The following snippets are some of my favorite takeaways from Epictetus’s Discourses and Enchiridion.
They can be found here, along with my favorite passages from other books and essays that I’ve recently read: http://brandonbartneck.com/favorite-book-takeaways/.
Enchiridion
Book I, 2
“…reflection will show that people are put off by nothing as much as what they think is unreasonable, and attracted to nothing more than what to them seems reasonable…Which is why education has no goal more important than bringing our preconception of what is reasonable and unreasonable in alignment with nature.“
Book I, 4
“What I want to see isn’t the weights but how you’ve profited from using them...I want to know how you put impulse and repulsion into practice, and desire and avoidance as well.”
Book I, 6
“It is easy to praise providence for everything that happens in the world provided you have both the ability to see individual events in the context of the whole and a sense of gratitude.”
“Why should I worry about what happens if I am armed with the virtue of fortitude? Nothing can trouble or upset me, or even seems annoying. Instead of meeting misfortune with groans and tears, I will call upon the faculty especially provided to deal with it. ‘But my nose is running!’ What do you have hands for, idiot, if not to wipe it? ‘But how is it right that there be running noses in the first place?’ Instead of thinking up protests, wouldn’t it be easier just to wipe your nose?”
Book I, 9
“For in fact it is silly and pointless to try to get from another person what one can get from oneself. Since I can get greatness of soul and nobility from myself, why should I look to get a farm, or money, or some office, from you? I will not be so insensible of what I already own.”
Book I, 11
“…it isn’t death, pain, exile, or anything else you care to mention that accounts for the way we act, only our opinion about death, pain, and the rest…
Book I, 13
“If you have been placed in a position above others, are you automatically going to behave like a despot? Remember who you are and whom you govern – that they are kinsmen, brothers by nature, fellow descendants of Zeus.”
Book I, 15
“Philosophy does not claim to secure for us anything outside of our control.”
Book I, 17
“Which, I suppose, is why Stoics put logic at the head of our curriculum – for the same reason that, before a quantity of grain can be measured, we must settle on a standard of measurement. If we don’t begin by establishing standards of weight and volume, how are we going to measure or weigh anything?”
Book I, 18
“Philosophers say that people are all guided by a single standard. When they assent to a thing, it is because they feel it must be true, when they dissent, it is because they feel something isn’t true, and when they suspend judgement, it is because they feel that the thing is unclear…If all of this is true, then what grounds do we have for being angry with anyone?
“Since when are you so intelligent as to go around correcting other people’s mistakes? We get angry because we put too high a premium on things that they can steal. Don’t attach such value to your clothes, and you won’t get angry with the thief who takes them.
Book I, 19
“…everything we do is done for our own ends…[Zeus] made the rational animal, man, incapable of attaining any of his private ends without at the same time providing for the community. The upshot is that it is not anti-social to be constantly acting in one own’s self-interest.”
Book I, 22
“The operations of the will are in our power; not in our power are the body, the body’s parts, property, parents, siblings, children, country of friends. Where should we put the good, then – to which of the two classes are we going to assign it? To the class of things in our power.”
Book I, 24
“The true man is revealed in difficult times. So when trouble comes, think of yourself as a wrestler whom God, like a trainer, has paired with a tough young buck. For what purpose? To turn you into Olympic-class material.“
Book I, 29
“…the thief was better than I am at staying awake. But he acquired the lamp at a price; he became a thief for its sake, he lost his ability to be trusted, for a lamp he became a brute. And he imagine he came out ahead!”
“A student fresh out of school who gets into difficulty is like someone practised in the solving of syllogisms; if anyone gives him an easy one, he say, ‘Give me a knotty one instead, I want a bit of practice.’ In the same way, athletes don’t like to be paired with pushovers. ‘He can’t life me,’ one says, ‘this other guy is better built.’ No, when the crises comes, we groan and say, ‘I wanted to keep on learning.’ Keep learning what? If you didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for?”
Book I, 30
“‘How did you categorize exile, imprisonment, chains, death and disgrace, when you were in school?’
‘I said they were indifferent.’
‘And what do you call them now? They haven’t changed, I presume?’
‘No.’
‘Well, have you changed?’
‘No.’
‘Then define for me now what the ‘indifferents’ are.’
‘Whatever things we cannot control.’
‘Tell me the upshot.’
‘They are nothing to me.’
‘Remind me what you thought was good.’
‘The will and the right use of impressions.’
‘And the goal of life is what?’
‘To follow God.’”
Book II, 1
“Death and pain are not frightening, it’s the fear of pain and death we need to fear.”
Book II, 2
“…it is stupid to say, ‘Tell me what to do!’ What should I tell you? It would be better to say, ‘Make my mind adaptable to any circumstance.’”
Book II, 5
“So in life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control.“
“Don’t ever speak of ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘advantage’ or ‘harm’, and so on, of anything that is not in your responsibility.”
“It isn’t easy to combine and reconcile the two – the carefulness of a person devoted to the externals and the dignity of one who’s detached – but it’s not impossible. Otherwise, happiness would be impossible.”
“That’s what we need: the star athlete’s concentration together with his coolness, as if it were just another ball we were playing.
“Your job, then, is to appear before the court, say what you have to say and make the best of the situation. Then the judge declares you guilty. ‘I wish you well, judge. I did my part, you can decide if you did yours.’”
Book II, 6
“‘Don’t bother me; don’t you realize the problems I’ve got? You think I can listen to poetry in my position?’
‘Why, what is it?’
‘I’m sentenced to death!’
‘And the rest of us aren’t?’”
Book II, 8
“You carry the living God inside you and are blind to the fact that you desecrate him with your dirty words and dirty thoughts – none of which you would dare repeat if there were even a mere statue of a god near by. God himself is there within, seeing and overhearing everything you do and say – and do you care?”
Book II, 10
“…if ‘good’ as well as ‘bad’ really relate to our choices, then consider whether your position does not amount to saying something like, ‘Well, since that guy hurt himself with the injustice he did me, shouldn’t I wrong him in order to hurt myself in retaliation?’“
Book II, 13
“Take a lyre player: he’s relaxed when he performs alone, but put him in front of an audience, and it’s a different story, no matter how beautiful his voice or how well he plats the instrument. Why? Because he not only wants to perform well, he wants to be well received – and the latter lies outside his control.”
Book II, 14
“In our school ,we picture the philosopher’s goal more or less as follows: bring the will in line with events, so that nothing happens contrary to our wishes and, conversely, nothing fails to happen that we want to happen. Pursue it, and the reward is that neither desire nor aversion will fail in their aims; and we will fill all our roles in society – as son, father, brother, citizen, man, woman, neighbour, fellow voyager, rule or ruled – without conflict, fear, or rancour.”
“Philosophers say that the first thing to learn is that God exists, that he governs the world, and that we cannot keep our actions secret, that even our thoughts and inclinations are known to him…All our thoughts and behaviour should be shaped on the divine model.”
Book II, 15
[On our inclination to stick with our past decisions, even after learning that they were foolish]
“‘But we must stick with a decision.’
‘For heaven’s sake, man, that rule only applies to sound decisions.”
Book II, 16
“‘Where does the good lie?’
‘In the will.’
‘And evil?’
‘Also in the will.’
“‘Please, God,’ we say, ‘relieve me of my anxiety.’ Listen, stupid, you have hands. God gave them to you himself. You might as well get on your knees and pray that your nose won’t run. A better idea would be to wipe your nose and forgo the prayer. The point is, isn’t there anything God gave you for your present problem? You have the gifts of courage, fortitude and endurance. With ‘hands’ like these, do you still need somebody to help wipe your nose?”
Book II, 17
“‘I want to be free from fear and emotion, but at the same time I want to be a concerned citizen and philosopher, and attentive to my other duties, toward God, my parents, my siblings, my country, and my guests.’”
Book II, 18
“Start by wanting to please yourself, for a change, and appear worthy in the eyes of God. Desire to become pure, and, once pure, you will be at ease with yourself, and comfortable in the company of God.”
“Don’t let the force of the impression when first it hits you knock you off your feet; just say to it, ‘Hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent.’”
Book II, 19
“…it is no great achievement to memorize what you have read while not formulating an opinion on your own.”
“Just pay attention to the way you behave and you will discover the school of philosophy you really belong to.”
Book III, 22
“You look for peace and happiness in the wrong places; and you’re suspicious of anyone who tries to point you in the right direction. Don’t look for it in externals; it isn’t in the body,”
Book III, 23
“First, tell yourself what you want to be, then act your part accordingly.”
“…the school of a philosopher is a hospital. When you leave, you should have suffered, not enjoyed yourself. Because you enter, not in a state of health, but with a dislocated shoulder, it may be, or an abscess, a fistula, or head pain.”
Book IV, 1
“Free is the person who lives as he wishes and cannot be coerced, impeded or compelled, whose impulses cannot be thwarted, who always gets what he desires and never has to experience what he would rather avoid…No bad person…lives the way he wants, and no bad man is free.”
“There are tame lions that people cage, raise, feed and take with them wherever they go. Yet who will call such a lion free? The easier its life, the more slavish it is. No lion endowed with reason and discretion would choose to be one of these pet specimens.”
“…when we love, hate or fear such things, then the people who administer them are bound to become our masters.”
“…he brought you into the world as a mortal, to pass your time on earth with a little endowment of flesh, to witness his design and share for a short time in his feast and celebration. So why not enjoy the feast and pageant while it’s given you to do so; then, when he ushers you out, go with thanks and reverence for what you were privileged for a time to see and hear…If the conditions don’t suit you, leave. He doesn’t need a heckler in the audience. He wants people keen to participate in the dance and revels.”
“…we assert that in their nature human beings are gentle, honest and cooperative – that’s pretty ridiculous, is it not? No, that isn’t either – which is why no one suffers harm even if they are flogged, jailed, or beheaded. The victim may be majestic in suffering, you see, and come through a better, more fortunate person; while the one who really comes to harm, who suffers the most and most pitifully, is the person who is transformed from human being to wolf, snake or hornet.”
“…just and fairness are good, vice and injustice bad.”
“Freedom is not achieved by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it.”
Book IV, 4
“True peace is characterized by nothing so much as steadiness and imperturbability.”
“If you keep yourself calm, poised, and dignified, if you observe rather than are observed, if you don’t envy people with greater success, don’t let externals disconcert you – if you do all this, what more do you need? Books? Yes, but how, or for what purpose?
‘Isn’t reading a kind of preparation for life?
But life is composed of things other than books. It is as if an athlete, on entering the stadium, were to complain that he’s not outside exercising.
…it is enough for us to learn what is written on the topic and be able to explicate it before someone else; it is enough if we can analyse an argument or develop a hypothesis.
…And rather than reckon, as we are used to doing, ‘How many lines I read, or wrote, today,’ we would pass in review how ‘I applied impulse today the way the philosophers recommend, how I desisted from desire, and practised aversion only on matters that are under my control. I wasn’t flustered by A or angered by B; I was patient, restained and cooperative.“
“Be happy when you find the doctrines you have learned and analysed are being tested by real events.”
Enchiridion
Ch.1
“We are responsible for some things, while there are others for which we cannot be held responsible. The former include our judgement, our impulse, our desire, aversion and our mental faculties in general.”
“Is this something that is, or is not, in my control? And if it’s not, one of the things that you control, be with the reaction, ‘Then it’s none of my concern.’”
Ch.2
“…if your resentment is directed at illness, death or poverty, you are headed for dissapointment. Remove it from anything not in our power to control and direct it instead toward things contrary to our nature that we do control”
Ch.5
“It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them. Death, for example, is nothing frightening, otherwise it would have frightened Socrates. But the judgement that death is frightening – now, that is something to be afraid of.“
“An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame another or himself.”
Ch.8
“Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.”
Ch.12
“It is better to die of hunger free of grief and apprehension than to live affluent and uneasy.”
Ch.19
“If the essence of the good lies within us, then there is no place for jealousy or envy, and you will not care about being a general, a senator or a consul – only about about being free. And the way to be free is to look down on externals.”
Ch.20
“If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.“
Ch.21
“Keep the prospect of death, exile and all such apparent tragedies before you every day.”
Ch.25
[After detailing the apparent advantages that someone will miss out on if they stick to their virtues, and how we should accept this as part of the price for living a good life] “It would be unfair and greedy on your part, then, to decline to pay the price that these privileges entail and hope to get them free.”
Ch.27
“Just as a target is not set up in order to be missed, so evil is no natural part of the world’s design.”
Ch.29
“Reflect on what every project entails in both its initial and subsequent stages before taking it up.”
[After talking further about the worldly price that comes with being a philosopher] Ponder whether you’re prepared to pay this price for serenity, freedom, and calm. If not, then don’t go near it -“
Ch.30
“Another person will not hurt you without your cooperation: you are hurt the moment you believe yourself to be.”
Ch.31
“Realize that the chief duty we owe the gods is to hold the correct beliefs about them: that they exist, that they govern the world justly and well, and that they have put you here for one purpose – to obey them and welcome whatever happens…And this cannot happen unless you stop applying “good” and “bad” to externals and only describe things under our control that way.
Ch.32
“Approach the gods with a dignified attitude, think of them as your advisers. But once their advice has been given, remember the source and consider who you would be slighting if you were to set that advice aside.”
Ch.33
“Settle on the type of person you want to be and stick to it, whether alone or in company.“
“If you learn that someone is speaking ill of you, don’t try to defend yourself against the rumours; respond instead with, ‘Yes, and he doesn’t know the half of it, because he could have said more.’”
Ch.34
“…reflect on both intervals of time: the time you will have to experience the pleasure, and the time after its enjoyment that you will beat yourself up over it. Contrast that with how happy and pleased you’ll be if you abstain.”
Ch.42
“Whenever anyone criticizes or wrongs you, remember that they are only doing or saying what they think is right. They cannot be guided by your views, only their own; so if their views are wrong, they are the ones who suffer insofar as they are misguided.”
Ch.45
“Someone bathes in haste; don’t say he bathes badly, but in haste. Someone drinks a lot of wine; don’t say he drinks badly, but a lot. Until you know their reasons, how do you know that their actions are vicious?”
Ch.46
“Never identify yourself as a philosopher or speak much to non-philosophers about your principles; act in line with those principles...so don’t make a show of your philosophical learning to the uninitiated, show them by your actions what you have absorbed.”
Ch.48
“And the signs of a person making progress: he never criticizes, praises, blames, or points the finger, or represents himself as knowing or amounting to anything. If he experiences frustration or disappointment, he points the finger at himself. If he’s praised, he’s more amused than elated.”
Ch.51
“How long will you wait before you demand the best of yourself, and trust reason to determine what is best?”
“…the chance for progress, to keep or lose, turns on the events of a single day.”
Ch.52
“The first and most important field of philosophy is the application of principles such as ‘Do not lie.’ Next comes the proofs, such as why we should not lie. The third field supports and articulates the proofs, by asking, for example, ‘How does this prove it? What exactly is a proof, what is logical inference, what is contradiction, what is truth, what is falsehood? Thus, the third field is necessary because of the second and the second because of the first. The most important, though, the one that should occupy most of our time, is the first. But we do just the opposite. We are preoccupied with the third field and give that all our attention, passing the first by altogether. The result is that we lie – but have no difficulty proving why we shouldn’t.“