📚 12 Books mentioned in "Steven Pressfield on Discovering Stoicism and Working Without Attachment" of The Daily Stoic

Take, for instance, the opening of "A Farewell to Arms" where he describes the dust on the trees that summer. It resonates throughout the story and comes back at the end; that's a poetic genius that AI simply cannot replicate.

The host discusses Hemingway's 'A Farewell to Arms' as an illustration of exceptional writing, emphasizing the depth and artistry that cannot be replicated by AI.

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Are you at, like, I love this book, I've been raving about it. Um, deliver me from nowhere, about Bruce Springsteen making Nebraska.

Ryan Holiday enthusiastically discusses a book titled 'Deliver Me From Nowhere' by Warren Zanes, which focuses on Bruce Springsteen's album 'Nebraska'. He expresses his admiration for the book and how much he enjoys it.

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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.

Ryan Holiday shares that while he was writing 'Ego is the Enemy', his agent, Steve Hanselman, suggested he create a daily devotional based on Stoicism.

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And then I have on my wall, I have the last page from the typewritten manuscript of Gates of Fire signed by the author. Yeah, I have a bunch of those little totems too, myself.

In the conversation, Steven Pressfield shares that he keeps a signed last page from the typewritten manuscript of his book 'Gates of Fire' displayed on his wall, along with other personal artifacts that hold significance for him.

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Do you think about the spectrum of people who are able to enjoy 'Gates of Fire' or 'The War of Art'? You have people who have sold hundreds of millions of records that are fans of 'The War of Art', and people who are just thinking about starting.

The host inquires if Steven Pressfield considers the diverse range of readers who appreciate his works, specifically mentioning 'Gates of Fire'.

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Around that time, I would have also read 'Gates of Fire'. I remember buying that on Amazon.

Ryan Holiday discusses his experience of reading 'Gates of Fire' by Steven Pressfield, recalling how he purchased it on Amazon around the same period he received the recommendation for 'Meditations'.

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Not whatsoever, because if you think about, like, the second book was Gates of Fire for me. And as I was writing it, I thought, who's going to possibly be interested in this?

Steven Pressfield reflects on his experience writing his second book, 'Gates of Fire', expressing his doubt about whether anyone would want to read it.

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The more I think about Marcus’s 'Meditations', the more in awe I am of it. In one sense, the book should be inaccessible and incomprehensible to us; you have the most powerful man in the world from an empire 2,000 years ago.

In this segment, Ryan Holiday reflects on 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius, exploring its profound insights and its timeless relevance in today's world.

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Um, so I read The 48 Laws of Power when I was in high school, and I was like, 'Make books like this!' I think some—it's so amazing when you read something, and people have this, I think with music more often than books, probably, where you're like, 'I didn’t know that was a thing, that you could do that, that was possible to do that,' and you're like that.

Ryan Holiday reflects on his experience reading 'The 48 Laws of Power' by Robert Greene in high school, expressing how impactful it was for him. He describes the feeling of discovering something extraordinary in literature, akin to that realization often felt with music.

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Yeah, and the one thing I wish he would do is write, you know, like I just wrote a memoir as you know, Government Chiefs, right? Where I sort of went back and told my stories, right? I would love to hear his stories; he should do that. When is he in Europe? Who did he meet? You know, it would be fascinating. I think even just as an artifact for the future, how does a guy get to wherever he's got to? Yeah, or someone should just interview him and just get, if he doesn’t want to write, if he doesn’t want to write it, somebody needs to get it all on audio or something, so it's there. Yeah, well, I selfishly had him do a daily book also, and he talks a little bit about it in the different parts, but um, yeah, I think what’s also so amazing about Robert is like The 48 Laws of Power should be—Robert should be a tenured professor at the Yale School of whatever. And I don’t know why he isn’t.

The podcast host emphasizes that 'The 48 Laws of Power' by Robert Greene should be considered essential reading, suggesting that the author merits a position as a tenured professor at Yale.

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Yes, um, yeah, when I was doing The Daily Dad, I went to my publisher with it maybe four or five years ago.

In this episode, the host Ryan Holiday shares a story about his experience with his book 'The Daily Dad', mentioning how he approached his publisher about it four or five years ago, who had concerns over the marketability of parenting books.

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So I mean, do you believe that there are like vibes in this table that somehow translate when I wrote The Daily Stoic eight years ago? I had this crazy idea that I would just keep it going.

In this segment, host Ryan Holiday reflects on his book 'The Daily Stoic,' sharing a personal story about the inspiration behind its creation and his ambition to continue its associated daily newsletter.

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Just as The Laws of Human Nature should not be—The Laws of Human Nature is a 600-page book about, you know, everything that makes humans both rational and irrational; that should not be a commercially viable book, you know? Especially for someone who, again, it’s not like he’s a—you know, Adrian would turn it down.

In this episode, Ryan Holiday discusses Robert Greene's book 'The Laws of Human Nature', emphasizing that despite its depth and complexity, it surprisingly shouldn't have been a commercially viable book.

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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.

Ryan Holiday discusses his experience writing 'The Obstacle is the Way' and shares how his agent, Steve Hanselman, suggested that he create a book featuring daily devotionals focused on Stoicism.

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Because I tend to reread The War of Art or Turning Pro or one of your books when I'm about to start a project. It's just like a nice sort of headspace to get into.

Ryan Holiday shares that he often rereads Steven Pressfield's book, 'The War of Art,' among others, to get into the right mindset before starting a project.

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Do you think about the spectrum of people who are able to enjoy 'Gates of Fire' or 'The War of Art'? You have people who have sold hundreds of millions of records that are fans of 'The War of Art', and people who are just thinking about starting.

During the discussion, the host inquires if Steven Pressfield considers the diverse range of readers who enjoy his book, 'The War of Art', highlighting its appeal to both widely successful individuals and those contemplating their creative journeys.

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