Why people recommend it
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday is a philosophical guide that explores how unchecked ambition, arrogance, and self-absorption hinder personal success and fulfillment, drawing on historical examples to advocate for humility and discipline. In several episodes of The Daily Stoic, host Ryan Holiday reflected deeply on the creation, themes, and personal history behind the book. Discussing his career and writing process, Holiday noted that he was working on the manuscript during a period of professional uncertainty, which allowed him to focus entirely on the craft rather than external metrics of success. He also reflected on specific editorial decisions, mentioning a chapter dedicated to historical figure Ulysses S. Grant that accurately captured his perspective at the time, alongside a thoughtful preface where he contemplated whether or not to include himself in the narrative. Furthermore, Holiday referenced insights and quotes from physicist John Wheeler that he strategically incorporated into the text to reinforce core philosophical arguments. The book's enduring impact and thematic depth were also highlighted by fellow author Robert Greene during a live appearance on the podcast, where Greene enthusiastically shared that Holiday's work remains one of his absolute favorite reads, praising its profound exploration of ego and power alongside the author's other foundational writings on ancient Stoic wisdom and resilience in everyday life.
Who recommended it
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 14
“In Ego is the Enemy, I have this whole chapter about Ulysses S. Grant that reflects my opinion of him at that time.”
“Well, and it just never—there's this quote from John Wheeler, the physicist, in Ego Is the Enemy.”
“Yeah, yeah, so I went through a similar thing on Ego Is the Enemy; there's a preface to Ego Is the Enemy that I'm in.”
“I was writing, ironically, what would become 'Ego is the Enemy.' But so I didn't take the lack of success that personally because I was busy doing the thing. And then some random lucky things happened, like Amazon discounted it and it stayed discounted, audiobooks started to take off, some sports teams started to talk about it, and then it”
“Which... that exact story was in the intro of "Ego is the Enemy" and I cut it at some point.”
“Like the book was built around it of "Ego."”
“If I had waited, I probably could have sold what became 'Ego is the Enemy' for a lot of money, a lot more money. But I had sold a proposal version of it while I was still figuring the book out, so I was under contract.”
“I read them all the time—Obstacle is my favorite, Ego is the Enemy, but they're all really great.”
“Like, uh, obviously, I wrote Ego is the Enemy as American Apparel was pulling itself to pieces.”
“So if I’d waited, I probably could have sold what became Ego is the Enemy for a lot more money; a lot more money. But I was... But I’d actually sold like a proposal version of it while I was still figuring the book out.”
“It's funny, when I had, I wrote The Obstacle is the Way, I sold Ego is the Enemy, which was in the middle of writing, and my agent, Steve Hanselman, came to me and said you should do a book of a daily devotional of Stoicism.”
“I remember, 'Ego is the Enemy' was a huge one for me, and there were a few others like the Minimalist and some others were—I got into them, and I was like, 'Okay, there's a different way to live life here.'”
“One of the books that I reprogrammed my brain with at night was called 'Ego Is the Enemy.' 'Ego Is the Enemy.'”
“i have a friend michael mallis and he had a book written about him that's called ego and hubris”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- The Obstacle Is the Way
- Meditations
- Courage Is Calling
- Discipline Is Destiny
- The 48 Laws of Power (Special Power Edition)
- The Boy Who Would Be King
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“Is that in ego is the enemy? Uh where do I tell that story? Um it's not it's not registering for me and I've read a couple of your things.”
“So I I have the obstacles away tattooed here as a reminder. And then I have ego is the enemy tattooed here.”
“like my ego is the enemy came out basically the same month as the subtle art of not giving a and yeah that book probably cumula cumulatively has sold more than all of my books combined”