Gary Vaynerchuk, a wily, hard-talking media magnate worth over $160 million, has reached ‘Influencer’ status on YouTube and Instagram by parroting the tenets of a long-forgotten school of philosophy — and mixing in a shit ton of swear words.

‘Gary Vee’ is all over the damn place; his eye-scrunching, motivational monologues — carpet-bombed with sky-high levels of cussing — resonate with people. He’s got 1.6 million YouTube subscribers and 4.1 million followers on Instagram.

Vaynerchuk hates complainers. He encourages people to follow their gut, to be generous, to find emotional stability and, crucially, practise indifference to external events and other people.

These principles are identical to Stoicism — identical.

Stoicism was an ancient school of philosophy developed by Cato, Epictetus, Zeno of Citium and the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.

The similarities are shocking, and really showcase the consistency of the human experience. Ancients were taken by Stoicism’s practicality. Today, people bow to Gary Vee because he speaks to the same deficiencies, regrets and anxieties that swirled around 2,000 years ago.

Twain said history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. You be the judge with the quotes below:

(Stoicism’s Bible-equivalent is Emperor Aurelius’s diary Meditations — most of the comparisons are side-by-sides of Vee’s quotes and Aurelius’s entries).

On Not Worrying About Other People

V: “Are you really going to let those eight or nine people dictate your life because you are so fearful of judgement from others that at the end of the day when you’re 87 [years-old] you will not give a fuck about? Stop giving a fuck about everybody else.”

Aurelius: “Don’t waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people — unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful. You’ll be too preoccupied with what so-and-so is doing, and why, and what they’re saying, and what they’re thinking, and what they’re up to, and all the other things that throw you off and keep you from focusing on your own mind.”

On Complaining

V: “My lack of interest in complaining is so high, and when people complain about — it breaks my heart”

Aurelius: “Don’t be overheard complaining about life at court. Not even to yourself.”

On Getting Made Fun of by Others

V: “You might get made fun of — who cares?.”

Aurelius: “Jealous people will jeer at your virtue with their taunts and sneers.”

On Being Generous

V: “Doing good for other people is a good strategy.”

Aurelius: “Never supress a generous impulse.”

On Pursuing Your Passion

V: “Everyone’s got a different thing — figure out what your fucking thing is and stop making bullshit fucking excuses.”

Aurelius: At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?

On Focusing on the Things You Can Control

V: “Let go of the things you can’t control and move the fuck on.”

Epictetus: “Happiness is knowing what you can control and what you cannot.”

Vaynerchuk’s not a manipulative Stoic poser — he’s just a natural. When a Twitter user asked if he followed Stoicism (because the similarities are so striking), he said:

His popularity plus the resurgence of Stoic thought (in podcasts, books, and more) signals that this ideology is one of the most effective fuckin’ schools of thought ever designed. Not only is it practical, it’s empowering. The external is irrelevant — created and fleeting and nonthreatening.

It’s the internal, on the other hand, that’s the same for everyone. So, whether you’re an emperor or entrepreneur, ancient or modern, Stoicism’s got something for you.