William C. Spears

Author: William C. Spears

  • Video: The Stoic Knife

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    William C. Spears
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    For anyone wondering why there’s a giant knife on the cover of my book: At 17 minutes, it’s pretty short, but this presentation I recently did for the Modern Stoicism organization pretty much covers it.

  • Book Review: Honor in Political and Moral Philosophy

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    William C. Spears
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    When I began my Navy career as an enlisted nuke electrician, I was relentlessly beaten over the head with the importance of “integrity.” What is integrity? Ask any group of sailors, and they will tell you it is “doing the right thing, even when nobody is looking.” A few years later, as a midshipman at…

  • Be Like the Purple Thread

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    William C. Spears
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    Epictetus, Discourses 1.2: …that’s why, when Florus was considering whether he should attend Nero’s show to perform some part in it himself, Agrippinus said to him, “Go!” And when Florus asked him, “then why aren’t you going yourself?” he replied, “Because I’ve never even considered it. For as soon as anyone begins to consider such…

  • Two Books for Navalists

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    William C. Spears
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    Around the new year, it’s common to post a photo of an impressive stack of books—a public signal of ambition or discipline. I want to do something different: highlight books that work especially well together when they’re closely studied. For anyone serious about naval thinking, Seapower by Geoffrey Till and Fleet Tactics by Wayne Hughes…

  • At the Hall of Heroes

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    William C. Spears
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    Yesterday I was privileged to meet– for the first time in person– Dr. Jim Stockdale II, who graciously wrote the foreword to my book last year. Jim and I have exchanged much correspondence over the past year and have spoken more than a few times, to the point that I feel safe calling him a…

  • Audiobook Released

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    William C. Spears
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    Who is this handsome devil Stephen Caffrey? You might know him as Lt. Myron Goldman from the 1987 Vietnam drama Tour of Duty, and other fine cinema. I know him as the professional voice actor selected by the publisher to read the audiobook of Stoicism as a Warrior Philosophy, which released today. Let me tell…

  • Reflections in a Barnes & Noble

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    William C. Spears
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    I’d been warned by plenty of experienced writers that a debut book release is rarely the big, cinematic moment you imagine. They were right. Instead of a triumphant launch day, I’ve had delayed ship dates, understocking issues, and even a little product misplacement for good measure. There wasn’t really a “release day” at all—just this…

  • It’s Here! And its beautiful.

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    William C. Spears
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    Although it is still a few weeks until release in the US, my book has been available in the UK since the beginning of this month. Even though I’ll soon receive a box of 50, I paid the extra shipping and duties to get a copy sent over from the UK early– over the protests…

  • The Stockdale Interview

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    William C. Spears
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    The ideal leader is, always and everywhere, an ideal person. Leaders demonstrate what “right” looks like. Whether you are a chief, an officer, or simply a mom or a dad, those who look up to you will take on aspects of your personality and behavior, like it or not. What qualities are you transmitting? CIMSEC’s…

  • The Via Stoica interview

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    William C. Spears
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    I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Benny and Brendan from Via Stoica– a nascent online Stoicism community and counseling service– for a conversation that I think was particularly insightful. In addition to the usual banter about life aboard a submarine, we got into the connections between Stoicism and military culture, particularly self-control,…