The Complete Works: Handbook, Discourses, and Fragments by Epictetus

Author:Epictetus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

3.14

A miscellany

[1] “Just as a bad singer can’t sing on his own, but must be accompanied by many others, so some people are incapable of going for a stroll without company. [2] Man (if you are a man), walk by yourself, converse with yourself, and don’t hide in a choir. [3] Let yourself be mocked once in a while, take stock of your life, shake yourself up. It will help you to know yourself.”

[4] “When a person drinks nothing but water or adopts some other ascetic practice, he seizes every opportunity to tell everyone about it. [5] ‘I drink nothing but water.’ What? Is that why you drink only water?†44 Man, if drinking only water does you good, do it. If you do it for any other reason, you’re making a fool of yourself. [6] But if it does you good and you do it, don’t talk about it to people who are irritated by teetotalers. Are these really the people you want to please?”

[7] “Some actions are performed for their inherent value, while others are prompted by circumstances or business, or are done out of consideration for others or because they fit in with one’s way of life.”

[8] “Two characteristics that should be eliminated from people are presumption and diffidence. Presumption is thinking that there’s nothing you lack, and diffidence is believing that contentment is impossible given all the adverse circumstances with which one contends. [9] Presumption is removed by challenging cross-examination, which originated with Socrates. < . . . >*478 But you need to consider and try to prove to yourself that the matter is doable. [10] This investigation will do you no harm, and in fact that’s pretty much what philosophy is, trying to find how it’s possible to exercise desire and aversion without being obstructed.”

[11] “‘I’m better than you because my father has consular rank,’ says one. [12] ‘I’ve been a tribune and you haven’t,’ says another. But if we were horses, would you say, ‘My father runs faster than you’? Would you say, ‘I’ve got plenty of barley and grass,’ or ‘I’ve got a lovely halter’? What if I responded to your talking like this by saying, ‘All right, so let’s run a race’? [13] Tell me, is there nothing in the human realm that corresponds to horses’ running a race, in that it enables us to distinguish better from worse? Are there no such things as a sense of self-respect, trustworthiness, and justice? [14] Prove yourself better in these respects and then you’ll be better as a human being. But if you tell me that you’ve got a powerful kick, I for my part will tell you that you’re proud of something a donkey does.”

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