Courage is Calling is the first book in Ryan Holiday’s series on the cardinal virtues of ancient philosophy which include four key components: Courage. Temperance. Justice. Wisdom.

Holiday explored the courageous practice of historical and contemporary leaders like Charles de Gaulle to Leonidas, Frederick Douglass, Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marcus Aurelius, Sophia Farrar, Frank Serpico, James Stockdale.

The virtues are interrelated and inseparable, yet each is distinct from the others. Doing the right thing almost always takes courage, just as discipline is impossible without the wisdom to know what is worth choosing.