Discourses and Selected Writings (Classics)

by Epictetus

You are the one who knows yourself – which is to say, you know how much you are worth in your own estimation, and therefore at what price you will sell yourself; because people sell themselves at different rates.

Make it your goal never to fail in your desires or experience things you would rather avoid; try never to err in impulse and repulsion; aim to be perfect also in the practice of attention and withholding judgement.

and if from the moment they get up in the morning they adhere to their ideals, eating and bathing like a person of integrity, putting their principles into practice in every situation they face – the way a runner does when he applies the principles of running, or a singer those of musicianship [21] – that is where you will see true progress embodied, and find someone who has not wasted their time making the journey here from home.

‘Establish what is true, eliminate what is false and suspend judgement in doubtful cases.’

But to use one’s impressions recklessly, carelessly and at random, to fail to analyse an argument as either valid proof or fallacy, and, in a word, to fail to see in the act of question and answer what agrees with your position and what conflicts – is nothing wrong in all of that?

Why should one man envy another? Why should he admire those who have many possessions, or those who are strong in power and quick to anger? [21] What can they do to us, or for us, after all? The things they have power to do are of no interest to us; and as for the things we do care about, these they are powerless to affect. No one with convictions of this kind can be made to act against their will.

You should thank the gods for making you strong enough to survive what you cannot control, and only responsible for what you can.

If you must be affected by other people’s misfortunes, show them pity instead of contempt.

The true man is revealed in difficult times.

Say, ‘I won’t play any more,’ when you grow weary of the game, and be done with it. But if you stay, don’t carp.

‘Death is not fearful, but dying like a coward is.’

What else is freedom but the power to live our life the way we want?

‘Who’s my “master”?’ Whoever controls what you desire or dislike.

‘Well, I had a good teacher.’

Next, remember that you are somebody’s son. What does this social role mean? It means regarding everything of yours as belonging to your father as well, always letting him have his way, never trying to hurt him with your words or actions, or griping about him behind his back. Defer to him at every opportunity, and in the same spirit cooperate with him as best you can.

‘Everyone else can go hang, I am only interested in what the person I’m talking to has to say. No one’s vote counts with me except that of my partner in dialogue.’

‘A fool cannot be convinced or even compelled to renounce his folly.’

Every day you should put the ideas in action that protect against attachment to externals such as individual people, places or institutions – even your own body.

So if you like doing something, do it regularly; if you don’t like doing something, make a habit of doing something different.

If I don’t know something, am I properly aware that I don’t know it?

If we happen to spy a consul, we think, ‘There goes one lucky man.’ The sight of a person in exile elicits ‘How tragic’ in response; a beggar prompts us to think, ‘Poor guy, he doesn’t even have money enough for food.’ [18] These are the insidious opinions we need to concentrate hard to expunge.

Speaking for myself, I hope death overtakes me when I’m occupied solely with the care of my character, in an effort to make it passionless, free, unrestricted and unrestrained.

My friend, he fathers everyone: every man is his son, every woman his daughter. That is how he regards everyone, and how much he cares for them. [82] Don’t think he hectors strangers in a spirit of impudence; he is acting like a father, or a brother – like the vicar of God, the father of everyone.

This is all caused by one and the same thing, namely, ignorance of how to apply one’s preconceptions.

How is a fortress demolished?12 Not with weapons or fire – with judgements. We can capture the physical fortress,

Purify your thoughts, in case of an attachment or devotion to something that doesn’t belong to you and will hurt to have wrenched away.

Freedom is not achieved by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it.

Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.

These two words, he used to say, were ‘persist and resist’.

‘An impression is all you are, not the source of the impression.’

It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them.

Don’t pride yourself on any assets but your own.

Let silence be your goal for the most part; say only what is necessary, and be brief about it.

At a dinner party, for instance, don’t tell people the right way to eat, just eat the right way.