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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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The Stoic Capitalist summary
Robert Rosenkranz
Advice for the Exceptionally Ambitious
20 mins
Brief summary
The Stoic Capitalist explores the integration of Stoic philosophy into modern investing, guiding readers on leveraging rational decision-making and emotional resilience to achieve success in the volatile world of finance.
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The Stoic Capitalist
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The early influences of a Stoic Capitalist
Many of us are all too familiar with how kids have the tendency to rebel against their parents. Your mom tells you to do one thing, you instinctively feel the need to do the other. But still, Robert Rosenkranz’s childhood is a pretty extreme example of this impulse.
From his telling, Rosenkranz was a pretty smart and precocious child. From a young age he was keenly observant of what was going on around him, and – well – he didn’t like it much. It was all too unstable. His mom was emotionally unpredictable and his unemployed father was too passive. So the seeds of becoming both an emotionally stable Stoic and an ambitious capitalistic striver were planted early on.
Growing up in Manhattan in the 1950s, Rosenkranz proved to be a natural-born skeptic. He believed early on that adults didn’t always have the right answers. His mother’s belief that the family’s economic hardship was inescapable struck him as limiting, even misguided. That skepticism became a habit.
While he couldn’t choose his parents, Rosenkranz discovered that he could choose the people he learned from by reading biographies and handpicking role models from history – people whose lives offered real-world blueprints that aligned with his ambitions. He read about titans like Rockefeller and Carnegie, whose strategic minds created vast wealth, and also about Joseph Kennedy, who navigated multiple industries with an adaptive, if sometimes morally questionable, flair.
Even flawed figures had something to teach. Rosenkranz didn’t demand perfection in his heroes – he wanted insight, inspiration, and lessons on how to shape the world rather than be shaped by it.
His voracious appetite for books led him to the writings of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and the other ancient thinkers who laid the groundwork for Stoic philosophy – which we’ll get into some more in the next section.
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What is The Stoic Capitalist about?
The Stoic Capitalist (2025) offers a sharp, personal roadmap for balancing success with wisdom. Drawing from classical philosophy, real-life business decisions, and candid reflections on politics, philanthropy, and legacy, it delivers practical insights with refreshing honesty. It’s for anyone who feels ambitious but also craves deeper meaning beyond just money and status.
Who should read The Stoic Capitalist?
- Anyone who likes a little advice in their memoirs
- Fans of Stoic philosophy
- High-achieving professionals
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