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Stoic Virtue Series
Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave
"From Ryan Holiday, the New York Times bestselling author of Stillness Is the Key, The Obstacle Is the Way, and Ego Is the Enemy, comes the first book in a four-book series about Stoic courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom As Ryan Holiday wrote in his previous books, Stoicism is a philosophy for the people. Stoicism isn't fraught with complexities, contradictions, or circular arguments about the meaning of life. Rather, Stoicism offers practical, rich guidance about how to achieve imperturbability, strength, perspective, and goodness. At the heart of Stoicism are four simple courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. The whole philosophy can be condensed into those four bullet points. Everything else, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and countless other Stoics believed, flows from these virtues. In Courage Is Calling, Ryan Holiday breaks down the most foundational virtue of all - courage. Through engaging stories about historic and contemporary leaders, including Winston Churchill, Barack Obama, and Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as some lesser known but equally as remarkable people, Holiday shows you how to practice courage in your daily life. Now more than ever, we need the courage of whistleblowers. We need the courage of activists. We need the courage of writers who speak the truth. As scholar Nassim Taleb explains, courage is the virtue from which all other virtues descend. There is no justice without courage because the right thing is rarely easy. Only the courageous pursue wisdom because wisdom is not easy to find and it is rarely comfortable or comforting. The great commanders and entrepreneurs of our time took risks. They entered the arena. They had the guts to roll the dice. They were brave. Courage Is Calling will show you how you, too, can be courageous in all aspects of your life, and thus, find goodness and strength within yourself"--
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 28, 2021
About the author
Ryan Holiday
76 books16k followersRyan Holiday is media strategist for notorious clients like Tucker Max and Dov Charney. After dropping out of college at 19 to apprentice under the strategist Robert Greene, he went on to advise many bestselling authors and multi-platinum musicians. He is the Director of Marketing at American Apparel, where his work in advertising was internationally known. His strategies are used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube, and Google, and have been written about in AdAge, the New York Times, Gawker, and Fast Company. He is the author is *Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator*, which is due out in July. He currently lives in New Orleans, with his rebellious puppy, Hanno.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 931 reviews
October 30, 2021
I’m a longtime reader of Ryan Holiday and typically a fan of his writing, but this one fell flat for me for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the entire book is based on the idea that courage is required in order to achieve greatness. This presupposes that the goal is greatness, which contradicts Ryan’s earlier works, including Ego is the Enemy. The goal should not be greatness, it should be goodness. Virtue, not glory, is supposed to be the highest aim of life. Given our current political climate, it’s easy to see how this book could be misconstrued and misused as a call to bold and violent action. Using the Oklahoma City Bomber’s final words (Invictus by William Ernest Henley) in the introduction didn’t do much to assuage this fear. I think Ryan should have pressed early on that courage must stem from, and be in pursuit of, virtue; it must come from a place of selflessness and be done in service of others or the greater good. Otherwise, by Ryan’s own definitions, blowing up a Federal building could be seen as a courageous act.
Secondly, the book carries on Ryan’s earlier trends of relying predominantly on war and sports and sports and war as examples for his argument. I get that his target audience is comprised of those referenced in the blurb for this book - “professional athletes, CEOs, politicians, and entrepreneurs” but I think that boxes him in to an increasingly narrow perspective. I was so excited to see a reference to a courageous woman in history, Florence Nightingale, thinking that Ryan was finally going to start including more stories of strong women in his works. Unfortunately, it pretty much ended with her. Margaret Thatcher got a brief call out, but the few other women mentioned were done so in reference to the men whose stories Ryan focused on - Frederick Douglass and an enslaved woman named Nelly who inspired him, and Harry Burn, who voted to ratify the 19th Amendment giving American women the right to vote after he received an impassioned letter from his mother urging him to do so. In the case of the 19th Amendment, womens’ contribution to this effort is literally a footnote. Similarly, Ryan’s inclusion of Frederick’s Douglass’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s courage felt more like it was pandering to his woke readership than genuinely striving to include minority voices. Given how widely and well-read Ryan is, his perspective still just seems so narrow.
Finally, I just think this book misses the mark in what courage really means. So much of the writing felt more like Ryan’s mentor, Robert Greene, and his 48 Laws of Power than it did the person who wrote that “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Courage isn’t just about achieving greatness or doing bold things. It isn’t about relentlessly taking the offensive and never backing down. Courage can be quiet. It can be calm. I think the book would have benefitted greatly from this perspective; from stories of everyday average courage, because most of us aren’t professional athletes, CEOs, politicians, or entrepreneurs. Most of us are just trying to make it through our day and build a good life for ourselves and our loved ones. Courage is taking bold action, sure, but it’s also sitting with a loved one while they wait to hear whether or not their cancer has returned. It’s choosing to come out to your conservative family without knowing whether or not they will support you. It’s leaving a violent relationship and facing the paralyzing uncertainty of the unknown. In my humble opinion, the greatest courage is found in these ordinary moments of everyday life, and I really wish we had seen more of that in this book.
It’s ironic that Ryan said he almost didn’t include the afterword, because I think it’s the strongest (and most down-to-earth) part of the book. Had it set the tone in the introduction, or if Ryan had chosen to start this series with Wisdom or Temperance, I think I’d have a very different opinion.
Firstly, the entire book is based on the idea that courage is required in order to achieve greatness. This presupposes that the goal is greatness, which contradicts Ryan’s earlier works, including Ego is the Enemy. The goal should not be greatness, it should be goodness. Virtue, not glory, is supposed to be the highest aim of life. Given our current political climate, it’s easy to see how this book could be misconstrued and misused as a call to bold and violent action. Using the Oklahoma City Bomber’s final words (Invictus by William Ernest Henley) in the introduction didn’t do much to assuage this fear. I think Ryan should have pressed early on that courage must stem from, and be in pursuit of, virtue; it must come from a place of selflessness and be done in service of others or the greater good. Otherwise, by Ryan’s own definitions, blowing up a Federal building could be seen as a courageous act.
Secondly, the book carries on Ryan’s earlier trends of relying predominantly on war and sports and sports and war as examples for his argument. I get that his target audience is comprised of those referenced in the blurb for this book - “professional athletes, CEOs, politicians, and entrepreneurs” but I think that boxes him in to an increasingly narrow perspective. I was so excited to see a reference to a courageous woman in history, Florence Nightingale, thinking that Ryan was finally going to start including more stories of strong women in his works. Unfortunately, it pretty much ended with her. Margaret Thatcher got a brief call out, but the few other women mentioned were done so in reference to the men whose stories Ryan focused on - Frederick Douglass and an enslaved woman named Nelly who inspired him, and Harry Burn, who voted to ratify the 19th Amendment giving American women the right to vote after he received an impassioned letter from his mother urging him to do so. In the case of the 19th Amendment, womens’ contribution to this effort is literally a footnote. Similarly, Ryan’s inclusion of Frederick’s Douglass’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s courage felt more like it was pandering to his woke readership than genuinely striving to include minority voices. Given how widely and well-read Ryan is, his perspective still just seems so narrow.
Finally, I just think this book misses the mark in what courage really means. So much of the writing felt more like Ryan’s mentor, Robert Greene, and his 48 Laws of Power than it did the person who wrote that “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” Courage isn’t just about achieving greatness or doing bold things. It isn’t about relentlessly taking the offensive and never backing down. Courage can be quiet. It can be calm. I think the book would have benefitted greatly from this perspective; from stories of everyday average courage, because most of us aren’t professional athletes, CEOs, politicians, or entrepreneurs. Most of us are just trying to make it through our day and build a good life for ourselves and our loved ones. Courage is taking bold action, sure, but it’s also sitting with a loved one while they wait to hear whether or not their cancer has returned. It’s choosing to come out to your conservative family without knowing whether or not they will support you. It’s leaving a violent relationship and facing the paralyzing uncertainty of the unknown. In my humble opinion, the greatest courage is found in these ordinary moments of everyday life, and I really wish we had seen more of that in this book.
It’s ironic that Ryan said he almost didn’t include the afterword, because I think it’s the strongest (and most down-to-earth) part of the book. Had it set the tone in the introduction, or if Ryan had chosen to start this series with Wisdom or Temperance, I think I’d have a very different opinion.
May 26, 2022
I received this book as a birthday gift from a like-minded friend. Who also finds solace in the philosophy and ruminations of Stoicism.
This is a phenomenal book, one that I slowly digested thought about, and wept over. If Stoicism is within your life structure and beliefs I firmly believe you will find succor within these pages.
This is a phenomenal book, one that I slowly digested thought about, and wept over. If Stoicism is within your life structure and beliefs I firmly believe you will find succor within these pages.
October 14, 2021
Never read anything by Holiday and now I know why. This book was garbage. I wish I could get a refund. Researched on this self proclaimed stoic and found out that he is sketchy to say the least and wrote his first “book” Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator. There you go he is a cheap manipulator that does disservice to stoicism turning it into a marketing business to sell crap with engraved “memento mori” on it.
Calling Ryan Holiday a philosopher is like calling Bezos a philanthropist or Trump a human rights activist. This is another privileged communal narcissist that cares only about his ego. Funny enough as one of his books is called Ego is The Enemy. He also became one of the incels’ guru among Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan.
This book is a collection of doctored stories, cherry picked evidence and a ton of cliche observations that are not worth the value of a paper they were printed on.
The only reason I finished this mediocre blog post on steroids was to get to, maybe, some kind of conclusion. There isn’t any. His examples are so shallow and obvious that I’m surprised why so many readers find this collection of random and so painfully cliche stories insightful and inspiring.
Oh and this super popular “philosopher” shares some of his incredibly idiotic observations throughout the book:
“Nihilism is for losers.”
“Since the time of the Sophists, academics have, for whatever petty reason, used their considerable brains to muddy the waters rather than clear them.”
“A Stoic is someone who says ‘Fuck you’ to fate.”
Calling Ryan Holiday a philosopher is like calling Bezos a philanthropist or Trump a human rights activist. This is another privileged communal narcissist that cares only about his ego. Funny enough as one of his books is called Ego is The Enemy. He also became one of the incels’ guru among Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan.
This book is a collection of doctored stories, cherry picked evidence and a ton of cliche observations that are not worth the value of a paper they were printed on.
The only reason I finished this mediocre blog post on steroids was to get to, maybe, some kind of conclusion. There isn’t any. His examples are so shallow and obvious that I’m surprised why so many readers find this collection of random and so painfully cliche stories insightful and inspiring.
Oh and this super popular “philosopher” shares some of his incredibly idiotic observations throughout the book:
“Nihilism is for losers.”
“Since the time of the Sophists, academics have, for whatever petty reason, used their considerable brains to muddy the waters rather than clear them.”
“A Stoic is someone who says ‘Fuck you’ to fate.”
September 28, 2021
I bought this new Ryan Holiday book on launch day and managed to finish it. One of the great things about Ryan’s books is that they aren’t insanely long (unlike his mentor Robert Greene’s books lol). If you’re a fan of Ryan Holiday, you’ll enjoy this book. Much like his other books, he uses figures from throughout history up to modern times to motivate and inspire. This book is filled with various acts of courage, and I was glad to hear that this is the first part of a series of four virtues.
I have some criticisms that I wrote about in a blog, but it’s mainly just personal preference with the type of books I prefer. But this book accomplished for me exactly what Ryan was aiming for, which was to give me some inspiration and motivation to act more courageously. And the afterword he provided at the end was extremely introspective, and I respected and appreciated it.
My blog about the book: https://www.therewiredsoul.com/blog/r...
I have some criticisms that I wrote about in a blog, but it’s mainly just personal preference with the type of books I prefer. But this book accomplished for me exactly what Ryan was aiming for, which was to give me some inspiration and motivation to act more courageously. And the afterword he provided at the end was extremely introspective, and I respected and appreciated it.
My blog about the book: https://www.therewiredsoul.com/blog/r...
November 16, 2022
“There is nothing worth doing that is not scary. There is no one who has achieved greatness without wrestling with their own doubts, anxieties, limitations, and demons.”
As many of you will know, I'm a big fan of Ryan Holiday's work. And this re-read of Courage is Calling helped me to remember why it's such a good book. From start to finish, I was hooked by the beautiful stories and ideas. Ryan writes about Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, and many other people who summoned the necessary courage to change the world.
If you haven't read this book, you should pick it up as soon as possible!
As many of you will know, I'm a big fan of Ryan Holiday's work. And this re-read of Courage is Calling helped me to remember why it's such a good book. From start to finish, I was hooked by the beautiful stories and ideas. Ryan writes about Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, and many other people who summoned the necessary courage to change the world.
If you haven't read this book, you should pick it up as soon as possible!
October 9, 2021
Not as good as Holiday’s previous works. I felt this book was too repetitive. I also disliked that the authors political opinions were so apparent. I’m hoping that the rest of the series focuses more on the stoics and is better organized.
October 20, 2021
I have very few positive things to say about this book. I like history. I like learning from the past. But this didn't feel like a study of history. There are a number of points the author tries to make his point using quotes from the Bible, but speaking as a Christian and a pastor, his use of the Bible was generally ignorant of the context and larger purposes of Scripture. That left me wondering if all the other sources he quoted from were similarly sketchy. The book as a whole felt like a secular version of Joel Osteen. Much of the book could be summed up as 'These people were brave, so you should be brave.' I didn't find it to be a helpful way to either study history or to grow courage.
October 28, 2021
I really wanted to like this book. It’s a great premise. Using ancient stoic wisdom to teach courage to a cowardly generation. Unfortunately, the author himself comes across cowardly and weak. His stories were boring. His political rants were misplaced. The book was just blah. If you want good stoic philosophy then read the real stoic classics.
November 16, 2021
This book is terrible. It consists of self-indulgent ramblings about how people should live; pontifications from another so called "thought leader" of the same timber that we so often see speaking at Ted Talks. I find it revolting.
November 23, 2022
This is the first book in Ryan Holiday's Stoic Virtue Series, and the first book I've read by said author. Holiday uses known and unknown historic persons to get his three topics -- Fear, Courage and Heroism -- across to readers. I found the examples both intriguing and inspirational. I only wish he had used more women in his antidotes. Florence Nightingale and Eleanor Roosevelt are the main historic, female figures referenced throughout the book. A passing comment is made about Margaret Thatcher. Holiday's second book in the series is Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control. I'm looking forward to reading it.
September 13, 2022
I was ready to give this 5 stars, but in the second half it crossed some wires badly.
A good part of the last quarter of the book is about how courage is useless without morality. I agree, but I thought that was a given the whole time, and he was just giving examples of courage whether it was moral or not. With that in mind, the author seems to be picking and choosing the people throughout history that he agrees with? Or sort of randomly?
For sure, most are undeniable, like Rosa Parks or Leonidas (that's about as different examples as were ever compared). But a few were incredibly self serving acts that may SEEM courageous only with a very biased hindsight.
Couple examples. Maybe more if I'm heckin bored:
FDR did not "stare down the face of the Great Depression". He abandoned the gold standard. Made one of the most tyrannical decisions in US history making ownership of shiny metal punishable by 5 years in prison. Permanently f***ed the economy for all future generations.
Another (here we go)... People who don't get the vaccine are not necessary doing it to be selfish. Oh boy this is a topic loaded with politics, so I feel the need to say I am vaxxed, I think it sort of works for at risk people (at the time I wrote this we're in the middle of Omicron, don't tell me it's working fantastically. I wouldn't have doubt if it was obvious). Anyway, I'm NOT in the "antivax" camp. But I do believe people, Americans in particular, have a right to autonomy. And it does take courage AND ethics (if not morality) to stand up to authoritarian mandates and propaganda (and many lies, such as it being "100% effective").
So yea, I said it. Good for the antivaxxers. The ones who see the authoritarianism and stand up, not the ones worried about Bill Gates' nanotech. I am once again, not one of them. But their courage gives me hope in a weird way.
But more important than the vaccines are the mandated lockdowns on businesses. Ryan makes a point that contradicts EVERY previous business-related example in the book SO hard that it's comical. After countless examples of entrepreneurs being praised for doing the risky, couragous thing counter to government or culture... He argues that, for some reason, in THIS case it's actually more courageous to roll over, let the government shut down your business and destroy your livelihood by force.
We're at the point now where everything is open, cases are higher than ever, and nobody is considering another lockdown. So I'd have to ask: was it worth it? I wonder what the people who's life's work and businesses are gone forever would say? That "courage" to shut down made Jeff Bezos a few billion richer and destroyed many lives.
Of course, if I'd read this a year ago, I may have agreed. But it's obvious now most of the authoritarian force and mandates across the globe have done absolutely nothing except grant the government more power than ever before. Of course, in retrospect it's more clear, so I don't judge anybody for bending to the government's demands. But it took courage to stay open, and it's a really hard case to make that destroying so many businesses was worth it, or took courage in any way.
It's worth noting that this "hmm maybe closing your business is actually the more courageous" topic is little more than a throwaway line, leading me to believe the author wasn't too sure about it himself, or didn't want to look foolish as even more data comes out in the future. Whatever the reason, he doesn't sound like he's going to die on that hill. But it's still a glaring contradiction to the rest of the book
* 8 months later… just rereading some of my reviews from this year. I resolved to write about every book I read just so future me could look back and reminisce. Any doubt I had while writing this review is gone now. The vaccines didn’t do sh*t. The CDC, Fauci, and Birx have all confirmed my suspicions, that everyone just rolled over and took it for absolutely nothing. And unfortunately governments have taken advantage of the power people so willingly handed over.
I really hope Ryan learned a lesson to not inject current social issues as major points in his books (because yes, vaccinations and forced shutdowns were little more than overblown social issues in retrospect). I’m removing all the stars along with any respect I had for this book.
"Surrender is a choice. Quitting on your cause, that's on you. Defeat is a choice, and the brave never choose it"…unless the government sounds, like, reeally serious and puts out an emergency use authorization
Stay consistent, Ryan.
A good part of the last quarter of the book is about how courage is useless without morality. I agree, but I thought that was a given the whole time, and he was just giving examples of courage whether it was moral or not. With that in mind, the author seems to be picking and choosing the people throughout history that he agrees with? Or sort of randomly?
For sure, most are undeniable, like Rosa Parks or Leonidas (that's about as different examples as were ever compared). But a few were incredibly self serving acts that may SEEM courageous only with a very biased hindsight.
Couple examples. Maybe more if I'm heckin bored:
FDR did not "stare down the face of the Great Depression". He abandoned the gold standard. Made one of the most tyrannical decisions in US history making ownership of shiny metal punishable by 5 years in prison. Permanently f***ed the economy for all future generations.
Another (here we go)... People who don't get the vaccine are not necessary doing it to be selfish. Oh boy this is a topic loaded with politics, so I feel the need to say I am vaxxed, I think it sort of works for at risk people (at the time I wrote this we're in the middle of Omicron, don't tell me it's working fantastically. I wouldn't have doubt if it was obvious). Anyway, I'm NOT in the "antivax" camp. But I do believe people, Americans in particular, have a right to autonomy. And it does take courage AND ethics (if not morality) to stand up to authoritarian mandates and propaganda (and many lies, such as it being "100% effective").
So yea, I said it. Good for the antivaxxers. The ones who see the authoritarianism and stand up, not the ones worried about Bill Gates' nanotech. I am once again, not one of them. But their courage gives me hope in a weird way.
But more important than the vaccines are the mandated lockdowns on businesses. Ryan makes a point that contradicts EVERY previous business-related example in the book SO hard that it's comical. After countless examples of entrepreneurs being praised for doing the risky, couragous thing counter to government or culture... He argues that, for some reason, in THIS case it's actually more courageous to roll over, let the government shut down your business and destroy your livelihood by force.
We're at the point now where everything is open, cases are higher than ever, and nobody is considering another lockdown. So I'd have to ask: was it worth it? I wonder what the people who's life's work and businesses are gone forever would say? That "courage" to shut down made Jeff Bezos a few billion richer and destroyed many lives.
Of course, if I'd read this a year ago, I may have agreed. But it's obvious now most of the authoritarian force and mandates across the globe have done absolutely nothing except grant the government more power than ever before. Of course, in retrospect it's more clear, so I don't judge anybody for bending to the government's demands. But it took courage to stay open, and it's a really hard case to make that destroying so many businesses was worth it, or took courage in any way.
It's worth noting that this "hmm maybe closing your business is actually the more courageous" topic is little more than a throwaway line, leading me to believe the author wasn't too sure about it himself, or didn't want to look foolish as even more data comes out in the future. Whatever the reason, he doesn't sound like he's going to die on that hill. But it's still a glaring contradiction to the rest of the book
* 8 months later… just rereading some of my reviews from this year. I resolved to write about every book I read just so future me could look back and reminisce. Any doubt I had while writing this review is gone now. The vaccines didn’t do sh*t. The CDC, Fauci, and Birx have all confirmed my suspicions, that everyone just rolled over and took it for absolutely nothing. And unfortunately governments have taken advantage of the power people so willingly handed over.
I really hope Ryan learned a lesson to not inject current social issues as major points in his books (because yes, vaccinations and forced shutdowns were little more than overblown social issues in retrospect). I’m removing all the stars along with any respect I had for this book.
"Surrender is a choice. Quitting on your cause, that's on you. Defeat is a choice, and the brave never choose it"…unless the government sounds, like, reeally serious and puts out an emergency use authorization
Stay consistent, Ryan.
February 22, 2024
"Let us not wait for other people to come to us and call upon us to do great deeds. Let us instead be the first to summon the rest to the path of honor. Show yourself to be the bravest of all the captains, with more of a right to leadership than those who are our leaders at present."
~ Xenophon
I am generally a fan of books about mastery, so I put this one on my list as soon as I came across it.
[EDITED for the second reread]:
The first time I read Courage Is Calling, I felt it did not meet the high-water mark established by the author for me in his other works. However, I changed my mind upon reading it again. I have changed my rating of it; from a 3 star, to a 5 star.
I had previously criticized the book for writing that seems overly polished, and too refined. This may or may not still be the case, but I realized that this is just how Holiday writes. He likely has perfectionist tendencies like me. And when you are this way, it's often difficult to put something down, leave it alone, and move on to the next thing.
Author Ryan Holiday is an American writer, public-relations strategist, bookstore owner and host of the podcast The Daily Stoic. He is a former director of marketing for American Apparel.
The book is my third (now sixth) from the author, after his 2012 book Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, and his 2014 book The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph; both which I really enjoyed. The audiobook version I have is also read by the author; a nice touch I always appreciate.
Ryan Holiday:
Holiday lays out the scope of the book early on:
Expanding upon the book's subtitle, Holiday drops this quote:
Holiday unfolds his writing here around some prominent case studies from history. Some of the notable people talked about in these pages includes:
• Florence Nightengale
• Frank Serpico
• Charles de Gaulle
• Varlam Shalamov
• Margaret Thatcher
• Frederick Douglass
• Jeremiah Denton
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Peter Thiel
• General Douglas MacArthur
• Winston Churchill
• Captain James Stockdale; Thích Quảng Đức
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Former American Apparel CEO Dov Charney is mentioned in the book's afterword
He drops this great quote about preparation:
************************
As mentioned a the start of this review, I enjoyed this one the second time around much more than the first, so I bumped my rating up.
I have decided to return to books I have previously read now and again, and I'm happy I gave this one another go.
5 stars, and a spot on my "favorites" shelf.
~ Xenophon
I am generally a fan of books about mastery, so I put this one on my list as soon as I came across it.
[EDITED for the second reread]:
The first time I read Courage Is Calling, I felt it did not meet the high-water mark established by the author for me in his other works. However, I changed my mind upon reading it again. I have changed my rating of it; from a 3 star, to a 5 star.
I had previously criticized the book for writing that seems overly polished, and too refined. This may or may not still be the case, but I realized that this is just how Holiday writes. He likely has perfectionist tendencies like me. And when you are this way, it's often difficult to put something down, leave it alone, and move on to the next thing.
Author Ryan Holiday is an American writer, public-relations strategist, bookstore owner and host of the podcast The Daily Stoic. He is a former director of marketing for American Apparel.
The book is my third (now sixth) from the author, after his 2012 book Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, and his 2014 book The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph; both which I really enjoyed. The audiobook version I have is also read by the author; a nice touch I always appreciate.
Ryan Holiday:
Holiday lays out the scope of the book early on:
"In the ancient world, virtue was comprised of four key components.
Courage.
Temperance.
Justice.
Wisdom.
The “touchstones of goodness,” the philosopher king Marcus Aurelius called them. To millions, they’re known as the cardinal virtues, four nearuniversal ideals adopted by Christianity and most of Western philosophy, but equally valued in Buddhism, Hinduism, and just about every other philosophy you can imagine. They’re called “cardinal,” C. S. Lewis pointed out, not because they come down from church authorities but because they originate from the Latin cardo, or hinge.
It’s pivotal stuff. It’s the stuff that the door to the good life hangs on.
They are also our topic for this book, and for this series."
Expanding upon the book's subtitle, Holiday drops this quote:
"Fortune Favors the Bold
It is one of the oldest and most universal proverbs of the ancient world: audentis Fortuna iuvat in the Aeneid; fortis Fortuna adiuvat in one of Terence’s plays; ‘τοῖς τολμῶσιν ἡ τύχη ξύμφορος from Thucydides. To Pliny, the Roman admiral and author, Fortes fortuna iuvat.
Fortune favors the bold. Fortune favors the brave.
It favors the big plans. It favors the risk-taking.
The decision to lead the charge. The decision to break ranks. The decision to try something new. The decision to accept the crazy challenge.
To ask them to marry you, to take that trip, to raise your hand, to throw that long ball because with the game on the line you’re no longer worried about interceptions. While the odds are often against these choices, know that the momentum of history is secretly with you. The crowd is with you, ready to cheer when you win. The more you put yourself out there, the more luck seems to come your way.
The architect Daniel Burnham is said to have advised his students to make no little plans. He was telling them to think big. To tackle big problems. Not to get stuck on the onesie-twosies of life, but to try to reach. To do something so new and different that it scared them.
All the great commanders and entrepreneurs of history were successful because of the risks they took. Because while they may have been scared, they weren’t afraid. Because they dared greatly. They entered the arena. They rolled the dice. They had guts.
And more often than not, they got lucky. If they hadn’t, we wouldn’t be talking about them..."
Holiday unfolds his writing here around some prominent case studies from history. Some of the notable people talked about in these pages includes:
• Florence Nightengale
• Frank Serpico
• Charles de Gaulle
• Varlam Shalamov
• Margaret Thatcher
• Frederick Douglass
• Jeremiah Denton
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Peter Thiel
• General Douglas MacArthur
• Winston Churchill
• Captain James Stockdale; Thích Quảng Đức
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Former American Apparel CEO Dov Charney is mentioned in the book's afterword
He drops this great quote about preparation:
"Training is not just something that athletes and soldiers do. It is the key to overcoming fear in any and all situations. What we do not expect, what we have not practiced, has an advantage over us. What we have prepared for, what we have anticipated, we will be able to answer. As Epictetus says, the goal when we experience adversity is to be able to say, “This is what I’ve trained for, for this is my discipline.” If you don’t want to flinch when it comes, Seneca would say around the same time, train before it comes.
What we are familiar with, we can manage. Danger can be mitigated by experience and by good training. Fear leads to aversion. Aversion to cowardice. Repetition leads to confidence. Confidence leads to courage."
************************
As mentioned a the start of this review, I enjoyed this one the second time around much more than the first, so I bumped my rating up.
I have decided to return to books I have previously read now and again, and I'm happy I gave this one another go.
5 stars, and a spot on my "favorites" shelf.
April 25, 2022
If you're looking for a purely inspirational book (to boost your morale and 'pump you up'), feel free to add 2 stars to the rating. Unfortunately, I was looking for something more ... (inspired by some considerations regarding Ukrainians standing for their country, invaded by Putin's hordes).
I was interested in the moral aspects of courage (can we expect courage from everyone? under what conditions?). In the dissection of courage (based on what you risk - your life, your property, someone else is at stake)? In quantifying courage (or rather - comparing courage). In what does courage mean today (is it outdated)?
Only the last of the questions was (partially) responded to.
Don't get me wrong - it's not a terrible book. Some examples are good - Nightingale, Leonidas, Serpico, etc. Bringing back the idea of virtue (in its original meaning) was also interesting, but ... it's another Holiday's book that simply lacks depth. A pulp 'for (bored) housewives' (I don't intend to offend any housewife, I just don't have any better name for the category ('easy reading'?).
In my case, it was a waste of time. Maybe you'll enjoy it more.
I was interested in the moral aspects of courage (can we expect courage from everyone? under what conditions?). In the dissection of courage (based on what you risk - your life, your property, someone else is at stake)? In quantifying courage (or rather - comparing courage). In what does courage mean today (is it outdated)?
Only the last of the questions was (partially) responded to.
Don't get me wrong - it's not a terrible book. Some examples are good - Nightingale, Leonidas, Serpico, etc. Bringing back the idea of virtue (in its original meaning) was also interesting, but ... it's another Holiday's book that simply lacks depth. A pulp 'for (bored) housewives' (I don't intend to offend any housewife, I just don't have any better name for the category ('easy reading'?).
In my case, it was a waste of time. Maybe you'll enjoy it more.
October 23, 2021
I loved this book! It inspires me to be more courageous and brave. Also appreciated that he used more female and POC examples of courage. I know I will revisit this book whenever I need an extra boost of courage!
November 11, 2021
"What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on a mast to wave? Courage! What makes an elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky dusk? What makes a muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the Seventh Wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like THUNDER? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot?"
Cowardly lion speech in Wizard of Oz.
What is courage? Is it the bravery of the warrior as he goes off to war? Or is it the suicidal act of a whistleblower who spills secrets of unethical governments or corporations? How do we know when to take a courageous stand for something, or to bide our time and make a difference quietly in the background? Most of us pick our battles strategically, letting some things slide while drawing the line at others. Many people don't see themselves as particularly brave, preferring to let things take their course and judge from a distance. And some people who fancy themselves as brave are in many ways cowards when things really count.
I've thought about this a lot recently as Donald Trump has turned the tables on courage, forcing those in his party to agree with him or face the wrath of his millions of devoted followers. I'm inspired to see politicians like Lynn Cheney brave enough to speak up against him and vote for his impeachment, while most of her party cowers beneath Trump's Big Lie. Democrats often aren't much better- while some of them speak out on unpopular topics, most worry about re-election and protect the system that oppresses many of their most loyal voters.
Ryan Holiday looks at the subject of courage with his new book, Courage is Calling, already a New York Times bestseller. Holiday is a prolific writer and host of both a podcast and You Tube channel, and he owns his own bookstore in Texas. He has been a devoted follower of the ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism, and most of his many books touch on its teachings of logic and virtue. This book is the first of four that will examine the four main virtues of Stoicism- courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom.
Rather than being an in depth look at what makes us courageous or not, the book is an interesting set of very small essays on courage interspersed with tales from history of people that Holiday admires for their courageous acts. The book can sound a bit preachy at times, at nearly 300 pages of inspiration, and it rambles and conflicts itself at times. One chapter preaches that violence is sometimes necessary, while another tells the tales that show avoiding conflict or violence is the way to go.
Courage can be a sticky topic, because it doesn't pass the "Nazi Test". (If the Nazi's did it then it can't be such a good thing.) Holiday points out that some people were extraordinarily courageous, but for a terrible cause. Confederate soldiers fought bravely and died for the cause of slavery. (So did defenders of the Alamo). Donald Trump exhibited great courage in facing criticism of his bizarre policies, but his cause was only himself. And of course the Nazi and Japanese soldiers were courageous in taking on the world, but their cause, domination and subjugation, was an evil one. In order for courage to be associated with virtue, it has to be associated with a noble, selfless cause, and sometimes historians don't agree on what causes were virtuous and what weren't.
Here are a few inspiring stories of courage from the book that I hadn't heard before:
1- Charles DeGaulle was a lower-level general and not a politician when he was exiled to Britain after the defeat of France in WW2. He is credited with inspiring the French both in exile and under Nazi rule to rise up and not give up. During the darkest parts of the war, many French toyed with the idea of aligning with the Vichy puppet government that DeGaulle's superior, Petain, had set up. DeGaulle got the credit for being the backbone of the French Resistance, which made the liberation of France in 1944 possible.
2- Florence Nightingale was born in the 19th century to a wealthy family, and was expected to marry and live a comfortable life. But she felt a call to do something selfless and important, and ended up helping soldiers in the Crimean War. In 1854 she brought a group of nurses to the battlefields and witnessed first-hand the inadequacy of medical care at that time. She's credited as the founder of modern nursing- setting up the first science-based schools, and her profession has outlived her to provide comfort to billions.
3- When Martin Luther King was arrested in Atlanta in 1960, he feared serious jail time for his protests there, and so reached out to politicians to help with his plight. Both Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy had dealings with King in the past, and both were contacted. Nixon ignored the pleas, fearing that getting involved could hurt his election chances, while JFK used his connections to get King out of trouble. Kennedy went on to win a close election just a month later and be vindicated for his brave choice.
4- Women's right to vote, aka the 19th amendment, came down to one person in one state, Harry Burn, an obscure Tennessee state legislator who had opposed the amendment. Due to lobbying from his own mother, among others, he decided to become the deciding vote that ratified the amendment for the final state needed, even faced with opposition from his own party.
5- Norman Rockwell walked away from a lucrative career with the Saturday Evening Post to do different types of art on his own. Lyndon Johnson walked away from fellow Southern politicians in his drive for the voting rights act, giving up Democratic party dominance there for a noble principle. Mohammed Ali gave up millions of dollars of fight money to protest the Vietnam war and the draft. CVS gave up millions of dollars of sales with their decision to stop cigarette sales in their stores on principle. And during the Covid epidemic, some businesses were willing to voluntarily close and do the right thing to keep their employees and customers safe. (Some were not, however)
Holiday uses too many examples from war, including his lengthy and over-the-top gushing about the stand of the 300 Spartans against Xerxes and the Persian army. The details of the battle, fought thousands of years ago, are hard to imagine being as vivid as Holiday paints them. It comes off as hero worship, which isn't the same as virtue worship. He paints that one battle as the deciding instant that Western civilization was saved from Eastern invaders, and I don't see history as that simple. The heroic acts of warriors like the Spartans, Douglas Macarthur, Ulysses Grant and James Stockdale that Holiday details seemed to me to be extreme examples of courage that have little application in today's world.
The warrior view of courage reminds me of the Klingons from Star Trek. Klingons valued courage above all else, and to die in glorious battle was the ultimate sacrifice. Their macho culture made them the villain for most Star Trek episodes, and they were cartoonish in their devotion to honor and bravery at the expense of all else. There is a more subtle view of courage that Holiday alludes to with the works of Gandhi, Lincoln, and Florence Nightengale, one of the only women in his book.
We all seem to have a deep desire for superheroes who make up for our own weaknesses and make things right in the world. The parts of this book that I liked the best were when he talked about smaller, non-violent differences that courage can make when we do the tough things and stand up for the right causes. Where I'd like to have seen this book focus on is the small challenges most people face regularly, such as:
- Confronting a boss or superior about ethical shortcomings.
- Going to a doctor or dentist knowing that pain or bad news may result.
- Speaking in front of an audience (the number one fear!)
- Risking standing out in a crowd and being disapproved of for politics, religion, sexual orientation, or buried secrets.
- Being vulnerable and confessing to fears or mistakes
- Asking for help
- Telling someone you love them and risking rejection.
- Trying something new, outside of your regular routine. Exposing your ignorance about something.
- Telling and acknowledging the truth when your paycheck depends on you not doing so. And then moving on to a better job.
- Moving out of an abusive or unhappy situation and facing the unknown.
All of these items require courage. Most of that courage will never been rewarded with medals or statues, but it's the type of courage that matters. Without courage in these situations, we suffer in silence and frustration.
Holiday ends the book with a personal story about how he faced his own moment of courage dealing with an employer and boss who was abusive and irrational. Holiday admits that he chose the safe path of detaching from the situation while not resigning from the company. He tried to smooth things over from within, only to have to leave three years later when things got even worse. Doing the right thing is hard, especially when your paycheck depends on doing the wrong thing and looking the other way. He made up for it two years later by writing anti-Trump essays for his Jared Kushner-owned newspaper and eventually getting fired for it.
In a candid moment of honesty, Holiday admits what a lot of famous celebrities and influencers won't- that when you tell people what they want to hear you get rewarded for it. When you confront them with unpleasant truths, some of them write you hate mail, but many more just turn you off and go somewhere else. Perhaps that's why influencer Kylie Jenner has 39 million Twitter followers while climate activistGreta Thunberg has only 4 million. And Greta Thunberg has more courage in her little finger than all of the Kardassians put together.
This is the first of four books on the virtues of the Stoics. I look forward to the other three and also recommend Holiday's earlier books.
July 30, 2024
I coincidentally read Courage Is Calling at a time when I really needed courage. Ryan Holiday's work is always clear and precise, and this book is no exception. The insights and historical anecdotes were interesting and reflective. Did it change my perspective when I was confronted with quite difficult decisions to make? I'm not sure. While it offered some moments of inspiration and clarity, it didn't profoundly alter my approach to my challenges. Overall, I found parts of it enjoyable, but as a whole, it was an okay read.
June 8, 2023
READ THIS BOOK! That's all I have to say
February 14, 2022
Sadly this is the worst book I've read in years, I thought it would be different from others self-help books because of his marketing on stoicism but it's exactly the same and here is why:
1. It's full of clichés like and I quote "Be original, be yourself...", "It's okay to need a minute, to need a hand...", "You have to be determined, you have to be confident...", "We have to be the light...", "Do the right thing...", "It's good to be brave...", "we must fight..." and the list goes on.
2. There is no structure just a bunch of uncorrelated stories/examples of people that he considers heroes or brave people, being a good part of them people in the military.
3. He exalts the roll of highly questionable characteres like De Gaulle as the man who saved France, and Thatcher as a brave woman for her stubborness and her stridency, when the reality was that De Gaulle was a nationalist with all the characteristics of a tyrant and Thatcher a war player that used to drink tea with dictators.
4. He criticizes Bertrand Russell, call him a coward and accuses him of being a bootlicker because of his sympathy with communist when he later on and along with Orwell would fiercely oppose to Stalin. He celebrates Ancient Greek and Marcus Aurelius but he doesn't say a single word about their slavery society. He has a double standard on what he thinks is brave or right, his judgement is biased just as this book.
5. At the end of chapter 'The courage to commit' (p. 152) he states the same clichés: you have to believe, you have to care about, and at the very end of the chapter he says that "Nihilism is for loosers" implying that for him Nihilism is about not believing or believing in nothing and I can't take seriously someone who calls himself a writer with such poor arguments.
Final thoughts:
In summary, this book is not worth it, I did not find value on it; for a guy who has wrote more than 10 books in the past, his writing is comparable to an amateur. He is better at advertising and branding than writing and that is the reason for his success.
1. It's full of clichés like and I quote "Be original, be yourself...", "It's okay to need a minute, to need a hand...", "You have to be determined, you have to be confident...", "We have to be the light...", "Do the right thing...", "It's good to be brave...", "we must fight..." and the list goes on.
2. There is no structure just a bunch of uncorrelated stories/examples of people that he considers heroes or brave people, being a good part of them people in the military.
3. He exalts the roll of highly questionable characteres like De Gaulle as the man who saved France, and Thatcher as a brave woman for her stubborness and her stridency, when the reality was that De Gaulle was a nationalist with all the characteristics of a tyrant and Thatcher a war player that used to drink tea with dictators.
4. He criticizes Bertrand Russell, call him a coward and accuses him of being a bootlicker because of his sympathy with communist when he later on and along with Orwell would fiercely oppose to Stalin. He celebrates Ancient Greek and Marcus Aurelius but he doesn't say a single word about their slavery society. He has a double standard on what he thinks is brave or right, his judgement is biased just as this book.
5. At the end of chapter 'The courage to commit' (p. 152) he states the same clichés: you have to believe, you have to care about, and at the very end of the chapter he says that "Nihilism is for loosers" implying that for him Nihilism is about not believing or believing in nothing and I can't take seriously someone who calls himself a writer with such poor arguments.
Final thoughts:
In summary, this book is not worth it, I did not find value on it; for a guy who has wrote more than 10 books in the past, his writing is comparable to an amateur. He is better at advertising and branding than writing and that is the reason for his success.
December 22, 2021
Very bad; incoherent, biased, 'woke' but appealing to the masses
It is a collection of stories - mixed up like puzzles in the box.
Some stories are weird as the courage described isn't courage.
From self-help book in the beginning it slowly grew to nonsense reading about sacrifice for others (while it started as a book about stoics), nearly 'wokeness' of some people today and lots of opinionated statements you can't swallow if you happen to possess brain.
The majority doesn't and this book will make them feel good.
This book makes you feel good and it shouldn't.
But otherwise it wouldn't be bought, right?
Don't buy it.
Go for Meditations, go for Seneca's works.
Chew the topic yourself, you don't need this goo of contradictions and banality.
The brochure aka book is a collection of motivations text of a size of 4-5 medium posts.
Don't be fooled by a wild lion on its cover, it is a fancy cat living in the condo with serious pretences.
Rubbish.
I guess it is hard to expect a good book from a podcaster.
It is a collection of stories - mixed up like puzzles in the box.
Some stories are weird as the courage described isn't courage.
From self-help book in the beginning it slowly grew to nonsense reading about sacrifice for others (while it started as a book about stoics), nearly 'wokeness' of some people today and lots of opinionated statements you can't swallow if you happen to possess brain.
The majority doesn't and this book will make them feel good.
This book makes you feel good and it shouldn't.
But otherwise it wouldn't be bought, right?
Don't buy it.
Go for Meditations, go for Seneca's works.
Chew the topic yourself, you don't need this goo of contradictions and banality.
The brochure aka book is a collection of motivations text of a size of 4-5 medium posts.
Don't be fooled by a wild lion on its cover, it is a fancy cat living in the condo with serious pretences.
Rubbish.
I guess it is hard to expect a good book from a podcaster.
August 19, 2022
This book is literally a collection of quotes and anecdotes about courage. It feels quite disjointed and is not really inspirational at all. Reading about various courageous people in history with very little context is not going to inspire you or make you have more courage.
Also, the audiobook is read by the author who is absolutely terrible at pronouncing many of the names. Surely if you write a book about some people you should at least learn how to pronounce their names. Hearing Petain pronounced like Pee-tain was so painful!
Also, the audiobook is read by the author who is absolutely terrible at pronouncing many of the names. Surely if you write a book about some people you should at least learn how to pronounce their names. Hearing Petain pronounced like Pee-tain was so painful!
October 20, 2021
There are SO many amazing and empowering nuggets of wisdom within these pages! This is one book that I have decided to purchase as a resource so I can read over again, underline, study and contemplate. I'd also love to learn more about the courageous lives of the heroes Ryan Holiday spotlights in this book. It has given me some fabulous ideas of biographies for my future reading adventures.
November 22, 2021
A great book with many ideas and examples of courage and how we need more courage today!
Ryan Holiday is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed this book very much, many ideas I can use for my tennis team and teaching career.
Ryan Holiday is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed this book very much, many ideas I can use for my tennis team and teaching career.
October 26, 2021
In a review of over 100 values, I've listed GROWTH as one of my top 2 values. The other one is COURAGE.
I find that these two values are very much related: it's difficult to imagine courage bound by a comfort zone, and challenging to see growth without courage.
Hence, my avid interest in reading Ryan Holiday's recent book, COURAGE IS CALLING.
I've read 4 of Ryan Holiday's books (Stillness is the Key, Ego is the Enemy, The Obstacle is the Way, The Daily Stoic) and purchased this on Audible as a pre-order.
I really enjoy listening to this author, his narration has an intensity and an urging tenor to it that is both convincing and compelling.
I'll be re-listening to this book whenever I'm feeling a bit constrained or held down by the triple threats of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD.) It's a book length motivational speech, with a dazzling amount of case studies. I especially like that Holiday included females, whose stories of courage are typically unsung.
Highly recommend.
I find that these two values are very much related: it's difficult to imagine courage bound by a comfort zone, and challenging to see growth without courage.
Hence, my avid interest in reading Ryan Holiday's recent book, COURAGE IS CALLING.
I've read 4 of Ryan Holiday's books (Stillness is the Key, Ego is the Enemy, The Obstacle is the Way, The Daily Stoic) and purchased this on Audible as a pre-order.
I really enjoy listening to this author, his narration has an intensity and an urging tenor to it that is both convincing and compelling.
I'll be re-listening to this book whenever I'm feeling a bit constrained or held down by the triple threats of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD.) It's a book length motivational speech, with a dazzling amount of case studies. I especially like that Holiday included females, whose stories of courage are typically unsung.
Highly recommend.
June 3, 2022
Courage is more important in your daily life than you think!
"Courage is Calling" is Ryan Holiday's boldest and most emotionally charged self-help book yet. Filled with the true stories of heroes that overcame immense odds as a result of courageous actions and decisions, this book makes for a much needed reading in this age where such advice is frequently suppressed in society. We live in an age where most people are unwilling to take risks that can make a huge difference in their own lives and in those they care about. Fortunately for us, Mr. Holiday has written a very practical book full of advice and fascinating stories to help us gain the courage that our ancestors had used before.
Several well known individuals are mentioned whom have gone great lengths to achieve something out of courage. We get stories such as that of brave King Leonidas of Sparta and how he led a small army against practically a million enemy soldiers to fight against tyranny, sacrificing himself for the sake of the freedom of his people back home. Another influential story is that of Florence Nightingale, an English nurse who mustered enough courage to break away from her parents' overprotective nature and went on to fulfill her dream of becoming a field medic in the Crimean war. Further stories of many more people are highlighted for readers to take note of their courage that made a difference in history for future generations.
The author also advises the reader directly on the best ways to make use of courage. He points out that it is usually in the spark of the moment that one's courage takes shape, especially at times when trouble is looming or right after a calamity has taken place. These could be in the form of leaving a toxic job to start anew elsewhere, a situation where you have to defend your friend even if it costs you your reputation, or even a point in your career where you decide not to follow in the footsteps of corrupt coworkers. Courage is what takes you through these ordeals and provides you with extra confidence for yourself and inspiration to others.
I highly recommend reading "Courage is Calling" especially for those of you who feel defeated, scared, worried, or simply lacking in confidence. Keep this book at your side to read whenever you feel like you must personally develop yourself into a person full of courage to keep pressing forward. Always listen to the call of courage and you will be rewarded in more ways than one!
"Courage is Calling" is Ryan Holiday's boldest and most emotionally charged self-help book yet. Filled with the true stories of heroes that overcame immense odds as a result of courageous actions and decisions, this book makes for a much needed reading in this age where such advice is frequently suppressed in society. We live in an age where most people are unwilling to take risks that can make a huge difference in their own lives and in those they care about. Fortunately for us, Mr. Holiday has written a very practical book full of advice and fascinating stories to help us gain the courage that our ancestors had used before.
Several well known individuals are mentioned whom have gone great lengths to achieve something out of courage. We get stories such as that of brave King Leonidas of Sparta and how he led a small army against practically a million enemy soldiers to fight against tyranny, sacrificing himself for the sake of the freedom of his people back home. Another influential story is that of Florence Nightingale, an English nurse who mustered enough courage to break away from her parents' overprotective nature and went on to fulfill her dream of becoming a field medic in the Crimean war. Further stories of many more people are highlighted for readers to take note of their courage that made a difference in history for future generations.
The author also advises the reader directly on the best ways to make use of courage. He points out that it is usually in the spark of the moment that one's courage takes shape, especially at times when trouble is looming or right after a calamity has taken place. These could be in the form of leaving a toxic job to start anew elsewhere, a situation where you have to defend your friend even if it costs you your reputation, or even a point in your career where you decide not to follow in the footsteps of corrupt coworkers. Courage is what takes you through these ordeals and provides you with extra confidence for yourself and inspiration to others.
I highly recommend reading "Courage is Calling" especially for those of you who feel defeated, scared, worried, or simply lacking in confidence. Keep this book at your side to read whenever you feel like you must personally develop yourself into a person full of courage to keep pressing forward. Always listen to the call of courage and you will be rewarded in more ways than one!
April 22, 2023
Fortune favours those that braved this book.
“Courage Is Calling” reads like Holiday had a collection of anecdotes and quotes containing fear/courage/bravery-related keywords written on hundreds of little cards, blindly picked them two at a time, and composed a chapter spanning a couple of pages around each set, filling the surrounding space with utterly cringe-worthy and forgettable notions concerning uncompromising courage. He likes his sentences short. He likes his repetition. He probably thinks it reads like an empowering speech to the masses. It doesn’t.
The book is incoherent by way of its structure. Having three main sections (“Fear”, “Courage” and “The Heroic”), each containing dozens of 3-to-4-page “chapters”, the chapters themselves are without any order that might help the reader follow along and organize his or her thoughts while reading. Ultimately, it reads like an info dump without that much info.
Personally, I found Holiday’s tone irritable and preachy at best, and insufferable and pompous at worst. One moment a man is courageous for speaking up as a conscientious objector, and another he is a coward for not obeying his duty to his homeland when he’s to put his life on the line. One would expect the author would try to be more objective and tread lightly when speaking about offering your life for an ideological cause. Holiday doesn’t bother and instead takes a moral high ground which he supports with surface-level reasoning. Only upside of this book were some interesting historical anecdotes that read well thanks to Holiday’s decent use of vocabulary. However, these mostly boil down, as some already mentioned in their reviews, to war and sport. I’d even go so far as to say it comes dangerously close to glorifying war, what with Holiday’s use of it for more than 2/3 of his chosen examples of courage throughout (recent) human history.
Ironically, by far the best piece of content comes from - the afterword. Holiday comes of as genuine and personal, finally giving some backbone to his statements about virtue as courage and courage as virtue. If only the rest of the book followed suit.
All in all, I found “Courage Is Calling” disappointingly shallow and as such - useless. I guess I’m not the intended audience. Your mileage may vary.
“Courage Is Calling” reads like Holiday had a collection of anecdotes and quotes containing fear/courage/bravery-related keywords written on hundreds of little cards, blindly picked them two at a time, and composed a chapter spanning a couple of pages around each set, filling the surrounding space with utterly cringe-worthy and forgettable notions concerning uncompromising courage. He likes his sentences short. He likes his repetition. He probably thinks it reads like an empowering speech to the masses. It doesn’t.
The book is incoherent by way of its structure. Having three main sections (“Fear”, “Courage” and “The Heroic”), each containing dozens of 3-to-4-page “chapters”, the chapters themselves are without any order that might help the reader follow along and organize his or her thoughts while reading. Ultimately, it reads like an info dump without that much info.
Personally, I found Holiday’s tone irritable and preachy at best, and insufferable and pompous at worst. One moment a man is courageous for speaking up as a conscientious objector, and another he is a coward for not obeying his duty to his homeland when he’s to put his life on the line. One would expect the author would try to be more objective and tread lightly when speaking about offering your life for an ideological cause. Holiday doesn’t bother and instead takes a moral high ground which he supports with surface-level reasoning. Only upside of this book were some interesting historical anecdotes that read well thanks to Holiday’s decent use of vocabulary. However, these mostly boil down, as some already mentioned in their reviews, to war and sport. I’d even go so far as to say it comes dangerously close to glorifying war, what with Holiday’s use of it for more than 2/3 of his chosen examples of courage throughout (recent) human history.
Ironically, by far the best piece of content comes from - the afterword. Holiday comes of as genuine and personal, finally giving some backbone to his statements about virtue as courage and courage as virtue. If only the rest of the book followed suit.
All in all, I found “Courage Is Calling” disappointingly shallow and as such - useless. I guess I’m not the intended audience. Your mileage may vary.
February 5, 2022
I regularly consider Ryan Holiday to be my favorite author. His books “The Obstacle is the Way” and “Ego is the Enemy” had a profound impact on my life, and during a period of much confusion and much needed guidance. These two books set the course for the person I have become today.
Ryan’s writing style typically is displayed in the form of short chapters (2-3 pages long) where each chapter focuses on a story in history. The story is meant to teach a lesson, and Ryan does this in a beautiful way by teaching his audience history while simultaneously showing that the lesson has practical applications.
In “Courage is Calling” Ryan seems to have tried a new writing style where instead of focusing on one person for each chapter he has chosen roughly 10 people for the entire book and continuously comes back to revisit their story and talk about their greatness. It gets to be repetitive and, dare I say, redundant.
That being said, in the sea of redundancy there are moments of brilliance. Ryan seems to kind of shuffle around looking for where he wants to land throughout the majority of this book but he finally does land in the third act when he talks about “The Heroic”. He starts the act off with what I think is the strongest chapter in the book, the story of Leonidas’ 300 Spartans standing up to the Persian King Xerxes.
The rest of the book feels more like Ryans older style and flows pretty well. He also includes a page turning afterward where he tells of his time at American Apparel and the courage he displayed (and sometimes didn’t display) while working under a deranged CEO. Ryan compares this situation to that of Seneca and the psychotic Roman emperor Nero. I think Ryan should incorporate more of his personal life into his books like this and how he has used Stoicism to overcome such obstacles. I know his readers will love it.
Not my favorite of Ryans work but I’m still excited for the remaining books of his “cardinal virtues” series.
Ryan’s writing style typically is displayed in the form of short chapters (2-3 pages long) where each chapter focuses on a story in history. The story is meant to teach a lesson, and Ryan does this in a beautiful way by teaching his audience history while simultaneously showing that the lesson has practical applications.
In “Courage is Calling” Ryan seems to have tried a new writing style where instead of focusing on one person for each chapter he has chosen roughly 10 people for the entire book and continuously comes back to revisit their story and talk about their greatness. It gets to be repetitive and, dare I say, redundant.
That being said, in the sea of redundancy there are moments of brilliance. Ryan seems to kind of shuffle around looking for where he wants to land throughout the majority of this book but he finally does land in the third act when he talks about “The Heroic”. He starts the act off with what I think is the strongest chapter in the book, the story of Leonidas’ 300 Spartans standing up to the Persian King Xerxes.
The rest of the book feels more like Ryans older style and flows pretty well. He also includes a page turning afterward where he tells of his time at American Apparel and the courage he displayed (and sometimes didn’t display) while working under a deranged CEO. Ryan compares this situation to that of Seneca and the psychotic Roman emperor Nero. I think Ryan should incorporate more of his personal life into his books like this and how he has used Stoicism to overcome such obstacles. I know his readers will love it.
Not my favorite of Ryans work but I’m still excited for the remaining books of his “cardinal virtues” series.
January 17, 2022
I’m a big fan of Ryan Holiday in general but this book has slightly disappointed me. Too often it felt like motivational posters hanging on a random co-working space walls. To be honest, the most interesting part is the last one where the author shares his own personal experiences from American Apparel days and writer’s life that required courage, how he has failed and then learned to be better at that.
November 12, 2022
This book literally could have been an article or a TED Talk. At first it felt inspiring. The first half was pretty ok. The second part was torture, the same things over and over and over again. Be courageous, don't be selfish, sacrifice, die, American generals and the same stories and examples repeated endlessly. It was also too American for my own taste. It is a collection of quote after quote that is very educational in the beginning but boring by the end and I cannot seem to understand where does Ryan's contribution as a writer lays. He just collected a lot of info and put it there with very few of his own interventions. The personal story at the end might have saved the book but that could have been an article as well. I can image he has worked very hard to put this together but I cannot find the originality or the creative side of it. I could have just abandoned it but I was still stubborn to give it a change until the end, but I am not willy to read something else written by him too soon (although I did hear that he has some good pieces written so far). It took me 3 months to finish this one, I'm not risking with another one yet.
May 9, 2022
After reading every book Holiday has released, I’ve came to the realization that he’s given up after his first two. In terms of actually delivering.
“Ego is the enemy” and “The obstacle is the way” actually taught you something about stoicism.
Nowadays, Holiday simply comes up with a catchy title, slaps a few stoic excerpts along the way and attaches 3-4 figureheads to write about in order to tie in the title together.
His books have become a quick pump and dump scheme. Not bad for a marketing exec.
“Ego is the enemy” and “The obstacle is the way” actually taught you something about stoicism.
Nowadays, Holiday simply comes up with a catchy title, slaps a few stoic excerpts along the way and attaches 3-4 figureheads to write about in order to tie in the title together.
His books have become a quick pump and dump scheme. Not bad for a marketing exec.
January 4, 2022
Intelligent, deep, inspiring and concise! Courage is a virtue to ponder, reflect on and embody - this book will help you accomplish those things.
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