Michael: What if I told you the bravest warriors in history didn't try to be fearless? They did the opposite. They literally built temples to Fear and worshipped it. That's the counterintuitive idea we're unpacking today. Kevin: Whoa, okay. Worshipping fear? That sounds like the worst self-help advice ever. Like, "Embrace your anxiety by building it a tiny shrine on your desk." Where is this coming from? Michael: That wild idea comes from Ryan Holiday's book, Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave. Kevin: Right, and Holiday is a fascinating figure. He dropped out of college at 19 to apprentice under Robert Greene, the author of The 48 Laws of Power, and then became a marketing director for American Apparel before becoming this modern-day Stoic philosopher. He's got a very unusual path to wisdom. Michael: Exactly. And this book is the first in his ambitious series on the four cardinal virtues: courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. It's not just a self-help book; it's a deep, philosophical dive that's been praised by everyone from General Jim Mattis to Matthew McConaughey. Kevin: Alright, alright, alright. So let's get into it. Why on earth would the toughest people in the ancient world, the Spartans, build a temple to fear?

Michael: Well, that's the core of the first part of the book. Holiday argues that you can't defeat an enemy you don't understand. The Spartans knew fear—Phobos, as they called it—was an inescapable part of the human condition, especially for a warrior. So instead of pretending it didn't exist, they gave it a physical space. They studied it. They kept it close to understand its power and, in doing so, learn how to manage it. Kevin: Huh. So it's less about worship and more about... reconnaissance? Like, 'know thy enemy.' Michael: Precisely. Holiday's point is that we often think of courage as the absence of fear. But he says no human is without fear. The brave are just people who have learned to rise above it. And fear isn't just the terror a soldier feels in battle. He argues it's also the fear of what other people will think, the fear of speaking up, the fear of being embarrassed. It's apathy, it's playing it small. All of these are forms of fear that stop us. Kevin: Okay, a temple to fear sounds dramatic. For someone listening right now, what's the modern equivalent? I can't exactly build a marble statue to my fear of deadlines in my apartment. Michael: That's a great question. Holiday, being a Stoic, points to a practical exercise the Stoics called premeditatio malorum, which basically means the premeditation of evils. Kevin: That sounds... cheerful. Michael: It does, but it's incredibly effective. It's about sitting down and thinking through the worst-case scenarios. What actually happens if you get fired? What actually happens if your speech bombs? You walk through it step-by-step. The goal isn't to wallow in misery, but to realize two things: first, the worst-case is often not as bad as your vague anxiety makes it out to be, and second, you can start planning for it. It's like a fire drill for your anxieties. You're desensitizing yourself. Kevin: I can see that. It turns this big, scary monster in your head into a checklist of problems you can solve. But that brings up another point from the book. Holiday says physical courage and moral courage are fundamentally the same. Is the fear of public speaking really the same as the fear a firefighter feels running into a burning building? That feels like a stretch. Michael: He argues that at their root, they are. Both involve putting yourself at risk for something. One is a risk to your physical body, the other is a risk to your reputation, your career, your social standing. Both require you to overcome that internal voice screaming 'Don't do it! Play it safe!' He uses the example of Winston Churchill, who was obviously physically brave as a young war correspondent, but also showed immense moral courage standing up to his own party about the threat of Nazism when it was deeply unpopular. For Holiday, it's all cut from the same cloth. Kevin: That's a powerful way to frame it. It makes courage feel more accessible. It’s not just for soldiers. It’s for the person who needs to have a difficult conversation with their partner, or the entrepreneur launching a risky new venture. Michael: Exactly. And that's the whole point of this first section. Fear is the gatekeeper. Once you learn how to face it, understand it, and walk through it, then you can get to the main event: actually being courageous.

Kevin: So once you understand your fear, you have to do something. That brings us to the next part of the book, which is about what courage actually is. It's not just managing fear, it's an action. It's a choice. Michael: It's the choice. This is where the book really takes off. Holiday defines courage as the decision to step up and do your duty. It's about taking ownership. And the story he uses to illustrate this is just incredible. It’s about Charles de Gaulle in June 1940. Kevin: Okay, set the scene for us. Michael: France has just collapsed. The Nazis are marching into Paris. The French government has surrendered. It's over. De Gaulle is a relatively unknown, junior general who has escaped to London. He has no army, no political power, no legitimacy. He is, for all intents and purposes, a nobody. Kevin: So he's basically a refugee with a fancy uniform. Michael: Pretty much. But he manages to get a few minutes of airtime on the BBC. And in that moment, he makes a choice. He goes on the radio and, speaking to a defeated nation, he says, "Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished." He essentially declares that he is France now. He decides that the resistance exists, even though it's just him in a recording studio. Kevin: Wow. The audacity of that is staggering. He's not reporting on the resistance; he's willing it into existence. Michael: That's the essence of it. Courage, for Holiday, is that moment. It's refusing to accept the situation as given. It's asserting your agency. He quotes the line, "We can curse the darkness, or we can light a candle." De Gaulle lit a candle in the middle of an inferno. And that single act of courage, that choice, became the rallying point for the entire Free French movement. Kevin: That connects directly to that powerful Churchill quote Holiday uses: "To each, there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing... What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified." Michael: Exactly. And that raises a key question. Is courage just about being ready? Holiday argues that preparation makes you brave. The Roman army, for example, wasn't brave because every soldier was a natural hero. They were brave because they trained relentlessly. They practiced formations, they drilled, they marched until their actions were second nature. Their competence gave them confidence. Kevin: So it's less about some mystical inner strength and more about doing the work beforehand? That’s a very practical, almost unromantic view of courage. Michael: It is. It demystifies it. Courage isn't something you hope you have when the crisis hits. It's something you build, day by day, through small actions. He talks about making courage a habit. Do one small, scary thing every day. Speak up in one meeting. Make that one cold call. He says these are like "petites actions"—small actions that build momentum and confidence. So when that big moment comes, when you're tapped on the shoulder, you're not starting from zero. You've been training for this. Kevin: I like that. It reframes courage from a grand, heroic virtue into a daily practice, like going to the gym. You don't just wake up one day and decide to deadlift 500 pounds. You build up to it. Michael: And that's the bridge to the final, and highest, form of courage the book discusses. Once you've built that muscle, what do you use it for?

Michael: That readiness, that decision to act, leads to the book's final, and highest, level: the heroic. It’s one thing to be brave for yourself, to advance your own career or save your own skin. But Holiday argues the ultimate expression is being brave for others. Kevin: This is where it gets into the territory of heroes, saints, and martyrs. What's the distinction he makes between just being brave and being heroic? Michael: He defines it very simply: "The heroic is risking oneself for someone else." It's about selflessness. And the story he uses is probably the most famous tale of courage in Western history: the Battle of Thermopylae. Kevin: The 300 Spartans. Michael: The very same. We all know the basics: 300 Spartans holding off a massive Persian army. But Holiday digs deeper. Why did they do it? They knew they were going to die. It wasn't for personal glory in that moment; it was for something much larger. They were fighting to buy time for the rest of Greece to mobilize. They were fighting for their families, for their laws, for their freedom. They were fighting for a cause. Kevin: So the heroism isn't just in the fighting, it's in the why. Michael: Precisely. Holiday says that what elevates their courage to the heroic is love. Love for their country, love for their way of life, love for the people they were protecting. He argues that the opposite of fear isn't courage; it's love. Love is what makes you willing to make that ultimate sacrifice. Kevin: This is where some readers and critics get a bit stuck, though. Holiday is very aware of the "brave Nazi" problem. Courage in service of an evil cause is not a virtue. He really grapples with that. How does he draw the line between a 'good' cause and a 'bad' one? Michael: He's very clear on this, and it's a crucial point. He says courage is the first of the virtues, but it is not the only one. It must be guided by the other three: justice, temperance (or moderation), and wisdom. Courage without justice is just brutality. Courage without wisdom is recklessness. A Confederate soldier charging at Gettysburg might have been brave, but was his cause just? Holiday would argue no, and therefore it wasn't virtuous courage. Kevin: So courage is like the engine of a car, but justice and wisdom are the steering wheel and the brakes. Without them, you're just a powerful force of destruction. Michael: That's a perfect analogy. The cause makes all. And that's why the heroic is so rare. It requires not just bravery, but a deep moral clarity about what you're fighting for. It's about dedicating that courage to the common good.

Michael: When you put it all together, the book lays out this clear, three-step ladder. First, you have to turn and face your fear. You study it, you break it down, you understand it's not a monster but a manageable force. Kevin: The Spartan's temple. Michael: Exactly. Then, you make the active choice to act. You take ownership. You decide to be the person who steps up, who lights the candle. That's the de Gaulle moment. Kevin: And you prepare for that moment with small, daily acts of courage. Michael: You do. And finally, you direct that well-honed courage towards a cause bigger than yourself. You act not just for your own benefit, but for others, fueled by love and a sense of justice. That's the heroic leap of the Spartans. Kevin: And Holiday makes it clear this isn't just for generals and ancient heroes. In the afterword, he gets very personal about his own failures of courage, especially during his time at American Apparel. He says courage is also "just not being afraid of your boss... or the truth." The book is full of these small, actionable moments that apply to everyone. Michael: He really brings it down to earth. It’s about choosing to be brave in the small moments, so you're ready for the big ones. It’s a call to stop waiting for someone else to solve the problems in your life or in the world. Kevin: It’s a powerful message. It feels especially relevant now, in a world that often feels overwhelming and frightening. The idea that you can cultivate this virtue, that it's a renewable resource available to everyone, is incredibly hopeful. Michael: It is. So the question Holiday leaves us with is, when life taps you on the shoulder, will you be ready? What's the small act of courage you're being called to today? Kevin: A question worth sitting with. I encourage everyone to share their thoughts on this. What does courage mean to you in your daily life? Let us know on our social channels. We'd love to hear your stories. Michael: This is Aibrary, signing off.