Ryan Holiday's Response to Ivanka Trump

TL;DR

Ryan Holiday calls out Ivanka Trump for performatively quoting Marcus Aurelius while ignoring Stoicism's core demand for ethical action and accountability.

Key Points

• 1.Ivanka Trump quoted Marcus Aurelius without living by it. She cited the Stoic principle that "the soul becomes dyed the color of its thoughts," but Holiday argues she has made no effort to confront or intervene on her father's demonstrably negative, bullying behavior.
• 2.Stoicism is not a tool for emotional withdrawal or self-comfort. Holiday explicitly states it is not a philosophy for ignoring consequences, avoiding criticism, or turning inward — its true north is justice, an ethical core many pop-Stoicism fans completely miss.
• 3.Marcus Aurelius wrote privately to hold himself accountable, not to perform wisdom. His Meditations were personal reminders to be better than his power and wealth allowed him to get away with — the opposite of Ivanka's public, performative quoting.
• 4.Holiday promotes his course "How to Read Meditations" via Daily Stoic. Launched during "Marcus Rules Month" in March (Aurelius's birth month), the course aims to help people practically apply the Meditations' 2,000-year-old insights to daily life.