The Golden Sayings of Epictetus: Control

In the sayings below, you will find that Epictetus thought people have control over their thoughts, feelings, and actions. People can control their internal life as well as the externalization of their reactions to things that happen to them. Therefore, one of the important things a person must do is to enumerate the things that they control and, most critically, the things that they do not control. Through understanding and identifying the things that are not in one's control, one can gain mastery over their feelings about them.

VIII: Long passage on the person that refuses to sells their self is on the path to being an inspiration for others.
XIV: Long passage on appreciating our purpose
XVII: On suicide and the chains of the body and freedom of the mind
XIX: Why worry what others can do?

XXXII: A man in a situation against his will, is a prisoner.

XXXV: On appreciating what the Gods have given.
XL: Selling a shoemaker as good-for-nothing and avoiding poor judgement by holding important only things that depend on the Will.
XLIV: Do. Or do not.
XLVI: On knowing one's capabilities.
XLVII: On men's objection to persuasion.
XLIX: On God, what is in our control and bearing witness.
LI: Only will and reason is in our control and pleasing God.
LIV: On trials and what is in our control.
LV: Fear the fear of Death or Pain.
LXIV: On Socrates and his ability to stay calm.
LXXI: Long passage on accepting fate and seeking tranquility within.
LXXXIII: "No man can rob us of our Will—no man can lord it over
LXXXV: "...to wear ever the same countenance in going forth as in coming in."
XCV: On the benefits of releasing desire.
CXLII: Long passage on being ready to give up all that God has given.
CLI: Long passage on man’s ability to distinguish those things that can be controlled and those things that cannot be controlled.
CLII: On being shut out and not caring, since this is an uncontrollable external.
CLIII: “But what says Socrates?—"One man finds pleasure in improving his land, another his horses. My pleasure lies in seeing that I myself grow better day by day."
CLX: Remember that one is an actor in a play not the chooser of the role.
CLXI: Keep death in mind at all times.
CLXV: “Laughter should not be much, nor frequent, nor unrestrained.”
CLXXXIV: On being concerned with only what can be controlled.

Summary Index to the Golden Sayings of Epictetus

I: Long passage in praise of God
II: Long passage on duty to home
III: "Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men."
IV: On God V: Rufus
VI: Long passage on what man is given by God
VII: It is a kingly thing, O Cyrus, to do well and to be evil spoken of.
VIII: Long passage on the person that refuses to sells their self is on the path to being an inspiration for others.
IX: Why is adoption by Cæsar more valued than being created by God?
X: "Thou art but a poor soul laden with a lifeless body."
XI: "...a man can only lose what he has."
XII: "...that in exchange for it he consented to become a thief"
XIII: On harmony with nature
XIV: Long passage on appreciating our purpose
XV: "I am a citizen of the world."
XVI: On the importance of being decedent from God
XVII: On suicide and the chains of the body and freedom of the mind
XVIII: Life is Short and Easy to those Minded. Do not depart hastily.
XIX: Why worry what others can do?
XX: Despite the great faculties God has given you, you still lament.
XXI: "Socrates ... was fully assured that he was the kinsman of Gods."
XXII: All things will be at once according to your mind and according to the Mind of God.
XIII: On closed-mindedness.
XXIV: While other men focus on profit, those that can reason administer the world.
XXV: Lost all, but still no evil has happened.
XXVI: To wish that each thing should come to pass as it does. XXVII: Contemplate what one gains in a loss.
XXVIII: On peoples differing beliefs concerning God.
XXIX: On accepting what comes as from God
XXX: "You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man's own..."
XXXI: On choosing how to judge aloneness and being in company of others.
XXXII: A man in a situation against his will, is a prisoner.
XXXIII: In reason thou art equal to the gods.
XXXIV: On eating with the Gods, and to treat all men as brothers.
XXXV: On appreciating what the Gods have given.
XXXVI: Concerning God's omnipresence.
XXXVII: On allegiance to God and God's companionship.
XXXVIII: "How shall my brother cease to be wroth with me?"
XXXIX: On reconciliation with loved ones.
XL: Selling a shoemaker as good-for-nothing and avoiding poor judgement by holding important only things that depend on the Will.
XLI: Do not make others endure what you would shun enduring yourself.
XLII: On gratitude and desire.
XLIII: On vanity and the desire to be remembered well.
XLIV: Do. Or do not.
XLV: On the ineffectiveness of punishment.
XLVI: On knowing one's capabilities.
XLVII: On men's objection to persuasion.
XLVIII: On Socrates doing no wrong.
XLIX: On God, what is in our control and bearing witness.
L: Do unto others.
LI: Only will and reason is in our control and pleasing God.
LII: On Socrates. "Anytus and Melitus may put me to death: to injure me is beyond their power."
LIII: On God and his messengers.
LIV: On trials and what is in our control.
LV: Fear the fear of Death or Pain.
LVI: As part of the whole man is destined to suffer.
LVII: Diogenes, a good judge of character needs no recommendations.
LVIII: On seeking God as a guide.
LIX: The nature of God is good therefore: Intelligence, Knowledge and Right Reason.
LX: As thou art a fragment of God, see the good.
LXI: A beautiful long passage on the the strength of the knowledge of God.
LXII: "No labour, according to Diogenes, is good but that which aims at producing courage and strength of soul rather than of body."
LXIII: On teaching the unlearned man.
LXIV: On Socrates and his ability to stay calm.
LXV: "I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men," Epictetus replied, "I too have conversed with many rich men, yet I am not rich!"
LXVI: On God and Philosophers teaching that we must be imitators of God.
LXVII: When a physician tells us we are sick, we take no insult. However, when a man is told he is poor at reason, he will tell you he is insulted.
LXVIII: On life's participants and observers.
LXIX: "A fool you can neither bend nor break."
LXX: On appreciation of what is near.
LXXI: Long passage on accepting fate and seeking tranquility within.
LXXII: To pursue Philosophy one must throw away self-importance.
LXXIII: On the ideal student.
LXXIV: "The question at stake," said Epictetus, "is no common one; it is this:—Are we in our senses, or are we not?"
LXXV: On the danger of habits of vice and how they training the mind.
LXXVI: "Resolve, now if never before, to approve thyself to thyself"
LXXVII: "you are fighting for Kingship, for Liberty, for Happiness, for Tranquillity. Remember God: call upon Him to aid thee, like a comrade that stands beside thee in the fight."
LXVIII: A long eloquent passage on what it is to be Stoic.
LXXIX: "If you have assumed a character beyond your strength, you have both played a poor figure in that, and neglected one that is within your powers."
LXXX: Long passage concerning having bad thoughts and insisting school is not helping.
LXXXI: Long passage on the need for both skill in speaking and skill in hearing and the definition of good and evil.
LXXXII: Long passage on keeping only friends that focus on the will and dealing rightly with things. Avoiding those that focus on external things.
LXXXIII: "No man can rob us of our Will—no man can lord it over
LXXXIV: Long passage, "When disease and death overtake me, I would fain be found engaged in the task of liberating mine own Will from the assaults of passion, from hindrance, from resentment, from slavery."
LXXXV: "...to wear ever the same countenance in going forth as in coming in."
LXXXVI: "How are we constituted by Nature? To be free, to be noble, to be modest..."
LXXXVII: "The husbandman deals with land; physicians and trainers with the body; the wise man with his own Mind."
LXXXVIII: On that Lycurgus rehabilitated the citizen given to him to punish.
LXXXIX: On how good cannot reject good nor evil reject evil.
XC: On common sense.
XCI: The greatest loss is to leave undone what though shouldst have done.
XCII: Long passage on people's judgement of misfortune.
XCIII: Long passage on the effort required to learn a Philosopher's ways.
XCIV: On the benefits of being a philosopher.
XCV: On the benefits of releasing desire.
XCVI: "Pittacus wronged by one whom he had it in his power to punish, let him go free..."
XCVII: "...However he may treat me, I must deal rightly by him..."
XCVIII: On the importance of introspection.
XCIX: On the how one is influenced and influences those with whom one had frequent intercourse.
C: Discipline of the body for display is to be avoided.
CI: "...Fast; drink water only; abstain altogether from desire, that thou mayest hereafter conform thy desire to Reason."
CII: On doing good unto mankind through example.
CIII: On leadership.
CIV: Long passage on the merit of committing whole to a profession.
CV: "He that hath no musical instruction is a child in Music; he that hath no letters is a child in Learning; he that is untaught is a child in Life."
CVI: Long passage on the benefit men do unto each other.
CVII: "I counsel you to be cautious in associating with the uninstructed."
CVIII: Long passage on caution in accepting a position.
CIX: Focus exclusively on the abstract does not enable learning.
CX: Long passage on the Cynic's lack of God.
CXI: "...true Cynic will have none of these things; instead of them, he must wrap himself in Modesty:..."
CXII: On death.
CXIII: On the Cynic as a messenger from God.
CXIV: On the Cynic as an embodiment of happiness without possessions.
CXV: "Give thyself more diligently to reflection: know thyself: take counsel with the Godhead: without God put thine hand unto nothing!"
CXVI: Long passage on Cynic and marriage.
CXVII: On Cynic and holding office.
CXVIII: On Cynic and the need to maintain the body.
CXIX: On Cynic drawing power from conscience.
CXX: On Philosophers attracting those that would benefit.
CXXI: On the pain in learning philosophy.
CXXII: "If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good."
CXXIII: On the connectedness of God, Men and Nature.
CXXIV: On God as the Father of all.
CXXV: Long passage on the importance of executing our roles to the best of our ability.
CXXVI: “… A good man does nothing for appearance’ sake...”
CXXVII: “It befits thee not to be unhappy by reason of any, but rather to be happy by reason of all men, and especially by reason of God, who formed us to this end.”
CXXVIII: On Diogenes as a friend of man.
CXXIX: “I am by Nature made for my own good; not for my own evil.”
CXXX: Long passage on how what is given us is not irrevocable.
CXXXI: Long passage on the willingness of a good man to give up his life.
CXXXII: On the willingness of a good man to serve without complaint.
CXXXIII: On seeking the best in one’s current situation.
CXXXIV: On faith and belief in the good intentions of one’s leaders.
CXXXV: On directing one’s thoughts away from the fear of death.
CXXXVI: On the freedom of living as one wishes.
CXXXVII: Long passage on choosing God as one’s companion in life.
CXXXVIII: ” …That what God wills, he should will also; that what God wills not, neither should he will…”
CXXXIX: Long passage on being grateful for what God has given.
CXL: Long passage on being grateful for what God has given and the requirement to contribute to and make better the world.
CXLI: Long passage on in order to be free one must value nothing including the body.
CXLII: Long passage on being ready to give up all that God has given.
CXLIII: “Asked how a man should best grieve his enemy, Epictetus replied, "By setting himself to live the noblest life himself."
CXLIV: Long passage on having no expectations of the world and being a friend of God.
CXLV: Long passage on …” Remember that not the love of power and wealth sets us under the heel of others, but even the love of tranquillity, of leisure…”
CXLVI: Make oneself a good person and service.
CXLVII: On happiness coming from the Gods.
CXLVIII: On God’s principles.
CXLIX: “If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated.”
CL: “What foolish talk is this? how can I any longer lay claim to right principles, if I am not content with being what I am, but am all aflutter about what I am supposed to be?”
CLI: Long passage on man’s ability to distinguish those things that can be controlled and those things that cannot be controlled.
CLII: On being shut out and not caring, since this is an uncontrollable external.
CLIII: “But what says Socrates?—"One man finds pleasure in improving his land, another his horses. My pleasure lies in seeing that I myself grow better day by day."
CLIV: Long passage on how Euphrates benefitted by practicing the philosophic life without letting others know.
CLV: On how it is best to build wisdom internally prior to revealing oneself.
CLVI: On perseverance toward reaching the life of a philosopher.
CLVII: On remembering in crisis that toil is required to succeed in life.
CLVIII: To progress one must be content to seem foolish toward outward things.
CLIX: On conducting life as a banquet by taking only what is needed.
CLX: Remember that one is an actor in a play not the chooser of the role.
CLXI: Keep death in mind at all times.
CLXII: “As a mark is not set up in order to be missed, so neither is such a thing as natural evil produced in the World.”
CLXIII: On Piety toward the Gods.
CLXIV: On how to behave in the company of others.
CLXV: “Laughter should not be much, nor frequent, nor unrestrained.”
CLXVI: “Refuse altogether to take an oath if you can, if not, as far as may be.”
CLXVII: On avoiding requests of the unlearned.
CLXVIII: On taking what is needed and rejecting excess.
CLXIX: If one speaks evil of you say, “He surely knew not my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these only!”
CLXX: When visiting those in power, bearing what happens.
CLXXI: On avoiding undo talk fo ones own actions and dangers.
CLXXII: “When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never shun being seen doing it…”
CLXXIII: A person who takes too long on things of the body has little time for understanding.
CLXXIV: “Everything has two handles, one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not…”
CLXXV: A long passage on avoiding talk of yourself as a Philosopher.
CLXXVI: On avoiding outward declarations of one’s practice as a Philosopher.
CLXXVII: Long passage on the importance of practicing Philosophy rather than admiring the content.
CLXXVIII: “…What you give to the body, you presently lose; what you give to the soul, you keep for ever.”
CLXXX: “It is best to share with your attendants what is going forward, both in the labour of preparation and in the enjoyment of the feast itself.”
CLXXXI: When Xanthippe was chiding Socrates for making scanty preparation for entertaining his friends, he answered:—"If they are friends of ours they will not care for that; if they are not, we shall care nothing for them!"
CLXXXII: “Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, "He who is content."
CLXXXIII: “Favorinus tells us how Epictetus would also say that there were two faults far graver and fouler than any others—inability to bear, and inability to forbear…”
CLXXXIV: On being concerned with only what can be contoled.
CLXXXV: “We shall then be like Socrates, when we can indite hymns of praise to the Gods in prison.”
CLXXXVI: Long passage on how doing ones best is choosing the crew for a voyage, once this is done one must welcome fate. Even if a terrible storm appears.
CLXXXVII: Long passage uses the analogy of two spies having different perspective. One states all is horrible, the other of the freedom from such horror though the Philosopher’s perspective.
CLXXXVIII: Long passage on what a man gains through the peace proclaimed by God through reason.
CLXXXIX: Long passage on Epictetus’s desire to in death be found doing a deed of true humanity.

Epictetus image, by Frontispiece drawn by “Sonnem.” (? hard to read, left bottom corner) and engraved by “MB” (bottom right corner). Image scanned by the John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library. Image slightly improved by Aristeas. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Subject Index to the Golden Sayings of Epictetus

Click on a Subject Below to View Related Sayings

• God
• Mental Health and Stability
• Control
• Harmony with Nature - Coming Soon
• Socializing with Other People - Coming Soon
• The Body - Coming Soon

Golden Sayings of Epictetus: On God

On God

In the sayings below, you will find that Epictetus thought all people were made equal by God. He also indicates that we have great powers and above all reason that god has bestowed upon us and that we must value these above all other things.

I: Long passage in praise of God

IV: On God V: Rufus
VI: Long passage on what man is given by God
IX: Why is adoption by Cæsar more valued than being created by God?
XVI: On the importance of being decedent from God
XX: Despite the great faculties God has given you, you still lament.
XXI: "Socrates ... was fully assured that he was the kinsman of Gods."
XXII: All things will be at once according to your mind and according to the Mind of God.
XXVIII: On peoples differing beliefs concerning God.
XXIX: On accepting what comes as from God
XXXIII: In reason thou art equal to the gods.
XXXIV: On eating with the Gods, and to treat all men as brothers.
XXXV: On appreciating what the Gods have given.
XXXVI: Concerning God's omnipresence.
XXXVII: On allegiance to God and God's companionship.
XLIX: On God, what is in our control and bearing witness.
LI: Only will and reason is in our control and pleasing God.
LIII: On God and his messengers.
LVIII: On seeking God as a guide.
LIX: The nature of God is good therefore: Intelligence, Knowledge and Right Reason.
LX: As thou art a fragment of God, see the good.
LXI: A beautiful long passage on the the strength of the knowledge of God.
LXVI: On God and Philosophers teaching that we must be imitators of God.
LXXVII: "you are fighting for Kingship, for Liberty, for Happiness, for Tranquillity. Remember God: call upon Him to aid thee, like a comrade that stands beside thee in the fight."
CX: Long passage on the Cynic's lack of God.
CXIII: On the Cynic as a messenger from God.
CXV: "Give thyself more diligently to reflection: know thyself: take counsel with the Godhead: without God put thine hand unto nothing!"
CXXII: "If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good."
CXXIII: On the connectedness of God, Men and Nature.
CXXIV: On God as the Father of all.
CXXVII: “It befits thee not to be unhappy by reason of any, but rather to be happy by reason of all men, and especially by reason of God, who formed us to this end.”
CXXXVII: Long passage on choosing God as one’s companion in life.
CXXXVIII: ” …That what God wills, he should will also; that what God wills not, neither should he will…”
CXXXIX: Long passage on being grateful for what God has given.
CXL: Long passage on being grateful for what God has given and the requirement to contribute to and make better the world.
CXLII: Long passage on being ready to give up all that God has given.
CXLIV: Long passage on having no expectations of the world and being a friend of God.
CXLVII: On happiness coming from the Gods.
CXLVIII: On God’s principles.
CLXIII: On Piety toward the Gods.
CLXXXV: “We shall then be like Socrates, when we can indite hymns of praise to the Gods in prison.”
CLXXXVIII: Long passage on what a man gains through the peace proclaimed by God through reason.

Epictetus image, by Frontispiece drawn by “Sonnem.” (? hard to read, left bottom corner) and engraved by “MB” (bottom right corner). Image scanned by the John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library. Image slightly improved by Aristeas. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

3 Leadership Lessons from Greek Philosopher Epictetus

In March of last year as a leader with the growing responsibilities of family,  a new company and community, I found myself committing to do something and then doing what I knew others would view as a good job. However, I was aware of gaps in the result, and these bothered me. I wanted to always know that I had done the best possible work. That I had closed all actions and finished a task as completely as possible. I sought guidance, I spoke with friends and read articles about religion and philosophy. Though they all helped, I still had not found what I needed. Then I came across Courage Under Fire  by James Stockdale. In this short book Stockdale describes how after studying Epictetus at Stanford, he put those learnings to test during seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Reading this I became more interested in the Stoics and Epictetus's The Enchiridion. You can find it in the Stoic Six Pack. Epictetus was a slave in Rome later freed and after which he began teaching his philosophy. When philosophers were banned from Rome, Epictetus founded a school in Greece. The Enchiridion is the most accessible of Epictetus's writings. I've read most of his work and have tested it out in my own life. As a result of that investigation, I discovered three things that leaders must do to succeed.

#1: Choose the Right Thing

There is something personal about choosing the right thing. What is the right thing for me to do with this moment? I have passion for work, community, relationships (wife, children, parents, co-workers and friends). What is the best thing to do right now? That is not an easy question to answer.

#2: Know What Success Looks Like

In chapter 28 of the Enchiridion there is a discussion on preparation for winning at Olympia;

You must submit to discipline, eat to order, touch no sweets, train under compulsion, at a fixed hour, in heat and cold, drink no cold water, nor wine, except by order; you must hand yourself over completely to your trainer as you would to a physician, and then when the contest comes you must risk getting hacked, and sometimes dislocate your hand, twist your ankle, swallow plenty of sand, sometimes get a flogging, and with all this suffer defeat. When you have considered all this well, then enter on the athlete's course, if you still wish it. 

Before you choose the right thing consider all the above and make sure you know what it takes to succeed. You also must understand that due to many things outside your control you may suffer defeat along the way. Make sure to consider all this prior to committing.

#3: Deliver Flawlessly

Having chosen that this is the right thing to do and determined that you can do it, now it is time to deliver. No excuses. When you have finished the work, there should be a sense that everything possible was completed, there are no gaps and there is pride in the accomplishment. You don't care what others think of the result, because you know it is well-done. Think of a professional actor that has agreed to take a role. This actor knows the process that leads to success, they know to practice the lines, rehearse alone and onstage with others. The actor knows the techniques needed for a great performance. Having prepared fully and delivered on opening night, can the actor control how the audience reacts? No! Do they care? Think about it. Reflect on the times when you know you've done a great job. Did you care what others thought? Epictetus is very clear on this subject.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

On a side note I also started reading the Golden Sayings of Epictetus. The only problem with those is that they are organized by number with no subject information, so to choose what to read is difficult since all you have to go by are the numbers. As I read each of the sayings, I created subject references for them which I am sharing at the Subject Index to the Golden Sayings of Epictetus.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XVIII

And to this I reply:—

“Friends, wait for God. When He gives the signal, and releases you from this service, then depart to Him. But for the present, endure to dwell in the place wherein He hath assigned you your post. Short indeed is the time of your habitation therein, and easy to those that are thus minded. What tyrant, what robber, what tribunals have any terrors for those who thus esteem the body and all that belong to it as of no account? Stay; depart not rashly hence!”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus III

Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus II

How then do men act? As though one returning to his country who had sojourned for the night in a fair inn, should be so captivated thereby as to take up his abode there.

“Friend, thou hast forgotten thine intention! This was not thy destination, but only lay on the way thither.”

“Nay, but it is a proper place.”

“And how many more of the sort there be; only to pass through upon thy way! Thy purpose was to return to thy country; to relieve thy kinsmen’s fears for thee; thyself to discharge the duties of a citizen; to marry a wife, to beget offspring, and to fill the appointed round of office. Thou didst not come to choose out what places are most pleasant; but rather to return to that wherein thou wast born and where thou wert appointed to be a citizen.”


The Golden Sayings of Epictetus is in the Public Domain

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus I

Are these the only works of Providence in us? What words suffice to praise or set them forth? Had we but understanding, should we ever cease hymning and blessing the Divine Power, both openly and in secret, and telling of His gracious gifts? Whether digging or ploughing or eating, should we not sing the hymn to God:—

Great is God, for that He hath given us such instruments to till
     the ground withal:
Great is God, for that He hath given us hands, and the power of
     swallowing and digesting; of unconsciously growing and
     breathing while we sleep!
Thus should we ever have sung: yea and this, the grandest and divinest hymn of all:—

Great is God, for that He hath given us a mind to apprehend these
things, and duly to use them!
What then! seeing that most of you are blinded, should there not be some one to fill this place, and sing the hymn to God on behalf of all men? What else can I that am old and lame do but sing to God? Were I a nightingale, I should do after the manner of a nightingale. Were I a swan, I should do after the manner of a swan. But now, since I am a reasonable being, I must sing to God: that is my work: I do it, nor will I desert this my post, as long as it is granted me to hold it; and upon you too I call to join in this self-same hymn.


The Golden Sayings of Epictetus is in the Public Domain

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus CXI

Others may fence themselves with walls and houses, when they do such deeds as these, and wrap themselves in darkness—aye, they have many a device to hide themselves. Another may shut his door and station one before his chamber to say, if any comes, He has gone forth! he is not at leisure! But the true Cynic will have none of these things; instead of them, he must wrap himself in Modesty: else he will but bring himself to shame, naked and under the open sky. That is his house; that is his door; that is the slave that guards his chamber; that is his darkness!

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XVII

XVII
I do not think that an old fellow like me need have been sitting here to try and prevent your entertaining abject notions of yourselves, and talking of yourselves in an abject and ignoble way: but to prevent there being by chance among you any such young men as, after recognising their kindred to the Gods, and their bondage in these chains of the body and its manifold necessities, should desire to cast them off as burdens too grievous to be borne, and depart to their true kindred. This is the struggle in which your Master and Teacher, were he worthy of the name, should be engaged. You would come to me and say: "Epictetus, we can no longer endure being chained to this wretched body, giving it food and drink and rest and purification; aye, and for its sake forced to be subservient to this man and that. Are not these things indifferent and nothing to us? Is it not true that death is no evil? Are we not in a manner kinsmen of the Gods, and have we not come from them? Let us depart thither, whence we came: let us be freed from these chains that confine and press us down. Here are thieves and robbers and tribunals: and they that are called tyrants, who deem that they have after a fashion power over us, because of the miserable body and what appertains to it. Let us show them that they have power over none.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XVI

XVI
He that hath grasped the administration of the World, who hath learned that this Community, which consists of God and men, is the foremost and mightiest and most comprehensive of all:— that from God have descended the germs of life, not to my father only and father’s father, but to all things that are born and grow upon the earth, and in an especial manner to those endowed with Reason (for those only are by their nature fitted to hold communion with God, being by means of Reason conjoined with Him) —why should not such an one call himself a citizen of the world? Why not a son of God? Why should he fear aught that comes to pass among men? Shall kinship with Caesar, or any other of the great at Rome, be enough to hedge men around with safety and consideration, without a thought of apprehension: while to have God for our Maker, and Father, and Kinsman, shall not this set us free from sorrows and fears?

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XV

XV
If what philosophers say of the kinship of God and Men be true, what remains for men to do but as Socrates did:—never, when asked one’s country, to answer, “I am an Athenian or a Corinthian,” but “I am a citizen of the world.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XIV

XIV
You journey to Olympia to see the work of Phidias; and each of you holds it a misfortune not to have beheld these things before you die. Whereas when there is no need even to take a journey, but you are on the spot, with the works before you, have you no care to contemplate and study these?

Will you not then perceive either who you are or unto what end you were born: or for what purpose the power of contemplation has been bestowed upon you?

“Well, but in life there are some things disagreeable and hard to bear.”

And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched by the heat? Are you not cramped for room? Have you not to bathe with discomfort? Are you not drenched when it rains? Have you not to endure the clamor and shouting and such annoyances as these? Well, I suppose you set all this over against the splendour of the spectacle, and bear it patiently. What then? have you not received powers wherewith to endure all that comes to pass? have you not received greatness of heart, received courage, received fortitude? What care I, if I am great of heart, for aught that can come to pass? What shall cast me down or disturb me? What shall seem painful? Shall I not use the power to the end for which I received it, instead of moaning and wailing over what comes to pass?

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XIII

XIII
But God hath introduced Man to be a spectator of Himself and of His works; and not a spectator only, but also an interpreter of them. Wherefore it is a shame for man to begin and to leave off where the brutes do. Rather he should begin there, and leave off where Nature leaves off in us: and that is at contemplation, and understanding, and a manner of life that is in harmony with herself.

See then that ye die not without being spectators of these things.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XII

XII
The reason why I lost my lamp was that the thief was superior to me in vigilance. He paid however this price for the lamp, that in exchange for it he consented to become a thief: in exchange for it, to become faithless.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus XI

XI
The other day I had an iron lamp placed beside my household gods. I heard a noise at the door and on hastening down found my lamp carried off. I reflected that the culprit was in no very strange case. “To-morrow, my friend,” I said, “you will find an earthenware lamp; for a man can only lose what he has.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus X

X
Thou art but a poor soul laden with a lifeless body.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus IX

IX
If a man could be thoroughly penetrated, as he ought, with this thought, that we are all in an especial manner sprung from God, and that God is the Father of men as well as of Gods, full surely he would never conceive aught ignoble or base of himself. Whereas if Caesar were to adopt you, your haughty looks would be intolerable; will you not be elated at knowing that you are the son of God? Now however it is not so with us: but seeing that in our birth these two things are commingled—the body which we share with the animals, and the Reason and Thought which we share with the Gods, many decline towards this unhappy kinship with the dead, few rise to the blessed kinship with the Divine. Since then every one must deal with each thing according to the view which he forms about it, those few who hold that they are born for fidelity, modesty, and unerring sureness in dealing with the things of sense, never conceive aught base or ignoble of themselves: but the multitude the contrary. Why, what am I?—A wretched human creature; with this miserable flesh of mine. Miserable indeed! but you have something better than that paltry flesh of yours. Why then cling to the one, and neglect the other?

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus VIII

VIII
“Aye, but to debase myself thus were unworthy of me.”

“That,” said Epictetus, “is for you to consider, not for me. You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This was why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero’s shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, ’Appear by all means.’ And when Florus inquired, ’But why do not you appear?’ he answered, ’Because I do not even consider the question.’ For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is. Why, what is it that you ask me? Is death preferable, or life? I reply, Life. Pain or pleasure? I reply, Pleasure.”

“Well, but if I do not act, I shall lose my head.”

“Then go and act! But for my part I will not act.”

“Why?”

“Because you think yourself but one among the many threads which make up the texture of the doublet. You should aim at being like men in general—just as your thread has no ambition either to be anything distinguished compared with the other threads. But I desire to be the purple—that small and shining part which makes the rest seem fair and beautiful. Why then do you bid me become even as the multitude? Then were I no longer the purple.”