You Gave Them This For Free?
The Daily Stoic
October 7, 2026
“Let no one rob me of a single day,” Seneca said, “who is not going to make me an adequate return for such a loss." 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! ✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily?
Speakers Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday (0:00)
You gave them this for free?
That bad relationship, that gossip and drama, that period you spent anxious and worried, those needless obligations you weren't strong enough to reject, that job you hated but didn't quit. At the time, it didn't seem like much, but now it's clearer what you paid for them and how little you got in return.
In retrospect, it's baffling, it's exasperating. Like Taylor Swift sings about one of her frustrating relationships, I'm pissed off that you let me give you all that youth for free. That's what we're giving up, Seneca reminds us. Whenever we say yes to things, we should say no to. When we waste our time, we are wasting our lives. Let no one rob me of a single day, she said, who is not going to make me an adequate return for such a loss. Let the sunk cost of the past stay there. You now have the present and the presence of mind to know what it's worth. Don't give any more of it away for free.
Thousands of transcripts fetched by people building searchable podcast archives
Fetch the whole transcript
The demo key returns a sample episode in full, no card needed:
curl -H "x-api-key: pt_demo" \
https://spoken.md/transcripts/1000651996090Markdown with the speakers named, for your notes, your knowledge base, or anything that makes HTTP calls.
From $0.10 per transcript. No subscription. Credits never expire. Prices exclude VAT, added at checkout for EU customers. Not what you expected? Email us within 14 days with 20 or fewer credits used and we refund the pack in full.
Using your own key:
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY" \
https://spoken.md/transcripts/1000793609932