The Manual

Epictetus

Kindle Highlights

  • Within our power are our own opinions, aims, desires, dislikes—in sum, our own thoughts and actions. Outside our power are our physical characteristics, the class into which we were born, our reputation in the eyes of others, and honors and offices that may be bestowed on us.
  • If you wish to have peace and contentment, release your attachment to all things outside your control.
  • Whenever distress or displeasure arises in your mind, remind yourself, “This is only my interpretation, not reality itself.” Then ask whether it falls within or outside your sphere of power. And, if it is beyond your power to control, let it go.
  • People are not disturbed by things themselves, but by the views they take of those things.
  • People who are ignorant of philosophy blame others for their own misfortunes. Those who are beginning to learn philosophy blame themselves. Those who have mastered philosophy blame no one.
  • in life, remain steadfast in pursuing your mission, always willing to shed distractions.
  • Do not wish that all things will go well with you, but that you will go well with all things.
  • For as long as the Source entrusts something to your hands, treat it as something borrowed, like a traveller at an inn.
  • It is better to die poor, while free from fear and grief, than to live surrounded by riches and filled with anxiety.
  • Do not strive to be celebrated for anything. If you are praised by others, be skeptical of yourself.
  • If you wish to be free, do not desire anything that depends on another, lest you make them your master.
  • Whether you are cast as a pauper, a cripple, a congressman, or a king, play your part to the best of your ability.
  • Remind yourself, “Nothing is foreboding to me. All signs point to good luck, if I interpret them that way. Whatever life brings, I can use it to my advantage.”
  • If you make peace with all things that are beyond your power, refusing to fight them, you will be invincible.
  • If you intend to follow this path, prepare for your family and friends to sneer, “Look who’s become a philosopher now,” and, “So you think you’re better than us?”
  • If you find yourself acting to impress others, or avoiding action out of fear of what they might think, you have left the path.
  • Find satisfaction in following your philosophy. If you want to be respected, start by respecting yourself.
  • “What is my position in society?” The one best suited to your talents, which you can hold with honor.
  • So, if you have not been invited to a party, it is because you haven’t paid the price of the invitation. It costs social engagement, conversation, encouragement, and praise. If you are not willing to pay this price, do not be upset when you don’t receive an invitation.
  • Whenever misfortune befalls you, ask yourself how you would react if it were someone else in the same situation.
  • The Good stands before us like an archer’s target. Evil is not a thing in itself but a missing of the mark, an arrow gone astray.
  • If someone tried to take control of your body and make you a slave, you would fight for freedom. Yet how easily you hand over your mind to anyone who insults you. When you dwell on their words and let them dominate your thoughts, you make them your master.
  • Stop judging the things that fate brings you as “good” or “evil”; only judge your own thoughts, desires, and actions as good or evil.
  • Be the same person in public as in private.
  • Speak only what is useful and beneficial. In conversation, avoid idle chatter about horse races, athletes, celebrities, food, and drink. Refuse to participate in gossip—tearing down, inflating, and judging other people. Among friends, shift the conversation to worthy topics; among strangers, stay silent.
  • Avoid taking oaths (binding your will to another person or group of people) as much as possible.
  • Avoid vulgar entertainments. Sometimes you may accept an invitation out of politeness—in that case, go but keep your mental distance.
  • Take care of your bodily needs—food, drink, clothes, shelter—but avoid luxury and indulgence.
  • Enjoy sex only within the bounds of your marriage; but do not assume a posture of moral superiority and look down upon those who behave otherwise.
  • If a friend tells you that someone has criticized or insulted you, say, “They must not know about my other faults, or they would have pointed out those, too.”
  • When you attend the games, do not get emotionally invested in the rivalry. Wish only that the best team or athlete wins. Avoid the extremes of elation at a win and devastation at a loss.
  • In company, do not prattle on about your own adventures and misadventures. However exciting your exploits are to you, others may not be so interested.
  • If you are unsure how to act in a given social situation, ask yourself how Socrates or Zeno would behave. Model yourself after the wisest.
  • When you feel burning desire for something that appears pleasureful, you are like a person under a spell. Instead of acting on impulse, take a step back—wait till the enchantment fades and you can see things as they are.
  • Consider the cost of pursuing this potential pleasure, every consequence that may follow from acquiring or experiencing it, and how you will feel about it the next day. Then consider how you will feel about yourself tomorrow if you resist the temptation today.
  • Gaining in self-possession is more satisfying than any bodily pleasure.
  • Whenever you act from clear judgment, doing what needs to be done, do not worry about what others will think—even if the whole world might misunderstand you.
  • Black and white thinking may seem powerful in speeches and debates, but real life is mostly gray areas. It is rarely a question of good versus bad, but of weighing greater and lesser goods on a scale of values.
  • Care for your body as needed, but put your main energies and efforts into cultivating your mind.
  • Unless you perfectly understand another’s motives, how can you judge them? Do not mistake your impressions for the whole truth.
  • Do not proclaim yourself a philosopher, or go around preaching your principles. Show them by example.
  • Once you have reigned in your bodily appetites, do not brag about it. Ask for water, but do not announce at the table, “I only drink water.”
  • Do not make a spectacle of self-deprivation. When you fast, tell no one.
  • A philosopher is one whose thoughts and emotions are internally anchored. She criticizes no one, praises no one, blames no one. She considers herself a student, not an expert.
  • Follow your principles as though they were laws. Do not worry if others criticize or laugh at you, for their opinions are not your concern.
  • How long will you make excuses for your lapses? How long will you wait before following your reason without exception? You know all the necessary principles of philosophy. Are you waiting for some guru to order you around? You are no longer a child, but a mature adult—it’s time to act like one.
  • From this instant, then, choose to act like the worthy and capable person you are. Follow unwaveringly what reason tells you is the best course. Face every situation—promising pain or pleasure, glory or disgrace—with the courage of a soldier in battle.
  • Approach life as your own Olympic Games—each action is important, one movement can determine victory or defeat.
  • Philosophy is for living, not just learning.
  • They may kill me, but they cannot hurt me. —Socrates

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