Discourses, Fragments, Handbook

by Epictetus

And the way in which a carpenter learns his work is altogether tiresome to observe for a layman who happens to be there, but the products of his work reveal the usefulness of his art. [6] You will find this even more apparent in the case of music. If you’re present when someone is being taught that art, the process will strike you as the most unpleasant of all to observe, and yet the products of the art of music are most appealing to laymen, and a delight to hear.

So also in our case, we picture the work of the philosopher as being something like this, that he should adapt his own will to what comes about so that nothing happens against our will, and so that nothing fails to happen when we want it to happen.

Now, we see that a carpenter becomes a carpenter by acquiring a certain kind of knowledge, and that a pilot becomes a pilot by acquiring a certain kind of knowledge. In view of that, isn’t it likely that in our case too, it can’t be sufficient merely to want to become a virtuous and good person, but that it is also necessary to acquire some kind of knowledge? So we must try to find out which.

The philosophers say that the first thing that needs to be learned is the following, that there is a God, and a God who exercises providential care for the universe, and that it is impossible to conceal from him not only our actions, but even our thoughts and intentions. The next thing to be considered is what the gods are like; [12] for whatever they’re discovered to be, one who wishes to please and obey them must try to resemble them as far as possible. [13] If the deity is trustworthy, he too must be trustworthy; if free, he too must be free; if beneficent, he too must be beneficent; if magnanimous, he too must be magnanimous.

Sheep and cattle are driven to it to be sold, and most people come either to buy or to sell, while only a few come to look at the spectacle of the festival, to see how it is proceeding and why, and who is organizing it, and for what purpose.

Few indeed are those who attend the fair for love of the spectacle, asking, ‘What is the universe, then, and who governs it? No one at all? [26] And yet when a city or household cannot survive for even a very short time without someone to govern it and watch over it, how could it be that such a vast and beautiful structure could be kept so well ordered by mere chance and good luck? [27]

To those who hold stubbornly to certain decisions that they have reached

Some people, when they hear such arguments as these, that one should be steadfast, that choice is free by nature and not subject to constraint, whereas everything else is subject to hindrance and constraint, and in bondage and subject to others, imagine that they must always adhere unswervingly to every judgement that they have formed. [2] But it is necessary first of all that the judgement should be a sound one. Yes, I want the body to be strong, but with a vigour of the kind that is found in a healthy man, an athlete; [3] but if you show me that you have the vigour of a madman and boast about that, I’ll tell you, ‘Find someone to cure you, man, this isn’t vigour but just another kind of enervation.’ [4] It is something of this kind that people feel in their mind when they misinterpret these arguments. Thus, a friend of mine decided, for no proper reason, to starve himself to death. [5] I heard of this when he was already in that third day of his fast, and went and asked him what had happened. [6] ‘I’ve decided to take this course,’ he said. Yes, but all the same, what was it that moved you to do so? If your decision is justified, look, here we are at your side and ready to help you on your way; but if your decision is unreasonable, you ought to change it. [7] —‘We ought to hold to our decisions.’—What are you up to, man? Not to every decision, but to those that are justified. If you now arrive at the notion, for instance, that night has come, don’t change your opinion if...

‘A fool can be neither bent nor broken’.

What could be more important and valuable than to persuade you that it is not enough to make a decision and refuse to change it. That is the strength of a madman and not of a healthy man.

Where does the good lie? ‘In choice.’ Where does the bad lie? ‘In choice.’ And that which is neither good nor bad? ‘In things that lie outside the sphere of choice.’

Why should you be surprised, then, that you excel in the areas in which you have practised, while you remain exactly the same in those in which you haven’t?

Why is it, for instance, that an orator who knows that he has written a good speech, and has fixed it in his memory, and is bringing an attractive voice to the task, still feels anxious nonetheless? Because he is not content merely to practise his art. [6] What else does he want, then? To receive praise from his audience. Now the matter in which he has trained himself is to be able to practise his art, and he has never trained himself to deal with praise and censure. [7] For when has he heard anything from anyone about what praise is, and what censure is, and what is the nature of each? And what kinds of praise are worth seeking, and what kinds of disapproval are to be avoided? When has he ever undergone any course of training with regard to these principles?

Then sit down and pray that your nose doesn’t run! Or rather, wipe your nose and stop making accusations.

endurance?

greatness of soul?

cou...

do you still look for someone else to w...

show me a single person who cares how he does what he does, and is concerned not about the result that he can achieve, but about the action itself. Who, when walking around, is concerned about the action itself? Who, when deliberating, is concerned about the deliberatio...

Who of you has never slept in a temple* to find out the right course of action?

mean, disgraceful, worthless, cowardly, and listless

death or banishment

‘But if I go away, I’ll distress them.’

What, you’ll cause distress to them? In no way, but rather, as in your own case, it will be their own judgement that brings that about. What is to be done, then?

desire, envy, malice, avarice, effeminacy, and intemperance.

adapt our preconceptions

What is the first task for someone who is practising philosophy? To rid himself of presumption: for it is impossible for anyone to set out to learn what he thinks he already knows.

principles. Some like to learn what philosophers are saying because they expect it to be sharp and witty, and others because they hope to gain some profit from it.

‘Before you came along, did no one ever use the words “good” or “just”? Or did we merely utter them as empty sounds devoid of meaning, without understanding what each of them meant?’

But it is impossible for us to adapt these preconceptions to the corresponding realities unless we have subjected them to systematic examination, to determine which reality should be ranged under which preconception.

‘Did none of us talk about being “healthy” or “diseased” before Hippocrates came along? Or were we merely uttering empty sounds when doing so?’ [9] The fact is that we have a certain preconception of what it means to be ‘healthy’ too, but aren’t able to apply it properly. That is why one person says, ‘Continue with the diet,’ while another says, ‘Give him some food now,’ or one says, ‘Bleed him,’ while another says, ‘Apply a cupping-glass.’ And what is the reason? Is it anything other than the fact that we’re unable to apply our preconceived idea of the ‘healthy’ to particular cases?

[13] In general, then, if all who utter these terms possessed more than an empty knowledge of each, and we didn’t need to set to work to make a systematic examination of our preconceptions, why do we disagree, why do we come into conflict, why do we criticize one another?

Do you presently desire what is possible, and what is possible for you in particular? Why, then, are you frustrated? Why are you troubled? Aren’t you presently trying to avoid what is inevitable? Why do you fall, then, into difficulties of any kind, why do you suffer misfortune? Why is it that when you want something, it doesn’t come about, and when you don’t want it, it comes about?

This is the error of a mind that was endowed with great inner strength. For she didn’t know where the power lies to do what we wish, that it can’t be acquired from outside ourselves, or through the alteration and rearranging of things.

Attach your desire and aversion to wealth and property, and you’ll fail to get what you desire, and you’ll fall into what you want to avoid. Attach them to health, and you’ll fall into misfortune, and likewise if you attach them to public office, honours, your country, friends, children, and, in a word, to anything that lies outside the sphere of choice.

[1] Every habit and capacity is supported and strengthened by the corresponding actions, that of walking by walking, that of running by running. [2] If you want to be a good reader, read, or a good writer, write. But if you pass thirty days without reading and turn to something else, you’ll notice the consequences. [3] So also if you lie in bed for ten days, and then get up and try to walk a fair distance, you’ll see how weak your legs are. [4] In general, then, if you want to do something, make a habit of doing it; and if you don’t want to do something, don’t do it, but get into the habit of doing something else instead. [5] The same also applies to states of mind. When you lose your temper, you should recognize not only that something has happened to you at present, but also that you’ve reinforced a bad habit, and you have, so to speak, added fresh fuel to the fire.

[5] The same also applies to states of mind. When you lose your temper, you should recognize not only that something has happened to you at present, but also that you’ve reinforced a bad habit, and you have, so to speak, added fresh fuel to the fire.

[8] It is in this way, of course, that moral infirmities grow up in the mind, as the philosophers explain. For once you’ve come to feel a desire for money, if reason is brought to bear in such a way as to make us become aware of the evil, the desire will be suppressed and our ruling centre will be restored to its original authority; [9] but if you apply no remedy, it won’t return to its original state, but when it comes to be aroused again by the corresponding impression, it will become inflamed by desire more rapidly than before.

First of all, keep calm, and count the days in which you haven’t lost your temper [13] —‘I used to lose my temper every day, and after that, every other day, then every third day, then every fourth’—and if you continue in that way for thirty days, offer a sacrifice to God. For the habit is first weakened, and then completely destroyed.

[21] it is indeed sufficient merely to withdraw to the company of wise and virtuous men,’* and to examine their life by comparison with theirs, whether you choose your model from among the living or from among the dead.

Hold firm, poor man, don’t allow yourself to be carried away.

you can be sure that you’ll finally find yourself in such a wretched and feeble state that, in due course, you won’t even be aware that you’re acting wrongly, but will begin to put forward arguments to justify your behaviour; at which point, you’ll be confirming the truth of Hesiod’s saying that ‘One who delays his work is always wrestling with ruin.’*

‘Of things that exist, some are good, others bad, and others indifferent.

riches, health, life, death, pleasure, pain.’

How did you come to know that?’—‘Hellanicus says so in his History of Egypt.’ What difference does it make whether you offer that reply or say that Diogenes* says so in his Ethics, or Chrysippus does, or Cleanthes? For have you tested any of these ideas for yourself, and formed a judgement of your own?

Oh yes, you can show me any number who can recite all the arguments of the Stoics. But can they recite the Epicurean arguments any less well? And those of the Peripatetics, can’t they explain those, too, just as accurately? [23] Who, then, is a Stoic?

Show someone who is ill and yet happy, in danger and yet happy, dying and yet happy, exiled and yet happy. Show me such a person; by the gods, how greatly I long to see a Stoic! But you can’t show me anyone who has been fashioned in such a way.

Propositions that are true and evident must necessarily be used even by those who contradict them; and just about the strongest proof that one could offer of a proposition being evident is the fact that even one who contradicts it finds himself having to make use of it.

If someone should contradict the proposition, for instance, that ‘one universal statement is true’, it is clear that he would be obliged to assert the contrary and say, ‘There is no universal statement that is true.’ Slave, that isn’t true either. [3] For what else does the assertion come down to than this, ‘If a statement is universal, it is false’? [4] Again, if someone should come forward and say, ‘You should know that nothing can be known, but everything is uncertain,’ or someone declared, ‘Believe me, and it will be to your benefit, when I say: one shouldn’t believe anyone whatever,’

[6] And Epicurus likewise, when he wants to destroy the natural sense of fellowship that binds people together, makes use of the very thing that he is destroying. [7] What does he say, then? ‘Don’t be deceived, man, don’t allow yourself to be led astray, or be mistaken; there is no natural sense of fellowship that binds rational beings together. Believe me. Those who say otherwise are deceiving you and misleading you with false arguments.’