5. Self-knowledge; humility. We turn to another family of self-deceptions: those involving our own qualities. Stoicism, as we have seen at many points, is a humble philosophy. It starts with candid assessment of one’s own flaws and foolishness. As the Stoic sees it, a confession of weakness is not weakness; it is the way to wisdom. The beginning of philosophy – at least for those who take hold of it in the right way, and through the front door – is an awareness of one’s own weakness and incapacity when it comes to the most important things. Epictetus, Discourses 2.11.1 Epicurus expressed the
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