 If you haven't noticed already, Stoic Philosophy is on the rise and in this video I'm going to be going over some famous Stoics, right? And if you like this video, make sure you give it a like, comment and subscribe so I can keep making more videos like this. If you don't like it, tell me it sucks ass and let's get into it. JK Rowling, the immensely successful best selling author of the Harry Potter franchise is indeed a follower of Stoic Philosophy. During a tweeter exchange with one of her fans, she mentioned how Marcus Aurelius was one of her favorite philosophers who never let her down. Keep in mind that before JK Rowling was a billionaire, before she was a household name, she went through 38 different rejections while taking care of her family as a single mother. So she went through her fair share of adversities and she definitely would have used the Stoic mindset of turning the obstacle into the way to persevere where many other people would have stopped where many other people would have gave up. So she's definitely a follower of the philosophy. The author of the game, Neil Strauss, also known as Stout, listed on the shortness of life by Seneca as one of his favorite books of all time. The interesting thing is on the shortness of life, this essay by Seneca deals with the fact that us as humans we think that life is short. In reality, our lives are not short. We have ample time to do what we want. It's just that we waste a lot of our time on bullshit. We waste a lot of our time on petty issues. We think about our own neighbor's opinions. We waste time on things that are not going to be fulfilling, on things that are not going to really matter in the future. Now Neil Strauss' story is very interesting because he started off as just a writer for the New York Times magazine and he got bored of this and made a full transformation and became a pickup artist the best there was apparently. And then he got over that and became a best-selling author. So this is someone who totally believes in living their life to the fullest, not being stuck in any set role, which is part of the advice that Seneca gives on the shortness of life. Our life is sufficiently long as long as we make sure that we live life to the fullest. Grammy Award-winning conscious rap artist Lupe Fiasco has been known to be a avid reader of Stoicism. In one of his songs, Light Work, he dropped the following line, Emperor is his alias but no Marcus Aurelius. Lupe Fiasco has been known to recommend Marcus Aurelius' meditations, his personal handbook to various fans all over Twitter and various tweets. He even dropped this particular banger. If you want to speak with me, go read Marcus Aurelius' meditations so we can style on the same page. Until then, I can't help you. He's basically recommending that everybody absorbs the Stoic wisdom that's been laid out by the Emperor himself, Marcus Aurelius, so that we can all communicate on the same level so we can all live a better life. Another famous Stoic is Nassim Nicholas Telleb, who is a Lebanese American essayist, a scholar, a statistician, a former trader and risk analysis. He is well known for his best-selling book, Anti-Fraja, which he talks about the anti-fragility of Stoic philosophy, especially Seneca's philosophy. Nassim said, Astoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking. He basically just summarized the practical aspects of Stoicism. Stoicism has got the power to turn all the negatives in your life into something positive, to turn every situation into a way for you to grow and become better. Stoicism is based off perception. Everything is about perception, so we can determine the quality of our life by how we choose to perceive the events that happen in our lives as Epictetus often talks about. So, Astoic is someone who sees the negative and chooses to transform it into good, into something that can help them. Perhaps the most famous person on this list is former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, who was a big fan of Marcus Aurelius' meditations. As a matter of fact, he said that he read the book once every year while he was present, which would make sense because Marcus Aurelius' meditations was kind of like a personal diary for the Emperor, in which he wrote down notes on how he could lead better, become more noble, live a virtuous life in accordance with nature. Bill Clinton would have received a lot of value in reading these notes, especially because people don't change, technology changes, but the human condition doesn't change. We still face the same adversities in leadership and in life. Bill Clinton said that, the thing about Marcus Aurelius is that he was deeply spiritual and he understood that life required balance. And that's really important in the world we live in today. As an Emperor, he had absolute power and this book is in part about the things he wouldn't do. And that's really important. You know, we're having a presidential election and one of the things I look at every time an election comes along, I think about the things you could do that you wouldn't do. You know, I thought about it when I was President, when I had options A, B and C. There are any I think I shouldn't do and I wouldn't do. So clearly, Bill Clinton was heavily influenced by Marcus Aurelius. So that is my top five list of celebrities that totally dig Stoicism. If you want to get into Stoicism yourself, there's three books I recommend for you. The first one should be obvious. It's Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It was mentioned numerous times on this list because it's good. That's the reason. Second one is the Incaridian by Epictetus, which is another classic, a very, very good, solid book you should read. The third one is Short but Sweet, but very powerful, the Essay on the Shortness of Life by Seneca, which was also mentioned. So get those, read about the philosophy and begin the journey of changing your life. Remember, this is a philosophy. This is a way of living. It's not religion. Anybody can become a Stoic. It doesn't matter if you're a Muslim, Christian, Atheist, everybody can become Stoic and bring on that awesome mentality. Until next time, guys. If you like this video, comment, like, and subscribe. Peace.