and hedonism.
At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Everything else, the Stoics believed, flows from them. Discipline is Destiny will guide readers down the path to self-mastery, upon which all the other virtues depend. Discipline is predictive. You cannot succeed without it. And if you lose it, you cannot help but bring yourself failure and unhappiness.
To master anything, one must first master themselves–one's emotions, one's thoughts, one's actions. Eisenhower famously said that freedom is really the opportunity to practice self-discipline. Cicero called the virtue of temperance the polish of life. Without boundaries and restraint, we risk not only failing to meet our full potential and jeopardizing what we have achieved, but we ensure misery and shame. In a world of temptation and excess, this ancient idea is more urgent than ever.
In Discipline is Destiny, Holiday draws on the stories of historical figures we can emulate as pillars of self-discipline, including Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth II, boxer Floyd Patterson, Marcus Aurelius and writer Toni Morrison, as well as the cautionary tales of Napoleon, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Babe Ruth. Through these engaging examples, Holiday teaches readers the power of self-discipline and balance, and cautions against the perils of extravagance and hedonism.
At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Everything else, the Stoics believed, flows from them. Discipline is Destiny will guide readers down the path to self-mastery, upon which all the other virtues depend. Discipline is predictive. You cannot succeed without it. And if you lose it, you cannot help but bring yourself failure and unhappiness.
Editorial Reviews
"Ryan Holiday has helped bring the ancient teaching of Stoicism to millions of readers-from athletes and politicians to CEOs."-GOOD MORNING AMERICA
"A brisk and absorbing read."-ANNIE DUKE, bestselling author of Thinking In Bets
"A powerful case for the virtues and values that leaders must live by in the modern world."- ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS, former NATO 16th Supreme Allied Commander
"Well-meant advice for making positive life choices."-KIRKUS REVIEWS
"A brisk and absorbing read."-ANNIE DUKE, bestselling author of Thinking In Bets
"A powerful case for the virtues and values that leaders must live by in the modern world."- ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS, former NATO 16th Supreme Allied Commander
"Well-meant advice for making positive life choices."-KIRKUS REVIEWS
Readers Top Reviews
Jamesslim oneAlex
Another solid contribution from author Ryan Holiday that doesn't just write about discipline but lives it. Discipline is behind the success of any serious person that is capable of doing the work day in and day out. However, this book is about much more than the kind of discipline we're used to hearing about, the put your head down and push forward through thick and think kind. Holiday helps us see that discipline is nuanced. Discipline isn't about push, push, push, and go, go go. Sometimes, discipline is about pausing and slowing. Discipline can be as much about not doing as it is about doing. Discipline is restraint over expressing emotions. Holiday uses great exemplars as examples for the shades of discipline that he paints. These role models and their stories will, hopefully, remain accessible to readers as they encounter situations in their own lives where they will be afforded the opportunity to build discipline into their days.
Eric LeeJamesslim
What we know about an author affects how we read their books. Ryan Holiday is a young businessman, a college dropout, who lives on a ranch in Texas and writes about things like marketing. Had I know that, would I have picked up a book he wrote about philosophy? Probably not. But I knew nothing at all about the author when I read this book, which is a good thing. Holiday is on a mission to make the writings of the ancient Greek and Roman stoics seem cool. To do that, he tells stories — very much like Malcolm Gladwell, though not as good — using well-known figures like the late Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Martin Luther King and endless American sports figures I’ve never heard of. The stories are often quite good, sometimes even moving. As the author intended, the book (the second in a series he’s writing about Stoic virtues) has awakened my interest in the subject of Stoicism. It has also strengthened my own commitment to increased self-discipline. The writing style is very informal, the examples pretty much all American, but it’s a fast read, very accessible, and you will learn stuff.
Ravi ShahEric Lee
5/5 Stars for “Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday” Thank you, Ryan Holiday, for restoring philosophy in our daily lives with the amazing work you do consistently. In the ancient world, virtue was comprised of four key components: Courage, Temperance, Justice, and Wisdom. This book about self-discipline is the second in the cardinal virtue series and yet another masterpiece. The four virtues are about instilling character – good character – so that at the critical point, a person’s true nature kicks in. The book provides a deep understanding that self-discipline is not something that just happens to us; it is something we cultivate. And being disciplined is something we prove by the life we lead. Ryan explains how self-discipline must be observed physically, embodied mentally, and rendered magisterially when our moment comes. When we say that self-discipline saves us, part of what it saves us from is ourselves. I am very grateful for this book and highly recommend this book. As Marcus Aurelius says, “Love the discipline you know, and let it support you” and . . . Discipline is destiny. It decides!
Jason Masciarelli
Discipline is Destiny, the Power of Self-Control by Ryan Holiday is a masterpiece on one of the most powerful stoic virtues. I have struggled with self-discipline throughout my life and imagine most people battle it every day. Discipline is often feared, avoided, and misunderstood; yet it’s essential to living the best life each of us can. This book provides a deep understanding of discipline while making it accessible and attractive, while inspiring readers to elevate themselves. This book has helped bring clarity to how I aspire to practice… Discipline to do the work Discipline to start Discipline to finish Discipline to be patient Discipline to be healthy Discipline to be strong Discipline to learn Discipline to not get stuck Discipline to take action Discipline to be mindful Discipline to create Discipline to be self-aware Discipline to be self-reliant Discipline to lead Discipline to persevere Discipline to sleep and recover Discipline to write Discipline to do my best Discipline to listen Discipline to connect Discipline to focus Discipline to practice moderation Discipline to grow Discipline to be kind Discipline to be loving Discipline to be generous Discipline to say no Discipline to to be free Discipline to live my best life Discipline to create value for the lives I touch
CJason Masciarell
This book is divided into three parts, with 54 unnumbered “chapters” and an Afterword, for a total of about 312 pages. At the beginning of the book Holiday mentions the Four Virtues: Courage, Temperance, Justice and Wisdom; and specifically how this book is focused on Temperance, aka Discipline. Holiday uses the example of Dwight Eisenhower and shows how some of his quotes and his actions exemplified self-discipline. Part 1 – The Exterior is focused on self-discipline as it pertains to the body. Holiday uses the examples of Lou Gehrig, Toni Morrison, Teddy Roosevelt, Cato the Elder, Edison and more, as examples of different types of physical discipline. He also discusses sleep and endurance. Part 2 –The Inner Domain is focused on temperament. Here Holiday uses examples of Queen Elizabeth II, George Washington, Booker T. Washington, Beethoven, Floyd Patterson, Kennedy and others. He discusses how to fight procrastination, and the importance of avoiding distractions. Part 3 – The Magisterial brings everything together, as Holiday gives examples of people that still held themselves to a higher standard even after achieving success. Here he cites Antoninus Pius, Cato the Younger, Kobe Bryant, Marcus Aurelius, Martin Luther King Jr, Winston Churchill, and several other leaders throughout history. He points out lessons from each of these people, including concepts like expecting more of yourself than you do of other people, turning the other cheek, and never considering yourself to be above everyone else. Overall, I found this book to be informative and inspiring. The book actually seems to be equal parts stoic philosophy advice and history lesson, which was unexpected but still enjoyable.
Short Excerpt Teaser
Part I The Exterior (The Body)
Our body is our glory, our hazard and our care.
Martha Graham
We begin with the self-the physical form. In St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, we're told to keep under the body, and bring it into subjection, so that we will not be made a castaway. The Roman tradition, according to the Stoics, was about "endurance, a frugal diet, and a modest use of other material possessions." They wore functional clothes and shoes, ate off functional plates, drank moderately out of functional glasses, and committed earnestly to the rituals of ancient life. Do we pity this? Or admire it for its simplicity and dignity? In a world of abundance, each of us must wrestle with our desires, our urges, as well as the timeless battle to strengthen ourselves for the vicissitudes of life. This is not about six-pack abs or the avoidance of all that feels good, but instead about developing the fortitude required for the path we have chosen. It's about being able to go the distance, and steering clear of the blind alleys and mirages along the way. If we don't dominate ourselves physically, who and what does dominate? Outside forces. Laziness. Adversity. Entropy. Atrophy. We do the work, today and always, because it's what we're here for. And we know that while it might seem easy to take it easy and more pleasurable to indulge our pleasure centers, in the long run, it is a far more painful route.
Ruling Over the Body . . .
He played through fevers and migraines. He played through crippling back pain; pulled muscles; sprained ankles; and once, the day after being hit in the head by an eighty-mile-per-hour fastball, he suited up and played in Babe Ruth's hat, because the swelling made it impossible to put on his own.
For 2,130 consecutive games, Lou Gehrig played first base for the New York Yankees, a streak of physical stamina that stood for the next five-and-a-half decades. It was a feat of human endurance so long immortalized that it's easy to miss how incredible it actually was. The Major League Baseball regular season in those days was 152 games. Gehrig's Yankees went deep in the postseason, nearly every year, reaching the World Series a remarkable seven times. For seventeen years, Gehrig played from April to October, without rest, at the highest level imaginable. In the off-season, players barnstormed and played in exhibition games, sometimes traveling as far away as Japan to do so. During his time with the Yankees, Gehrig played some 350 doubleheaders and traveled at least two hundred thousand miles across the country, mostly by train and bus.
Yet he never missed a game.
Not because he was never injured or sick, but because he was an Iron Horse of a man who refused to quit, who pushed through pain and physical limits that others would have used as an excuse. At some point, Gehrig's hands were X-rayed, and stunned doctors found at least seventeen healed fractures. Over the course of his career, he'd broken nearly every one of his fingers-and it not only hadn't slowed him down, but he'd failed to say a word about it.
In another sense, he's almost unfairly famous for the streak, which overshadows the stats he accumulated along the way. His career batting average was an unbelievable .340, which he topped only when it counted, hitting .361 in his postseason career. (In two different World Series, he batted over .500.) He hit 495 home runs, including twenty-three grand slams-a record that stood for more than seven decades. In 1934, he became just the third player ever to win the MLB Triple Crown, leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs (runs batted in). He's sixth all time with 1,995 RBIs, making him, effectively, one of the greatest teammates in the history of the game. He was a two-time MVP, seven-time All-Star, six-time World Series Champion, Hall of Famer, and the first player ever to have his number retired.
While the streak started in earnest in June 1925, when Gehrig replaced Wally Pipp, a Yankees legend, in reality, his Herculean endurance could be seen at an early age. Born to German immigrants in New York in 1903, Gehrig was the only one of four children to survive infancy. He entered the world a whopping fourteen pounds, and his mother's German cooking seems to have plumped him up from there. It was the teasing of school kids that first hardened the determination of the young boy, sending him to his father's turnverein, a German gymnastics club where Gehrig began to develop the powerful lower body that later drove in so many runs. Not naturally coordinated, a boyhood friend once joked that Gehrig's body often "behaved as if it were drunk."
...
Our body is our glory, our hazard and our care.
Martha Graham
We begin with the self-the physical form. In St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, we're told to keep under the body, and bring it into subjection, so that we will not be made a castaway. The Roman tradition, according to the Stoics, was about "endurance, a frugal diet, and a modest use of other material possessions." They wore functional clothes and shoes, ate off functional plates, drank moderately out of functional glasses, and committed earnestly to the rituals of ancient life. Do we pity this? Or admire it for its simplicity and dignity? In a world of abundance, each of us must wrestle with our desires, our urges, as well as the timeless battle to strengthen ourselves for the vicissitudes of life. This is not about six-pack abs or the avoidance of all that feels good, but instead about developing the fortitude required for the path we have chosen. It's about being able to go the distance, and steering clear of the blind alleys and mirages along the way. If we don't dominate ourselves physically, who and what does dominate? Outside forces. Laziness. Adversity. Entropy. Atrophy. We do the work, today and always, because it's what we're here for. And we know that while it might seem easy to take it easy and more pleasurable to indulge our pleasure centers, in the long run, it is a far more painful route.
Ruling Over the Body . . .
He played through fevers and migraines. He played through crippling back pain; pulled muscles; sprained ankles; and once, the day after being hit in the head by an eighty-mile-per-hour fastball, he suited up and played in Babe Ruth's hat, because the swelling made it impossible to put on his own.
For 2,130 consecutive games, Lou Gehrig played first base for the New York Yankees, a streak of physical stamina that stood for the next five-and-a-half decades. It was a feat of human endurance so long immortalized that it's easy to miss how incredible it actually was. The Major League Baseball regular season in those days was 152 games. Gehrig's Yankees went deep in the postseason, nearly every year, reaching the World Series a remarkable seven times. For seventeen years, Gehrig played from April to October, without rest, at the highest level imaginable. In the off-season, players barnstormed and played in exhibition games, sometimes traveling as far away as Japan to do so. During his time with the Yankees, Gehrig played some 350 doubleheaders and traveled at least two hundred thousand miles across the country, mostly by train and bus.
Yet he never missed a game.
Not because he was never injured or sick, but because he was an Iron Horse of a man who refused to quit, who pushed through pain and physical limits that others would have used as an excuse. At some point, Gehrig's hands were X-rayed, and stunned doctors found at least seventeen healed fractures. Over the course of his career, he'd broken nearly every one of his fingers-and it not only hadn't slowed him down, but he'd failed to say a word about it.
In another sense, he's almost unfairly famous for the streak, which overshadows the stats he accumulated along the way. His career batting average was an unbelievable .340, which he topped only when it counted, hitting .361 in his postseason career. (In two different World Series, he batted over .500.) He hit 495 home runs, including twenty-three grand slams-a record that stood for more than seven decades. In 1934, he became just the third player ever to win the MLB Triple Crown, leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs (runs batted in). He's sixth all time with 1,995 RBIs, making him, effectively, one of the greatest teammates in the history of the game. He was a two-time MVP, seven-time All-Star, six-time World Series Champion, Hall of Famer, and the first player ever to have his number retired.
While the streak started in earnest in June 1925, when Gehrig replaced Wally Pipp, a Yankees legend, in reality, his Herculean endurance could be seen at an early age. Born to German immigrants in New York in 1903, Gehrig was the only one of four children to survive infancy. He entered the world a whopping fourteen pounds, and his mother's German cooking seems to have plumped him up from there. It was the teasing of school kids that first hardened the determination of the young boy, sending him to his father's turnverein, a German gymnastics club where Gehrig began to develop the powerful lower body that later drove in so many runs. Not naturally coordinated, a boyhood friend once joked that Gehrig's body often "behaved as if it were drunk."
...
