Ryan Holiday’s Courage Is Calling is available on Audible as a 6 hrs 5 mins unabridged audiobook, narrated by Ryan Holiday.
Publisher’s Summary
The instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller!
Ryan Holiday’s bestselling trilogy—The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness is the Key—captivated professional athletes, CEOs, politicians, and entrepreneurs and helped bring Stoicism to millions of readers. Now, in the first book of an exciting new series on the cardinal virtues of ancient philosophy, Holiday explores the most foundational virtue of all: Courage.
Almost every religion, spiritual practice, philosophy and person grapples with fear. The most repeated phrase in the Bible is “Be not afraid.” The ancient Greeks spoke of phobos, panic and terror. It is natural to feel fear, the Stoics believed, but it cannot rule you. Courage, then, is the ability to rise above fear, to do what’s right, to do what’s needed, to do what is true. And so it rests at the heart of the works of Marcus Aurelius, Aristotle, and CS Lewis, alongside temperance, justice, and wisdom.
In Courage Is Calling, Ryan Holiday breaks down the elements of fear, an expression of cowardice, the elements of courage, an expression of bravery, and lastly, the elements of heroism, an expression of valor. Through engaging stories about historic and contemporary leaders, including Charles De Gaulle, Florence Nightingale, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Holiday shows you how to conquer fear and practice courage in your daily life.
You’ll also delve deep into the moral dilemmas and courageous acts of lesser-known, but equally as important, figures from ancient and modern history, such as Helvidius Priscus, a Roman Senator who stood his ground against emperor Vespasian, even in the face of death; Frank Serpico, a former New York City Police Department Detective who exposed police corruption; and Frederick Douglass and a slave named Nelly, whose fierce resistance against her captors inspired his own crusade to end slavery.
In a world in which fear runs rampant—when people would rather stand on the sidelines than speak out against injustice, go along with convention than bet on themselves, and turn a blind eye to the ugly realities of modern life—we need courage more than ever. We need the courage of whistleblowers and risk takers. We need the courage of activists and adventurers. We need the courage of writers who speak the truth—and the courage of leaders to listen.
We need you to step into the arena and fight.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Ryan Holiday
- Length: 6 hrs 5 mins
- Publisher: Penguin Audio
- Release year: 2021
- Audible category: Business & Careers / Career Success / Motivation & Self-Improvement
Listener Ratings
Courage Is Calling holds an average listener rating of 4.6/5 from 2901 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.6/5
- Story: 4.6/5
- 5-star ratings: 78% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
4/5 stars — “Great messages, Mr Holiday – hire a professional reader”
I can only imagine how good this audiobook would be if it were read by a professional reader/voice professional instead of the author. I enjoy Mr Holiday’s podcasts and talks, but this is a whole other skill. The reading is not dynamic, it is flat – and that’s not some stoic virtue, it’s just not artful. So pay the right person to do it if you really really care about the content instead of the credit. The afterword as a whole makes me doubt whether the book is about Mr Holiday ultimately, but I appreciated what was said for the most part up to that point.— Skyeedwa , Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Very inspirational. Must read”
I love this book so much that I have listened to it twice and I know I will listen to it several times more.
I t has inspired me to start planning things I wanted to do but I was afraid of failing. By listening what the different personas in the book went through to fulfill their calling , it has given me the courage to do what I really want to do in life.— carmen p., Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Empowering!”
The authors rhythm and pace with presenting his book makes it all the more engaging and enjoyable.— Darrell Eisman, Audible listener
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