What Ryan Holiday thinks about censorship

@ryan-holiday · 13 positions · On ppll ↗

American author of The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy; writes the Reading List book-recommendation email and owns The Painted Porch bookstore in Bastrop, Texas.

Ryan Holiday did not write this page.

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Only Ryan Holiday on censorship. See everyone on censorship

2 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Ryan Holiday has said — not written or endorsed by them.

2 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

1. 6 Aug 2026

   Our readingIncluding a book in a library's collection, or reading it, is not the same as endorsing everything in it.

   Their wordsA library is not an endorsement of every book inside it. Reading something is not the same as agreeing with it.

   ↗This Is Why We Opened A Banned Books Library (In Rural Texas)ryanholiday.net 1st of 3 in this piece

3. 6 Aug 2026

   Our readingDemocracies like America are more vulnerable to well-intentioned, bottom-up censorship than to top-down authoritarian suppression.

   America

   Their wordsAmerica is, and always has been, in less danger of top-down Chinese- or Soviet-style suppression and much more vulnerable to short-sighted or even well-intentioned democratic censorship.

   ↗This Is Why We Opened A Banned Books Library (In Rural Texas)ryanholiday.net 2nd of 3 in this piece