In this much-anticipated final installment in the Stoic Virtues series, Ryan Holiday makes the case for the virtue on which all other virtues depend.
Of
all the stoic virtues - courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom -
wisdom is the most elusive. This is especially apparent in an age where
reaction and idle chatter are rewarded, and restraint and thoughtfulness
are unfashionable. The great statesman and philosophers of the past
would not be fooled, as we are, by headlines or appearances or the
primal pull of tribalism. They knew too much of history, of their own
flaws, of the need for collaboration to do any of that. That's wisdom -
and we need it more than ever.
Wisdom is Ryan Holiday's guiding principle, and Wisdom Takes Work
is the culmination of all his work. Drawing on fascinating stories of
the ancient and modern figures alike, Holiday shows how to cultivate
wisdom through reading, self-education, and experience. Through the
lives of Montaigne, Seneca, Joan Didion, Abraham Lincoln, and others,
Holiday teaches us how to listen more than we talk, to think with
nuance, to ruthlessly question our own beliefs, and to develop a method
of self-education. He argues convincingly for the necessity of mental
struggle and warns against taking shortcuts that deprive us of real
knowledge. And he shows us how dangerous power and intelligence can be
without the tempering influence of wisdom.
An absence of
curiosity and prudence is a catastrophe for all of us, argues Ryan
Holiday. This incredibly timely book both diagnoses the greatest problem
of our current moment and offers solutions for the way forward. Wisdom
is work - but it's worth it.
