| Life is hard. Life is complicated. It's full of choices. It's full of dilemmas. It's full of complex problems and confusing situations. It's full of obstacles and opportunities. It's full of grifters and liars and con artists and smooth talkers, as Marcus said. It's also full of wonderful, fascinating, and incredible ideas and topics that you can't possibly be "satisfied with 'just getting the gist' of…." In short, life is a thinking person's game. That's why the Stoics stressed the pursuit of wisdom. Because we need it. We need it right now. And we'll need it later. We'll need it when we face ethical dilemmas. We'll need it when we're weighing two career opportunities. We'll need it when we're tested by frustration or fear. We need it when we must decide whether to speak up or stay silent, whether to give up or whether to endure or change. You cannot have a good life without wisdom. Not only will problems overwhelm you, even eat you alive, but you'll also leave so much unexplored. You will only do a fraction of what you're capable of doing. Yet this wisdom—the kind the Stoics were often seeking, and have come to be known for—does not come easily. As we said recently, you can't spell learned without earned. Wisdom takes work. That's not just the title of the new book, which came out Tuesday (bonuses still available, and thank you to everyone who has supported!), it's also the truth. It's the work of your life because life is a thinking person's game. Will you make the most of this time you have here? Will you have the wisdom you need when you face problems and difficulties? Misinformation, partisanship, distractions, and complexity? Will you be able to see the opportunities and be of service to others? Will you be able to see what others can't? Will you have the perspective required to know what matters and what you ought to do? Will you have the skill and the focus to explore what can be explored? That's why we do this work, why we study this philosophy, why we read these books and continue to talk, as Zeno said, to the dead who came before us. If you haven't checked out Wisdom Takes Work it would mean so much to us if you could. It came out last Tuesday. Here's Ryan talking about it on The Daily Show and on The Breakfast Club. We still have some signed first-edition copies of Wisdom Takes Work left—and will be extending our preorder bonuses for folks who buy the book this week. Bonuses include cut chapters and the annotated bibliography with all purchases, or a signed manuscript and even dinner with Ryan if you buy more copies. If you're interested, grab your copy now before it's too late. Head to dailystoic.com/wisdom to get your signed first-edition copy, and exclusive Wisdom Takes Work bonuses today!
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