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In his New York Times bestselling book, Discipline Is Destiny, Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a life of self-discipline. In this much-anticipated third installment in the Stoic Virtues series, he argues for the necessity of doing what’s right – even when it isn’t easy
For the ancients, everything worth pursuing in life flowed from a strong sense of justice—or one’s commitment to doing the right thing, no matter how difficult. In order to be courageous, wise, and self-disciplined, one must begin with justice. The influence of the modern world often tells us that acting justly is optional. Holiday argues that that’s simply untrue—and the fact that so few people today have the strength to stand by their convictions explains much about why we’re so unhappy.
In Right Thing, Right Now, Holiday draws on fascinating stories of historical figures such as Marcus Aurelius, Florence Nightingale, Jimmy Carter, Gandhi, and Frederick Douglass, whose examples of kindness, honesty, integrity, and loyalty we can emulate as pillars of upright living. Through the lives of these role models, readers learn the transformational power of living by a moral code and, through the cautionary tales of unjust leaders, the consequences of an ill-formed conscience.
The Stoics never claimed that living justly was easy, only that it was necessary. And that the alternative—sacrificing our principles for something lesser—was considered only by cowards and fools. Right Thing, Right Now is a powerful antidote to the moral failures of our modern age, and a manual for living virtuously.
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
June 11, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780593191729
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780593191729
- File size: 3112 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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March 15, 2024
Handy tips toward more upstanding social behavior, informed by Stoicism and history. Holiday has developed a cottage industry popularizing Stoicism via a newsletter, store, and books like this, the latest in a series on "Stoic virtues." Here, the author focuses on justice, with chapters stressing the importance and merits of old-fashioned verities like honesty, forgiveness, social engagement, and more. All respectable ideas, and Holiday has mastered a tone to deliver them that's firm but compassionate, somewhere between New Age concepts and Jordan Peterson-esque moral scolding. Still, for a book purportedly rooted in the teachings of the ancients, Holiday gives surprisingly little attention to Stoic standard-bearers like Cato the Younger, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. Instead, many of his examples come from the annals of the Greatest Generation, particularly President Harry S. Truman, who is presented as an underrated, rock-ribbed ethical figure. (To bolster the point, the author notes Truman's deep admiration of Aurelius.) The parade of mid-20th-century eminences--Martha Graham, Gandhi, Clarence Darrow, Rosa Parks, Albert Schweitzer--is relevant, though it has the curious effect of making all of this justice seeking feel distant from the present moment. Stray examples of contemporary ethical leaders like NBA coach Gregg Popovich or former German chancellor Angela Merkel are exceptions that prove the rule. More interesting in some ways than Holiday's delivery of unimpeachable examples of good behavior is an afterword about how he has managed hiccups in his business in terms of ethical sourcing, co-workers' bad behavior, and readers resenting his engagement in politics: "It's a test we face in a world driven by algorithms--do we tell people what they want to hear? Or do we say and do what we think needs to be done?" Fresher examples might better sell the philosophy as fit for the current moment. Time-honored advice, if not always timely.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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