Wisdom Takes Work

This is the fourth book in Ryan Holiday’s Stoic Virtue Series, following Courage Is Calling, Discipline Is Destiny, and Right Thing Right Now, and it delivers what the title promises: wisdom is not something you possess once and for all, it is a practice of learning, applying, and repeating over the course of a life. Ryan brings together stories of readers, writers, philosophers, athletes, generals, and statesmen to show that wisdom requires study, reflection, physical discipline, humility, and the willingness to make mistakes without being broken by them. He reminds us that we can talk to the dead through books, build a second brain by capturing what we learn, strengthen the mind through the body, and become wiser not by pretending to know everything but by staying teachable and doing the work. Big Ideas we explore include Talk to the Dead, Create a Second Brain, A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body, Make Mistakes, and Exemplary Leadership.