In this solo Book Thinkers video, Nick Hutchison reflects on a passage from Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic titled “Show, Not Tell,” which quotes Epictetus urging people to first digest philosophical teachings before broadcasting them. Hutchison argues that merely reciting Stoic aphorisms like memento mori or amor fati without embodying them is hypocritical and ineffective. He shares his own practice of daily reading, meditation, and a memento mori tattoo that constantly reminds him of mortality and helps him prioritize his time. Hutchison emphasizes that true learning is behavior change, not just reading, and challenges viewers to internalize ideas before “spewing” them. He recommends reading The Daily Stoic regularly, following the Daily Stoic Instagram, and using Stoic principles as practical tools for personal transformation.
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Hello, Book Thinkers family! Do you find it annoying when people talk a big game but they don't actually back it up with their actions? Do you find that hypocritical? I know that I do, and so do the Stoics. Today's book tip is going to come from The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. I read this book every single day, and I can't live without it at this point. It's helped my life in a big, big, big way. The title of today's passage is Show, Not Tell. What you know, and then Epictetus goes on to say: Those who receive the bare theories immediately want to spew them, as an upset stomach does its food. First, digest your theories, and you won't throw them up. Otherwise, they will be raw, spoiled, and not nourishing. After you've digested them, show us the changes in your reasoned choices. It's very easy to take a Stoic aphorism like Memento Mori. Or amor fati and spew that out to the world or in conversation. It makes you look smart, makes you look serious and intellectual and intelligent. But if you're not actually implementing those things, your behavior is not going to change. I love the idea that reading is not learning, learning is behavior change. And one of the best ways to change your behavior is by reading first and then changing your behavior. And Stoicism as a philosophy is very, very practical. And so if I got onto every single video and I just read from a book and threw this stuff out there without actually thinking about it, then I wouldn't have the following that I do today. I wouldn't have people that watch these videos, and you wouldn't be watching this right now. But Stoicism has taught me over the years that it's very, very, very, very, very important to digest what you've learned, and to implement it into your life, and to reflect on it, and meditate. See if it's actually led to any real change, and then talk about it. And so with a lot of the books that I read and reflect on, and I give my book tips, these are things that I've taken to heart, things that I've really tried to implement. Using Memento Mori, which is a very famous Stoic aphorism, as an example, I have that tattooed on my chest. I read it every single day. I think about death and I prioritize my time, and it's changed my life. So when I get behind the camera and I talk about a Stoic philosophy or aphorism like memento mori, you can know that I've meditated on it. You can know that I've reflected on it for a very, very, very long time. I've spent a lot of time with these Stoic philosophers, and I owe a lot of the positive change in my life to them because, like I said, Stoicism is practical. You can implement it. So the next time you read a book, my challenge to everybody is to make sure that you digest the information before you go out there and spew it. Kind of like the example that Epictetus gives one more time. He says that first digest your choices and you won't throw them up. So that's today's book tip. I hope you found some value in it. I know that a lot of you are now reading The Daily Stoic. I would consistently continue doing that as much as you possibly can. But if you haven't picked up this book, it's cheap. Follow Daily Stoic on Instagram. They're posting a lot of good Stoic-related content. And that's today's book tip. Go read something and then implement it. Change your behavior. Bye.
