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"I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment?"
"Of all existing things some are in our power, and others are not in our power. In our power are thought, impulse, will to get and will to avoid, and, in a word, everything which is our own doing. Things not in our power include the body, property, reputation, office, and, in a word, everything which is not our own doing. Things in our power are by nature free, unhindered, untrammeled; things not in our power are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, dependent on others. Remember then that if you imagine that what is naturally slavish is free, and what is naturally another’s is your own, you will be hampered, you will mourn, you will be put to confusion, you will blame gods and men; but if you think that only your own belongs to you, and that what is another’s is indeed another’s, no one will ever put compulsion or hindrance on you, you will blame none, you will accuse none, you will do nothing against your will, no one will harm you, you will have no enemy, for no harm can touch you. "
Epictetus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Epictetus (Greek: Ἐπίκτητος; AD 55–AD 135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was probably born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his exile to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he lived most of his life and died. His teachings were noted down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses. Philosophy, he taught, is a way of life and not just a theoretical discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are determined by fate, and are thus beyond our control, but we can accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. Individuals, however, are responsible for their own actions which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. As part of the universal city that is the universe, human beings have a duty of care to all fellow humans. The person who followed these precepts would achieve happiness.
Epictetus was born c. 55 AD,[1] at Hierapolis, Phrygia.[2] The name given by his parents, if one was given, is not known—the word epiktetos in Greek simply means "acquired." He spent his youth as a slave in Rome to Epaphroditus, a very wealthy freedman of Nero. Epictetus studied Stoic philosophy under Musonius Rufus,[3] as a slave.[4] It is known that he became crippled, and although one source tells that his leg was deliberately broken by Epaphroditus,[5] more reliable is the testimony of Simplicius who tells us that he had been lame from childhood.[6]
It is not known how Epictetus obtained his freedom, but eventually he began to teach philosophy at Rome. Around 93 AD Domitian banished all philosophers from Rome, and ultimately, from Italy,[7] and Epictetus traveled to Nicopolis in Epirus, Greece, where he founded a philosophical school.[8]
His most famous pupil Arrian studied under him as a young man (c. 108 AD) and claims to have written the famous Discourses based on his lecture notes, although some scholars argue that they should rather be considered an original literary composition by Arrian comparable to the Socratic literature.[9] Arrian describes Epictetus as being a powerful speaker who could "induce his listener to feel just what Epictetus wanted him to feel."[10] Many eminent figures sought conversations with him,[11] and the Emperor Hadrian was friendly with him[12] and may have listened to him speak at his school in Nicopolis.[13][14]
He lived a life of great simplicity, with few possessions.[6] He lived alone for a long time,[15] but in his old age he adopted a friend's child who would otherwise have been left to die, and raised it with the aid of a woman to help him.[16] He died sometime around 135 AD.[17] After his death his lamp was purchased by an admirer for 3000 drachmae.[18]
So far as is known, Epictetus himself wrote nothing. All that remains of his work was transcribed by his pupil Arrian (author of the Anabasis Alexandri).[10] The main work is The Discourses, four books of which have been preserved (out of an original eight).[19] Arrian also compiled a popular digest, entitled the Enchiridion, or Handbook. In a preface to the Discourses, addressed to Lucius Gellius, Arrian states that "whatever I heard him say I used to write down, word for word, as best I could, endeavouring to preserve it as a memorial, for my own future use, of his way of thinking and the frankness of his speech."[10]
Epictetus focused more on ethics than the early Stoics. Repeatedly attributing his ideas to Socrates, he held that our aim was to be masters of our own lives. The role of the Stoic teacher, according to Epictetus, was to encourage his students to learn, first of all, the true nature of things, which is invariable, inviolable and valid for all human beings without exceptions.
The nature of things is further partitioned into two categories: those things that are subject to our exclusive power (prohairetic things) and those things that are not subject to our exclusive power (aprohairetic things). The first category of things includes judgment, impulse, desire, aversion, etc. The second category of things, which can also be called adiaphora, includes health, material wealth, fame, etc. Epictetus then introduced his students to two cardinal concepts: the concept of Prohairesis and the concept of Dihairesis. Prohairesis is what distinguishes humans from all other creatures. It is the faculty that, according to our own judgments, makes us desire or avert, feel impelled or repel, assent to or dissent about something. Epictetus repeatedly says that "we are our prohairesis." Dihairesis is the judgement that is performed by our Prohairesis, and that enables us to distinguish what is subject to our exclusive power from what is not subject to our exclusive power. Finally, Epictetus taught his students that good and evil exist only in our Prohairesis and never in external or aprohairetic things. The good student who thoroughly grasped these concepts and employed them in everyday life was prepared to live the philosophic life, whose objective was ataraxia (an undisturbed and serene state of mind). This meant fully understanding that we should not be affected by the external objects of our lives, because they are exclusively not up to us. This reasoning is in accordance with the knowledge of the true "nature of things," that is, the predetermined and complexly fixed order of the universe and the cosmos. Ataraxia was Epictetus', and the Stoics', ideal model of eudamonia, or "happiness and fulfillment."
From Brainy Quote (authenticity unverified)
All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.
Epictetus
Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
Epictetus
Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.
Epictetus
Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.
Epictetus
Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.
Epictetus
Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them.
Epictetus
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
Epictetus
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
Epictetus
Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
Epictetus
God has entrusted me with myself.
Epictetus
He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk.
Epictetus
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
Epictetus
If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
Epictetus
If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.
Epictetus
If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.
Epictetus
If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.
Epictetus
If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.
Epictetus
If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
Epictetus
If you wish to be a writer, write.
Epictetus
Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.
Epictetus
Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.
Epictetus
It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.
Epictetus
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.
Epictetus
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.
Epictetus
It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.
Epictetus
It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
Epictetus
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
Epictetus
Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.
Epictetus
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
Epictetus
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
Epictetus
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
Epictetus
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.
Epictetus
Never in any case say I have lost such a thing, but I have returned it. Is your child dead? It is a return. Is your wife dead? It is a return. Are you deprived of your estate? Is not this also a return?
Epictetus
No great thing is created suddenly.
Epictetus
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
Epictetus
No man is free who is not master of himself.
Epictetus
Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.
Epictetus
Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
Epictetus
One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.
Epictetus
Only the educated are free.
Epictetus
People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.
Epictetus
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.
Epictetus
Silence is safer than speech.
Epictetus
The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.
Epictetus
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
Epictetus
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
Epictetus
The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.
Epictetus
The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.
Epictetus
There is nothing good or evil save in the will.
Epictetus
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
Epictetus
To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.
Epictetus
Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.
Epictetus
We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free.
Epictetus
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
Epictetus
We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope.
Epictetus
We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral.
Epictetus
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
Epictetus
When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.
Epictetus
Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.
Epictetus
Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.
Epictetus
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
Epictetus
You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.
Epictetus
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