Ryan Holiday Quote on the Obstacle: The Way Forward

Quote

"The obstacle is the way: what stands in the way becomes the way, and the impediment to action advances action. The obstacle is not the enemy of the progress but its material." — Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way (2014)

Author

Ryan Holiday is an American author and media strategist, the most prominent popularizer of Stoicism in the English-speaking world. His books — The Obstacle Is the Way, The Daily Stoic, Ego Is the Enemy — have made the ancient philosophy accessible to a mass audience.

Source

The quotation is the central thesis of The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph (New York: Portfolio, 2014).

Context

The formulation is drawn from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations: "the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." Holiday developed the ancient formula into a complete philosophy of adversity, organized around the three Stoic disciplines of perception, action, and will. The book has been read by athletes, executives, and soldiers, and the formula has become the signature idea of the modern Stoic revival.

Meaning

The quotation states the modern Stoic attitude to adversity with complete clarity. "The obstacle is the way" — the identification: the obstacle and the way are the same — the difficulty is the path of the progress. "What stands in the way becomes the way" — the transformation: the impediment is transformed into the material — the obstacle that would stop the traveler becomes the road. "The impediment to action advances action" — the paradox: the impediment advances the action — the resistance develops the strength, the difficulty requires the resourcefulness, and the person is advanced by the very thing that seemed to block them. "The obstacle is not the enemy of the progress but its material" — the conclusion: the obstacle is the material — the stuff out of which the progress is made. The quotation is the modern form of the ancient Stoic attitude to the obstacle, and it grounds the Stoic wisdom tradition's account of the adversity in the language of the modern world.

Related Wisdom

The quotation belongs to the modern practice of Stoicism and the discipline of fortitude. Its formula — the obstacle is the way — is the modern translation of Marcus Aurelius's practice, and it grounds the Stoic wisdom tradition's account of the adversity as the material of the character.