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Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021This review is for the leatherbound version. Is it worth the extra money? YES! And why? Anyone familiar with things like Benedictine Daily Prayer book or even the Book of Common Prayer in the Episcopal Church will look at this and say happily to the authors “I see what you did there!”
It looks like a Bible and is as well-made as a Cambridge Bible, if you know what I mean. It could be seen as a Stoic Bible, but it’s more like a Book of Hours or prayer book in the way you use it. It’s meant to be used as a daily practice and this is where it is a work of genius.
Some say, “Just read the Stoics!” or “This isn’t Stoicism!” I strongly disagree. The Benedictine Daily Prayer book isn’t the Bible, but contains things FROM the Bible to be read in a daily practice. Here, The Daily Stoic contains passages from the Stoics with reflections from the authors to be read in daily practice. Same concept. And this works. The Book of Common Prayer alone is hundreds of years old; Book of Hours type books nearly a thousand years old.
Stoicism needs to be a living, breathing practice and here it is in a format that makes this possible and accessible. You can take this book with you on travels and use it for practice not only on that day, but even to go back and find teachings about specific situations. That’s why prayer books remain a “thing” despite the existence of the Bible. The authors encourage the reading of the “Stoic canon” (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca) and that’s important. But Epictetus taught philosophy is a practice, not just reading. Again, that is why The Daily Stoic is a work of genius. Here is the practice ready to go. And the leatherbound version affords it the importance of your daily practice.
That said, if you can’t lay out the money for the leatherbound, get the hard bound version. Don’t wait. Every day is the right day “to begin again”. Don’t listen to those saying “It’s not Stoicism!” Of course it is. Stoicism is meant to be practiced.
Also helpful is to get The Daily Stoic Journal to use with it. This will enhance your practice. These are both priceless tools in your practice. And, look, there is something here for everyone regardless of where you’re at in life. I don’t see how anyone can afford to miss it.
