greek · wisdom

Enchiridion of Epictetus — The Handbook

c. 125 CE (compiled by Arrian from Epictetus's discourses) · Roman Imperial Period (early 2nd century CE) · Nicopolis, Epirus (Greece)

What Is Ours and What Is Not Ours

1Some things are in our control and others not.

2Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion,

3and, in a word, whatever are our own actions.

4Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command,

5and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.

6The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered;

7but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others.

8Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free,

9and that what belongs to others is your own,

10then you will be hindered.

11You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men.

12But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own,

13and what belongs to others such as it really is,

14then no one will ever compel you or restrain you.

15You will find fault with no one, you will accuse no one,

16you will do nothing against your will;

17no one will hurt you, you will have no enemies,

18and you will not be harmed.

The Nature of Things

19Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous;

20and aversion promises the avoiding of that to which you are averse.

21However, he who fails to obtain the object of his desire is disappointed,

22and he who incurs the object of his aversion is wretched.

23Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things.

24Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates.

25But the terror consists in our notion of death, that it is terrible.

26When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never impute it to others,

27but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles.

The Traveller and the Ship

28Everything has two handles: one by which it may be borne, another by which it cannot.

29If your brother wrongs you, do not lay hold of the affair by the handle of his injustice

30(for by this handle it cannot be borne),

31but rather by this: that he is your brother, that he was brought up with you;

32and thus you will lay hold of it as it may be borne.

33Never say of anything, "I have lost it";

34but "I have restored it."

35Has your child died? It is restored.

36Has your wife died? She is restored.

37Has your estate been taken away? Has not that likewise been restored?

38"But he who took it away is a bad man."

39What difference is it to you who the giver assigns to take it back?

40While he gives it to you to possess, take care of it;

41but do not view it as your own, just as travellers view a hotel.

The Actor's Play

42Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it.

43If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one.

44If it be his pleasure you should act a poor man, see that you act it well;

45or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen.

46For this is your business — to act well the character assigned to you;

47to choose it is another's.

Daily Practice

48When you go out of your house, propose to yourself what you are going to do,

49and when you return home, examine what you have done.

50Rebuke no one — but if any one blames you, say nothing.

51It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united.

52If you would improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

53When any one shall have the appearance of one who does you an injury,

54you should say to yourself: "It seemed so to him."

Concluding Words

55Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand:

56"Conduct me, Zeus, and thou O Destiny, wherever thy decrees have fixed my station."

57I follow readily; but if I do not, wretched as I am, I must follow still.

58Whoever yields properly to Fate is deemed wise among men,

59and knows the laws of heaven.

60"O Crito, if it thus pleases the gods, thus let it be."

61"Anytus and Meletus may indeed kill me, but they cannot hurt me."

notes

The Enchiridion (Encheiridion — "Handbook" or "Small Manual") is a compact digest of the moral teachings of Epictetus (c. 50–135 CE), compiled by his student Arrian around 125 CE. Epictetus was born a slave in Phrygia and later freed; he taught Stoic philosophy at Nicopolis after Domitian expelled philosophers from Rome around 89 CE. The Enchiridion is the most influential summary of Stoic practical philosophy ever written. Its opening — the dichotomy of control ("some things are in our power and others are not") — is arguably the most consequential single passage in the history of Western psychology. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Beck, Ellis) explicitly traces its intellectual origin to Epictetus's principle that "men are disturbed not by things, but by their opinions about things." Marcus Aurelius, one of Epictetus's most attentive readers, cites him repeatedly in the Meditations. The Enchiridion was a favourite text among the early Christians (who admired its ethics while rejecting its theology) and later inspired the "Manual" translations of the Renaissance. Translation: George Long, "The Discourses of Epictetus, with the Encheiridion and Fragments," London: Bell & Daldy, 1877. Public domain.

EthicsPhilosophyRomanVirtueStoic

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