To master anything, one must first master themselves–one’s emotions, one’s thoughts, one’s actions. In Ryan Holidays: Discipline is Destiny, Holiday draws on the stories of historical figures we can emulate as pillars of self-discipline, including Lou Gehrig, Queen Elizabeth II, boxer Floyd Patterson, Marcus Aurelius, and writer Toni Morrison, as well as the cautionary tales of Napoleon, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Babe Ruth. Through these engaging examples, Holiday teaches readers the power of self-discipline and balance.

At the heart of Stoicism are four simple virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. Everything else, the Stoics believed, flows from them. Discipline is Destiny will guide readers down the path to self-mastery, upon which all the other virtues depend.