The target was not set up in order to be missed...

Just as a mark is not set up in order to be missed, so neither does the nature of evil arise in the universe.

Commentary

The Stoics believed that the universe was created by Providence and that nothing in nature could therefore be evil when considered in relation to the whole because everything exists by the Will of God. Nothing Providence does is in error, so nothing that is part of the natural order can be evil. Epictetus here leaves open the question of how evil can arise in human nature. His point is that we should view events that befall us as God’s Will and therefore as incapable of being intrinsically bad. What matters is the use we make of events, for good or bad.

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