Ryan Holiday Quote
On tough days we might say, My work is overwhelming, or My boss is really frustrating. If only we could understand that this is impossible. Someone can’t frustrate you, work can’t overwhelm you—these are external objects, and they have no access to your mind. Those emotions you feel, as real as they are, come from the inside, not the outside. The Stoics use the word hypolêpsis, which means taking up—of perceptions, thoughts, and judgments by our mind. What we assume, what we willingly generate in our mind, that’s on us. We can’t blame other people for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our jealousy. The cause is within us. They’re just the target.
Ryan Holiday
On tough days we might say, My work is overwhelming, or My boss is really frustrating. If only we could understand that this is impossible. Someone can’t frustrate you, work can’t overwhelm you—these are external objects, and they have no access to your mind. Those emotions you feel, as real as they are, come from the inside, not the outside. The Stoics use the word hypolêpsis, which means taking up—of perceptions, thoughts, and judgments by our mind. What we assume, what we willingly generate in our mind, that’s on us. We can’t blame other people for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our jealousy. The cause is within us. They’re just the target.
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About Ryan Holiday
Prior to becoming an author, Holiday served as the former director of marketing and eventually an advisor for American Apparel. Holiday's debut to writing was in 2012, when he published Trust Me, I'm Lying. Holiday's notable works include his books on Stoic philosophy, such as The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, Stillness is the Key, Discipline is Destiny, Courage is Calling, and Lives of the Stoics. He is controversial for his marketing of Stoicism in the form of "Memento Mori" coins and selling courses and calendars.