A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Ryan Holiday is a genius' Chris Evans

'[He] translates Stoicism ... into pithy catchphrases and digestible anecdotes for ambitious, twenty-first-century life hackers' New York Times

The inscription on the Oracle of Delphi says: 'Nothing in excess.' C.S. Lewis described temperance as going to the 'right length but no further.' Easy to say, hard to practice - and if it was tough in 300 BC, or in the 1940s, it feels all but impossible today. Yet it's the most empowering and important virtue any of us can learn.

Without self-discipline, all our plans fall apart. Here, Ryan Holiday shows how to cultivate willpower, moderation and self-control in our lives. From Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius, to Toni Morrison and Queen Elizabeth II, he illuminates the great exemplars of its practice and what we can learn from them. Moderation is not about abstinence: it is about self-respect, focus and balance. Without it, even the most positive traits become vices. But with it, happiness and success are assured: the key is not more but finding the right amount.

To master anything, we must first master ourselves: our emotions, thoughts and actions. This ancient virtue of self-control is more essential than ever.

In this bestselling book, Ryan Holiday makes the case for this essential virtue, and shows how to cultivate willpower, self-respect and focus. From Marcus Aurelius to Toni Morrison, Queen Elizabeth II to Martin Luther King Jr, history's greats have all understood the power of directing your habits and setting your limits. History's cautionary tales prove the same point, from catastrophic military overreaches to career-destroying habits: without self-discipline, we are lost before we can even begin.

Self-discipline is the key to our greatest ambitions and simplest joys: this book will show you how to find it, apply it and reap the rewards.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Ryan Holiday is a genius' Chris Evans

'[He] translates Stoicism … into pithy catchphrases and digestible anecdotes for ambitious, twenty-first-century life hackers' New York Times

The inscription on the Oracle of Delphi says: 'Nothing in excess.' C.S. Lewis described temperance as going to the 'right length but no further.' Easy to say, hard to practice – and if it was tough in 300 BC, or in the 1940s, it feels all but impossible today. Yet it's the most empowering and important virtue any of us can learn.

Without self-discipline, all our plans fall apart. Here, Ryan Holiday shows how to cultivate willpower, moderation and self-control in our lives. From Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius, to Toni Morrison and Queen Elizabeth II, he illuminates the great exemplars of its practice and what we can learn from them. Moderation is not about abstinence: it is about self-respect, focus and balance. Without it, even the most positive traits become vices. But with it, happiness and success are assured: the key is not more but finding the right amount.

To master anything, we must first master ourselves: our emotions, thoughts and actions. This ancient virtue of self-control is more essential than ever.

In this bestselling book, Ryan Holiday makes the case for this essential virtue, and shows how to cultivate willpower, self-respect and focus. From Marcus Aurelius to Toni Morrison, Queen Elizabeth II to Martin Luther King Jr, history's greats have all understood the power of directing your habits and setting your limits. History's cautionary tales prove the same point, from catastrophic military overreaches to career-destroying habits: without self-discipline, we are lost before we can even begin.

Self-discipline is the key to our greatest ambitions and simplest joys: this book will show you how to find it, apply it and reap the rewards.