Everybody Wants To Rule The World | Don't Unintentionally Hand Over Your Freedom

About this episode

<p>For as long as there have been groups of people, people have <a href="https://dailystoic.com/you-have-to-lead-yourself-first/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wanted to be in charge of those people</a>. For as long as there have been armies, people have tried to use them to conquer, to rule, to accumulate empires.</p><p>Was it worth it? <a href="https://dailystoic.com/treat-it-all-the-same/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Did they enjoy it?</a> Did it mean anything? Few, if any of them, ever bothered to honestly answer that question. This is what makes Marcus Aurelius’ <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/meditations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Meditations</em></a> such a remarkable and unprecedented text. Here you have the most powerful man in the world, head of the most powerful army on earth, a victorious general whose triumphs warranted an 130-foot tall marble column lauding his achievements. And what did he say that all this amounted to?</p><p>Not much! <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/meditations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Meditations</em></a> is Marcus Aurelius’ refutation of the idea that you should want to rule the world. It strips it of its glamor and delusions (literally at one point, Marcus breaks down the feast he was given, removing, he said, “the legends that encrust it”). Being famous is empty, he tells us. <a href="https://dailystoic.com/remember-its-all-ephemeral/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Being remembered is worthless</a>. Power is corrupting and an immense burden.</p><br><p>✉️<strong>&nbsp;Sign up for the Daily Stoic email:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://dailystoic.com/dailyemail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail</a></p><p>🏛 Check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daily Stoic Store</a>&nbsp;for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.</p><p>📱 Follow us:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@daily_stoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>