Epictetus — Enchiridion - Select Sayings

Epictetus — Enchiridion and Select Sayings

1. Some things are within our power, and others are not. Within our power are judgment, impulse, desire, aversion—in a word, whatever is our own action. Not within our power are the body, possessions, reputation, offices—in a word, whatever is not our own action. What is within our power is by nature free, unhindered, and unrestrained; what is not within our power is weak, enslaved, hindered, and belongs to another. Remember, then, that if you regard what is enslaved as free and what belongs to another as your own, you will be obstructed, grieved, troubled, and will blame gods and people. But if you regard only what is yours as yours, and what belongs to another as belonging to another, no one will ever compel or hinder you; you will blame and accuse no one; you will do nothing unwillingly; no one will harm you, and you will have no enemy, for you will suffer nothing harmful. Since you seek such great things, remember that you must not grasp them with a moderate effort. You must entirely let go of some things and postpone others for the present. But if you also desire office and wealth, perhaps you will not obtain even these because you seek the former things too; and you will certainly fail to obtain the things from which freedom and happiness alone arise. Therefore, whenever a disturbing impression comes, immediately say, ‘You are an impression and not at all the thing you appear to be.’ Then examine it by the standards you possess, first and chiefly by this: whether it concerns things within our power or things not within our power. If it concerns what is not within our power, be ready to say, ‘It is nothing to me.’

2. Remember that desire promises the obtaining of what you desire, while aversion promises escape from what you avoid. Whoever fails in desire is unfortunate, and whoever falls into what he avoids is miserable. Therefore, for now, remove aversion from everything not within your power, and direct it only toward what is contrary to nature among the things within your power. For the present, suppress desire altogether; for if you desire anything not within your power, you must be unfortunate, while none of the things within your power that would be proper to desire is yet securely in your possession. Use only impulse to act and restraint from action, and use them lightly, with reservation and without strain.

3. With regard to every object that delights you, serves you, or is loved by you, remember to tell yourself what kind of thing it is, beginning with the smallest things. If you love a clay vessel, say, ‘I love a clay vessel’; for when it breaks, you will not be disturbed. If you kiss your child or your wife, say that you are kissing a human being; for when that person dies, you will not be disturbed beyond measure.

4. Whenever you are about to undertake an action, remind yourself what kind of action it is. If you are going to bathe, set before your mind what happens at a public bath: people splash, jostle, insult, and steal. You will undertake the action more securely if you say at once, ‘I wish to bathe and also to keep my governing faculty in harmony with nature.’ Do the same in every action. Then, if anything obstructs your bathing, you will be ready to say, ‘I did not wish merely to bathe, but also to keep my governing faculty in harmony with nature; and I will not keep it so if I am angry at what happens.’

5. People are disturbed not by things, but by the judgments they form about things. Death, for example, is nothing terrible, or it would have appeared so to Socrates. The judgment that death is terrible—that is the terrible thing. Therefore, when we are hindered, disturbed, or grieved, let us never blame another, but ourselves—that is, our own judgments. It is the act of an uneducated person to blame others for his own bad condition; of one beginning education, to blame himself; and of one fully educated, to blame neither another nor himself.

6. Do not be elated by an excellence that is not your own. If a horse were elated and said, ‘I am beautiful,’ that might be tolerable. But when you are elated and say, ‘I have a beautiful horse,’ know that you are elated over the horse’s good. What, then, is your own? The use of impressions. Therefore, when you use impressions according to nature, then be elated; for then you will be elated over a good that is your own.

7. As on a voyage, when the ship has anchored, you may go ashore for water and gather a shellfish or a little bulb along the way, but your mind must remain directed toward the ship and you must continually watch in case the captain calls; and if he calls, you must leave all those things so that you are not thrown aboard bound like sheep. So also in life: if, instead of a shellfish and a bulb, a wife and child are given to you, nothing prevents it. But if the captain calls, run to the ship, leaving all things and not turning back. And if you are old, do not even go far from the ship, lest you fail to answer when called.

8. Do not seek for events to happen as you wish, but wish events to happen as they do happen, and your life will flow well.

9. Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will unless the will chooses it. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will. Say this to yourself concerning everything that happens, and you will find it an impediment to something else, but not to yourself.

10. With every event that befalls you, turn inward and ask what faculty you have for making use of it. If you see a beautiful man or woman, you will find self-restraint as the faculty for the occasion. If hardship comes, you will find endurance. If insult, patience. Once habituated in this way, impressions will not carry you away.

11. Never say of anything, ‘I have lost it,’ but, ‘I have returned it.’ Has your child died? It has been returned. Has your wife died? She has been returned. Has your property been taken? Then it too has been returned. ‘But the person who took it is wicked.’ What is it to you through whom the giver required its return? While it is given to you, care for it as something not your own, as travellers care for an inn.

12. If you wish to make progress, abandon thoughts such as these: ‘If I neglect my affairs, I shall have nothing to live on’; ‘If I do not punish my servant, he will be bad.’ For it is better to die of hunger, free from grief and fear, than to live in abundance while troubled. It is better for your servant to be bad than for you to be unhappy. Begin, therefore, with little things. Is a little oil spilled? Is a little wine stolen? Say, ‘This is the price of freedom from passion; this is the price of tranquillity.’ Nothing is acquired without cost. When you call your servant, consider that he may not hear, and if he hears, he may not do what you want. But he is not so well placed that your tranquillity should depend on him.

13. If you wish to make progress, accept appearing foolish and ignorant concerning external things. Do not wish to seem knowledgeable. And if some think you important, distrust yourself. Know that it is not easy to keep your governing faculty in harmony with nature and at the same time to keep external things; but whoever devotes himself to one must necessarily neglect the other.

14. If you wish your children, wife, and friends to live forever, you are foolish; for you wish things not within your power to be within your power and what belongs to another to be your own. Likewise, if you wish your servant never to err, you are foolish; for you wish vice not to be vice but something else. But if you wish not to fail in your desire, this is within your power. Exercise yourself, therefore, in what you can accomplish. The master of each person is whoever has power over the things that person wants or does not want, either to provide or to take away. Whoever, then, wishes to be free, let him neither desire nor avoid anything that depends on others; otherwise he must be enslaved.

15. Remember that you must conduct yourself in life as at a banquet. Has a dish come around to you? Stretch out your hand and take a moderate portion. Does it pass by? Do not hold it back. Has it not yet come? Do not cast your desire forward, but wait until it reaches you. Act in the same way toward children, wife, offices, and wealth, and you will someday be worthy to feast with the gods. But if, when these things are set before you, you do not take them, but despise them, then you will not only feast with the gods but also share their rule. For by acting thus Diogenes, Heraclitus, and those like them were deservedly divine and were called so.

16. When you see someone weeping in grief because his child has gone abroad or because he has lost his possessions, take care not to be carried away by the impression that he is afflicted by external things. Keep ready the thought: ‘What troubles him is not what has happened—for the same thing does not trouble another—but his judgment about it.’ Yet do not hesitate to sympathize with him in words, and even, if fitting, to groan with him; but take care that you do not groan inwardly as well.

17. Remember that you are an actor in a drama of the kind the author chooses—short if he chooses it short, long if long. If he wishes you to act a poor person, act even this role skilfully; likewise if a cripple, a magistrate, or an ordinary person. Your task is to act well the role that is given to you; choosing it belongs to another.

18. When a raven croaks inauspiciously, do not be carried away by the impression, but immediately distinguish within yourself and say: ‘None of these signs concerns me, but only my poor body, my small property, my reputation, my children, or my wife. For me every sign is favourable if I wish it so; for whatever happens, it is within my power to benefit from it.’

19. You can be unconquerable if you enter no contest in which victory is not within your power. When you see someone honoured above others, possessing great authority, or otherwise highly esteemed, take care not to pronounce him happy, carried away by the impression. For if the nature of the good lies in things within our power, there is no place for envy or jealousy. You yourself should not wish to be a general, senator, or consul, but to be free. There is only one way to freedom: contempt for what is not within our power.

20. Remember that it is not the person who abuses or strikes you who insults you, but your judgment that these things are insulting. Therefore, when someone provokes you, know that it is your own opinion that has provoked you. Try above all, then, not to be carried away by the impression; for if once you gain time and delay, you will more easily command yourself.

21. Let death, exile, and all things that appear terrible be daily before your eyes—death above all—and you will never think anything mean or desire anything excessively.

22. If you set your desire upon philosophy, prepare from the beginning to be laughed at and mocked by many, who will say, ‘He has suddenly returned to us a philosopher,’ and, ‘Where did he get this proud look?’ But do not take on a proud look. Hold fast to the things that appear best to you, as one stationed by God in that place. Remember that if you remain firm, those who first mocked you will afterward admire you; but if you are defeated by them, you will incur double ridicule.

23. If it ever happens that you turn outward in order to please someone, know that you have lost your way of life. Be content, therefore, in everything to be a philosopher; and if you also wish to appear one, appear so to yourself, and it will be enough.

24. Do not let these thoughts trouble you: ‘I shall live without honour and be nobody anywhere.’ For if lack of honour is an evil, you cannot be in evil through another, any more than you can be in shame through another. Is it your business to obtain office or to be invited to a banquet? Certainly not. How, then, is this lack of honour? And how will you be nobody anywhere, when you ought to be somebody only in the things within your power, in which you may be of the greatest worth? ‘But my friends will be without help.’ What do you mean by ‘without help’? They will not receive money from you, nor will you make them Roman citizens. Who told you that these things are within your power rather than the affairs of others? Who can give another what he does not have himself? ‘Acquire money, then,’ someone says, ‘so that we too may have it.’ If I can acquire it while preserving modesty, faithfulness, and greatness of mind, show me the way, and I will acquire it. But if you demand that I lose my own good things so that you may gain things that are not good, see how unjust and foolish you are. Which do you prefer: money, or a faithful and modest friend? Help me rather to become such a friend, and do not ask me to do things by which I shall cease to be one. ‘But my country,’ he says, ‘will receive no help from me.’ Again, what help do you mean? It will not obtain colonnades or baths from you. And what of that? It does not receive shoes from a blacksmith or weapons from a shoemaker. It is enough if each fulfils his own work. Would you confer no benefit upon your country by producing another faithful and modest citizen? Indeed you would. Therefore, you would not be useless to it. ‘What place, then, shall I hold in the state?’ Whatever place you can while preserving your faithfulness and modesty. But if, wishing to benefit the state, you throw these away, what use will you be to it when you have become shameless and faithless?

25. Has someone been preferred to you at a banquet, in a greeting, or in being consulted? If these things are good, you ought to rejoice that he obtained them; but if they are evil, do not be grieved that you did not obtain them. Remember that you cannot claim an equal share if you do not do the same things to obtain what is not within our power. How can one who does not visit a man’s door have an equal share with one who does? Or one who does not escort him with one who does? Or one who does not praise him with one who does? You will be unjust and insatiable if, unwilling to pay the price for which such things are sold, you wish to receive them for nothing. What is the price of lettuce? Perhaps a coin. If someone pays the coin and receives the lettuce, while you do not pay and do not receive it, do not imagine that you have less than he. For as he has the lettuce, you have the coin you did not give. So also here. Were you not invited to someone’s banquet? You did not pay the host the price for which he sells the meal. He sells it for praise; he sells it for attendance. Pay the price, then, if it benefits you. But if you wish both not to pay and to receive, you are insatiable and foolish. Have you nothing instead of the meal? You have this: you did not praise the man you did not wish to praise, and you did not endure the conduct of those at his door.

26. The will of nature may be learned from the things in which we do not differ from one another. When another’s servant breaks a cup, you are ready to say, ‘These things happen.’ Know, then, that when your own cup is broken, you ought to be as you were when another’s was broken. Apply this also to greater things. Another’s child or wife has died. No one would fail to say, ‘This is the human condition.’ But when one’s own child dies, immediately one cries, ‘Alas, miserable me!’ We should remember how we feel when we hear the same thing about others.

27. As a target is not set up to be missed, so the nature of evil does not arise in the world as an object appointed for us.

28. If someone entrusted your body to any person who met you, you would be angry; yet you entrust your mind to anyone who happens to insult you, allowing it to be disturbed and confused. Are you not ashamed of this?

29. In every action consider what comes before and what follows, and only then undertake it. Otherwise you will begin enthusiastically, because you have not considered what follows, but when difficulties appear you will abandon the task shamefully. Do you wish to win at Olympia? So do I, by the gods, for it is a fine thing. But consider what comes before and what follows, and then undertake it. You must submit to discipline, eat according to rule, abstain from delicacies, exercise under command at a fixed hour, in heat and cold; you must not drink cold water or wine whenever you please; you must hand yourself over to a trainer as to a physician; then in the contest you may be gouged, have your hand dislocated, twist your ankle, swallow much dust, be whipped, and after all this be defeated. Having considered these things, if you still wish it, enter the contest. Otherwise you will behave like children, who at one moment play wrestlers, then gladiators, then blow trumpets, then act tragedies. So you too will be at one time an athlete, then a gladiator, then an orator, then a philosopher, but nothing with your whole soul. Like an ape, you imitate whatever you see, and one thing after another pleases you. For you have undertaken nothing with consideration or after examining it thoroughly, but rashly and with a cold desire. Thus some, seeing a philosopher and hearing someone speak like Euphrates—and yet who can speak like him?—wish to become philosophers themselves. Human being, first consider what the thing is; then examine your own nature and whether you can bear it. Do you wish to be a pentathlete or wrestler? Look at your arms, your thighs, your lower back; different people are naturally suited for different things. Do you think that by becoming a philosopher you can eat and drink as you do now, be angry and discontented as you are now? You must keep watch, labour, withdraw from your own people, be despised by a slave, be ridiculed by those you meet, and in everything be inferior—in honour, office, courts, and every small affair. Consider these things. If you are willing to exchange them for freedom from passion, freedom, and tranquillity, then approach philosophy. Otherwise do not approach; do not be, like children, first a philosopher, then a tax collector, then an orator, then an imperial procurator. These things do not agree. You must be one person, either good or bad. You must cultivate either your governing faculty or external things; you must work upon either what is within or what is outside—in a word, you must take the place either of a philosopher or of an ordinary person.

30. Duties are generally measured by relations. He is a father: this requires that you care for him, yield to him in all things, bear with him when he reproaches or strikes you. ‘But he is a bad father.’ Were you related by nature to a good father? No, simply to a father. ‘My brother wrongs me.’ Then preserve your own relation toward him; do not consider what he does, but what you must do so that your own choice remains in harmony with nature. No one will harm you unless you choose it; you will be harmed only when you judge yourself harmed. In this way, then, you will discover the duty owed to neighbour, citizen, or commander, if you accustom yourself to examine the relations.

31. Know that the chief part of reverence toward the gods is to have right judgments about them: that they exist and govern the whole well and justly; and to set yourself to obey them, yielding to everything that happens and following it willingly as accomplished by the highest understanding. In this way you will never blame the gods or accuse them of neglecting you. But this cannot be done unless you remove good and evil from things not within our power and place them only in things within our power. For if you regard any external thing as good or evil, it is altogether necessary that when you fail to obtain what you desire or fall into what you avoid, you blame and hate those responsible. Every living creature naturally flees and turns away from things that appear harmful and their causes, and pursues and admires things that appear beneficial and their causes. It is impossible, then, for one who thinks himself harmed to delight in what he thinks harms him, just as it is impossible to delight in the harm itself. Hence a son reviles his father when the father does not share with him the things believed to be good; and this made Polynices and Eteocles enemies, because they thought kingship good. For this reason the farmer, sailor, merchant, and those who lose wife or children revile the gods. Where a person’s interest is, there also is his reverence. Therefore, whoever takes care to desire and avoid rightly takes care at the same time to be reverent. But it is proper in every case to make libations, sacrifice, and offer firstfruits according to ancestral custom, with purity, without carelessness, negligence, meanness, or extravagance.

32. When you resort to divination, remember that you do not know what will happen, and you have come to learn it from the diviner; but what kind of thing it is you already know, if indeed you are a philosopher. For if it is among things not within our power, it cannot be either good or evil. Therefore, do not bring desire or aversion to the diviner, and do not approach trembling, but know that every outcome is indifferent and nothing to you, and that whatever it may be, it will be possible to use it well, and no one can hinder this. Go, then, with confidence to the gods as counsellors; and afterward, when counsel has been given, remember whom you have taken as counsellors and whom you will disregard if you disobey. Resort to divination, as Socrates thought proper, in matters where the whole inquiry concerns the outcome and where neither reason nor any other skill provides means for discovering what lies before us. Therefore, when it is necessary to share danger with a friend or country, do not ask the diviner whether you should share it. For even if he tells you that the omens are unfavourable, it is plain that death, mutilation, or exile is signified; but reason requires that even with these risks you stand by your friend and share danger with your country. Attend, then, to the greater diviner, the Pythian, who expelled from the temple the man who had not helped his friend when he was being murdered.

33. Immediately prescribe for yourself a character and pattern that you will preserve both when alone and when among people. Be silent for the most part, or speak only what is necessary and in few words. Rarely, when the occasion requires speech, speak, but not about common matters—not about gladiators, horse races, athletes, food, or drink, which are everywhere discussed—and especially not about people, blaming, praising, or comparing them. If you can, lead the conversation of your companions by your own speech toward what is fitting. But if you are isolated among strangers, be silent.

34. Do not laugh much, nor at many things, nor without restraint.

35. Refuse, as far as possible, to swear any oath; if that is impossible, refuse as far as circumstances permit.

36. Avoid banquets given by outsiders and ordinary people; but if an appropriate occasion arises, take great care not to fall into vulgar behaviour. Know that if your companion is polluted, the person who associates with him must also become polluted, even if he himself happens to be clean.

37. In things concerning the body, take only what bare need requires: food, drink, clothing, house, and household. Exclude everything directed toward display or luxury.

38. As for sexual relations, preserve purity before marriage as far as you can; and if you engage in them, partake only as is lawful. But do not become offensive or censorious toward those who do engage in them, and do not continually proclaim that you yourself abstain.

39. If anyone reports to you that someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against what was said, but answer: ‘He did not know my other faults, or he would not have mentioned these alone.’

40. It is not necessary to attend the theatres often. But if an occasion requires it, show yourself to support no one except yourself—that is, wish only for what happens to happen and for the victor to be the one who wins; for in this way you will not be hindered. Abstain entirely from shouting, laughing at anyone, or being greatly excited. After you leave, do not talk much about what happened, except insofar as it contributes to your improvement; for by such talk it appears that you admired the spectacle.

41. Do not go freely and readily to public readings. But when you do go, preserve dignity and steadiness, and at the same time avoid making yourself disagreeable.

42. When you are about to meet anyone, especially one thought to be eminent, ask yourself what Socrates or Zeno would have done in such circumstances, and you will not be at a loss to make proper use of the occasion. When you go to someone with great power, set before your mind that you may not find him at home, that you may be shut out, that the doors may be closed against you, that he may pay no attention to you. If, despite these things, duty requires that you go, bear what happens and never say to yourself, ‘It was not worth so much.’ For this is the mark of an ordinary person who is offended by external things.

43. In conversations avoid frequent and excessive mention of your own deeds and dangers. For however pleasant it is to you to remember what risks you have faced, it is not equally pleasant to others to hear what has happened to you.

44. Avoid raising laughter; for this habit easily slips into vulgarity and may lessen your neighbours’ respect for you. It is also dangerous to fall into obscene speech. When anything of this kind happens, if the occasion permits, rebuke the person who has gone into it; if not, show plainly by silence, blush, and severe expression that the speech displeases you.

45. When you receive an impression of some pleasure, guard yourself from being carried away by it, as with other impressions. Let the matter wait for you, and obtain some delay for yourself. Then bring to mind the two times: the time in which you will enjoy the pleasure, and the time afterward in which you may repent and reproach yourself. Set against these the joy and self-approval you will feel if you abstain. But if the right occasion for action appears, take care that its charm, sweetness, and attraction do not conquer you; set against them how much better is the consciousness of having gained this victory.

46. When you have decided that something ought to be done, never avoid being seen doing it, even if most people are likely to judge it wrongly. For if the action is not right, avoid the action itself; but if it is right, why fear those who will wrongly rebuke you?

47. As the statements ‘It is day’ and ‘It is night’ have great value when separated but none when joined, so in a banquet choosing the larger portion may have value for the body but has no value for preserving the social harmony of the meal. Therefore, when dining with another, remember not only the value of the food set before you for the body, but also the value of maintaining regard for the host.

48. If you undertake a role beyond your capacity, you both disgrace yourself in it and neglect one that you could have fulfilled well.

49. Just as in walking you take care not to step on a nail or twist your ankle, so take care not to harm your governing faculty. If we guard this in every action, we shall undertake action more securely.

50. The measure of possessions for each person is the body, as the foot is the measure of the shoe. If you keep to this measure, you will preserve proportion; but if you go beyond it, you must afterward be carried down a precipice. In the case of a shoe, once you go beyond what the foot requires, the shoe is first gilded, then purple, then embroidered; for there is no limit to what has once exceeded measure.

51. Women are immediately called mistresses by men when they are fourteen years old. Seeing, therefore, that nothing else is left to them except to share men’s beds, they begin to adorn themselves and place all their hopes in this. It is worth taking pains, then, to make them understand that they are honoured for nothing other than appearing modest and self-respecting.

52. It is a sign of a dull nature to spend much time on things concerning the body, such as exercising greatly, eating greatly, drinking greatly, and repeatedly emptying the bowels or copulating. These things should be done incidentally; let your whole attention be directed toward the mind.

53. When someone treats you badly or speaks badly of you, remember that he acts or speaks because he thinks it is proper for him. It is not possible for him to follow what appears so to you, but what appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges wrongly, he is the one harmed, for he is the one deceived. If someone thinks a true proposition false, the proposition is not harmed, but the person deceived. Beginning from these principles, you will be gentle toward one who reviles you. Say on each occasion, ‘It seemed so to him.’

54. Everything has two handles, one by which it may be carried and one by which it cannot. If your brother wrongs you, do not take hold of it by the handle of his wrongdoing, for this is the handle by which it cannot be carried; rather take hold of the other, that he is your brother and was brought up with you, and you will take hold of the matter by the handle by which it can be carried.

55. These reasonings are inconsistent: ‘I am richer than you, therefore I am better than you’; ‘I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better than you.’ But these are more consistent: ‘I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours’; ‘I am more eloquent than you, therefore my speech is better than yours.’ But you are neither property nor speech.

56. Does someone bathe quickly? Do not say that he bathes badly, but that he bathes quickly. Does someone drink much wine? Do not say that he drinks badly, but that he drinks much. For until you have determined his judgment, how do you know whether he acts badly? In this way you will not assent to one impression while comprehending another.

57. Never call yourself a philosopher, and do not talk much among ordinary people about philosophical principles; rather do what follows from the principles. At a banquet, for example, do not say how one ought to eat, but eat as one ought. Remember that Socrates so completely removed display that people came to him wishing to be introduced to philosophers, and he took them and introduced them; so easily did he bear being overlooked. And if a discussion about some principle arises among ordinary people, keep silent for the most part; for there is great danger that you immediately vomit up what you have not digested. When someone says to you that you know nothing and you are not stung, then know that you have begun the work. Sheep do not bring their fodder to the shepherds and show how much they have eaten; they digest the food within and produce wool and milk outside. Therefore, do not display principles to ordinary people, but display the actions produced by principles after they have been digested.

58. When you have trained your body to require little, do not boast of it; and if you drink water, do not say at every opportunity, ‘I drink water.’ If at any time you wish to train yourself to hardship, do it for your own sake and not for outsiders. Do not embrace statues publicly; but if you are ever exceedingly thirsty, take a little cold water into your mouth and spit it out, and tell no one.

59. The condition and character of an ordinary person is this: he never expects benefit or harm from himself, but from externals. The condition and character of a philosopher is this: he expects every benefit and harm from himself. Signs of one making progress are these: he censures no one, praises no one, blames no one, accuses no one; he says nothing about himself as if he were someone or knew something. When hindered or obstructed, he accuses himself. If someone praises him, he laughs inwardly at the one who praises; and if someone censures him, he makes no defence. He goes about like a convalescent, taking care not to move any part that is recovering before it is firmly set. He has removed every desire from himself, and has transferred aversion only to things contrary to nature that are within our power. He uses impulse toward everything lightly. If he appears foolish or ignorant, he does not care. In a word, he keeps watch over himself as over an enemy lying in ambush.

60. When someone prides himself on being able to understand and explain the books of Chrysippus, say to yourself, ‘If Chrysippus had not written obscurely, this person would have nothing on which to pride himself.’ But what do I wish? To understand nature and follow it. I ask, therefore, who interprets it. Hearing that Chrysippus does, I go to him. But I do not understand his writings, so I seek an interpreter. Up to this point there is nothing to be proud of. When I have found the interpreter, what remains is to use the teachings. This alone is worthy of pride. But if I admire the act of interpretation itself, what else have I become but a grammarian instead of a philosopher, except that I interpret Chrysippus instead of Homer? Therefore, when someone says to me, ‘Read Chrysippus to me,’ I blush when I cannot show actions that agree with and resemble his words.

61. Whatever principles you set before yourself, hold to them as laws that it would be impious to transgress. Pay no attention to whatever anyone says about you, for this no longer belongs to you.

62. How long will you postpone judging yourself worthy of the best things and transgress in nothing the distinctions made by reason? You have received the principles to which you ought to assent, and you have assented. What teacher, then, do you still expect, so that you may delay your correction until he comes? You are no longer a boy but already a grown man. If you are now negligent and careless, always making one delay after another and appointing day after day on which you will attend to yourself, you will fail to notice that you are making no progress, but you will continue as an ordinary person both while living and dying. Therefore, from this moment judge yourself worthy to live as one mature and making progress. Let everything that appears best to you be an inviolable law. And if anything painful, pleasant, glorious, or inglorious is brought before you, remember that the contest is now, that the Olympic games are here, and that they cannot be postponed; and that by one defeat and yielding progress may be lost or preserved. Socrates became perfect in this way, attending to nothing except reason in everything that came before him. You, though not yet Socrates, ought to live as one who wishes to be Socrates.

63. The first and most necessary field in philosophy is the use of principles—for example, that people should not lie. The second concerns demonstrations—for example, from where it follows that one should not lie. The third confirms and distinguishes these—for example, from where this is a demonstration, what demonstration is, what consequence is, what contradiction is, what truth and falsehood are. Therefore the third field is necessary because of the second, and the second because of the first; but the most necessary and the one on which we ought to rest is the first. Yet we do the opposite: we spend all our time on the third field and all our zeal upon it, while entirely neglecting the first. Therefore we lie, but we are ready to demonstrate that one ought not to lie.

64. On every occasion we must have these thoughts ready: ‘Lead me, Zeus, and you, Destiny, wherever I am appointed to go. I will follow without hesitation; but even if I am unwilling and become bad, I shall follow nonetheless.’ And: ‘Whoever rightly yields to necessity is wise among us and understands divine things.’ And: ‘Well, Crito, if this pleases the gods, let it be so.’ And: ‘Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they cannot harm me.’

Select Sayings

1. Of things, some are good, some evil, and some indifferent. The good are virtues and what shares in virtue; the evil are vices and what shares in vice; the indifferent are wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, and pain.

2. A person must discover the art of assent and, in the sphere of impulse, take care that every action is with reservation, for the common good, and according to worth.

3. No person is free who is not master of himself.

4. It is impossible for a person to learn what he thinks he already knows.

5. When you have shut your doors and darkened your room, do not say that you are alone. You are not alone: God is within, and your own ruling faculty is within. What need have they of light to see what you do?

6. If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad.

7. Do not explain your philosophy. Embody it.

8. The beginning of philosophy is awareness of one’s own weakness and inability in necessary matters.

9. A ship should not depend upon one anchor, nor a life upon one hope.

10. Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a cluster of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you want a fig, I answer that time is needed. Let the tree blossom first, then bear fruit, then let the fruit ripen.

11. What concerns you is not the outward thing, but the judgment you form about it; and this judgment can be erased at once.

12. For every person the body is the measure of possessions, as the foot is the measure of the shoe.

13. Those who are well constituted, even when they submit to correction, do so willingly; but the many must be compelled by pain.

14. If someone is unhappy, remember that he is unhappy through himself; for God made all people to be happy and stable.

15. What is a philosopher? One who understands what words mean and makes his deeds correspond to them.

16. Do not seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they happen, and you will go on well.

17. A fool’s life is thankless and trembling; it is wholly carried toward the future.

18. When a person speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself, but say: ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, or he would not have mentioned only these.’

19. Freedom is not obtained by satisfying desire, but by destroying desire.

20. The true human being is revealed in difficulty. When trouble comes, remember that God, like a trainer, has matched you with a rough opponent. For what purpose? So that you may become an Olympic victor; and this cannot happen without sweat.

21. A lecture hall is like a physician’s surgery: you ought not to leave it delighted, but in pain, for you did not enter it in health.

22. If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write. But if you would be wise, act.

23. The soul is dyed by its judgments. Therefore colour it with such judgments as these: that good is in the will, evil is in the will, and everything outside the will is indifferent.

24. Ask not that things should happen as you desire; desire them to happen as they do, and you will be serene.

25. There is only one way to happiness: cease worrying about things that lie beyond the power of your will.