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Enchiridion (Higginson Translation)-Epictetus · Works of Tacitus

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  Speaker 1: Read by Brian Mumford. The Enchiridion by Epictetus. Translated by
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  Speaker 1: Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Introduction by Albert Solomon. The little book
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  Speaker 1: by Epictetus called Enchiridion or Manual has played a disproportionately
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  Speaker 1: large role in the rise of modern attitudes and modern philosophy.
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  Speaker 1: As soon as it had been translated into the vernacular languages,
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  Speaker 1: it became a bestseller among independent intellectuals, among anti-Christian thinkers,
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  Speaker 1: and among philosophers of a subjective cast. Montaigne had a
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  Speaker 1: copy of the Enchiridion among his books. Pascal violently rejected
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  Speaker 1: the megalomaniac pride of the Stoic philosopher. Frederick the Great
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  Speaker 1: carried the book with him on all campaigns. It was
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  Speaker 1: a source of inspiration and encouragement to Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury,
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  Speaker 1: in the serious illness which ended only in his death.
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  Speaker 1: Many pages of his diaries contain passages copied from the Enchiridion.
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  Speaker 1: It had been studied and widely quoted by Scottish philosophers
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  Speaker 1: like Francis Hutchison, Adam Smith, and Adam Ferguson, who valued
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  Speaker 1: Stoic moral philosophy for its reconciliation of social dependency and
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  Speaker 1: personal independence. That there was a rebirth of Stoicism in
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  Speaker 1: the centuries of rebirth which marked the emergence of the
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  Speaker 1: modern age was not mere chance. Philosophical, moral, and social
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  Speaker 1: conditions of the time united to cause it. Roman Stoicism
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  Speaker 1: had been developed in times of despotism as a philosophy
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  Speaker 1: of lonely and courageous souls who had recognized the redeeming
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  Speaker 1: power of philosophical reason in all the moral and social
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  Speaker 1: purposes of life. Philosophy as a way of life makes
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  Speaker 1: men free. It is the last ditch stand of liberty
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  Speaker 1: in a world of servitude. Many elements in the New
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  Speaker 1: Age led to thought which had structural affinity with Roman Stoicism.
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  Speaker 1: Modern times had created the independent thinker, the free intellectual
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  Speaker 1: in a secular civilization. Modern times had destroyed medieval liberties
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  Speaker 1: and had established the new despotism of the absolute state
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  Speaker 1: supported by ecclesiastical authority. Modern philosophies continued the basic trend
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  Speaker 1: in Stoicism in making the subjective consciousness the foundation of philosophy.
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  Speaker 1: The Stoic emphasis on moral problems was also appealing in
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  Speaker 1: an area of rapid transition when all the values which
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  Speaker 1: had previously been.
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  Speaker 2: Taken for granted were questioned and reconsidered.
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  Speaker 1: While it is interesting to observe how varied were the
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  Speaker 1: effects produced by this small volume, this epitome of the
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  Speaker 1: Stoic system of moral philosophy, these effects still seem more
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  Speaker 1: remarkable when we consider that it was not intended to
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  Speaker 1: be a philosophical treatise on Stoicism for students.
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  Speaker 2: It was, rather, to be a guide.
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  Speaker 1: For the advanced student of Stoicism, to show him the
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  Speaker 1: best roads toward the goal of becoming a true philosopher. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: Epictetus and his Ancyrideon have a unique position in Roman Stoicism.
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  Speaker 1: Seneca and Marcus Aurelius had selected Stoic philosophy as the
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  Speaker 1: most adequate system for expressing their existential problems of independence, solitude,
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  Speaker 1: and history. In this enterprise, Seneca made tremendous strides towards
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  Speaker 1: the insights of social psychology as byproduct of his consciousness
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  Speaker 1: of decadence. In this, he was close to Nietzsche, but
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  Speaker 1: he was not primarily concerned with the unity of the
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  Speaker 1: Stoic system. Marcus Aurelius changed the philosophical doctrine into the
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  Speaker 1: regimen of the lonesome ruler. In contrast to both, Epictetus
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  Speaker 1: was teaching Stoic philosophy as a doctrine and as a
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  Speaker 1: way of life. The Enchiridion is a summary of theoretical
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  Speaker 1: and applied Stoicism. Epictetus was the son of a woman
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  Speaker 1: slave born between 50 and 60 AD at.
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  Speaker 2: Heropolis in Phrygia. We do not know how he came
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  Speaker 2: to Rome.
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  Speaker 1: He was there as slave to one of Nero's distinguished
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  Speaker 1: freedmen who served as the emperor's secretary. While still in service,
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  Speaker 1: Epictetus took courses with Musonius Rufus, the fashionable Stoic philosopher,
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  Speaker 1: who was impressed by the sincere and dynamic personality of
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  Speaker 1: the young slave, and trained him to be a Stoic philosopher.
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  Speaker 1: Epictetus became a free man and began teaching philosophy on
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  Speaker 1: street corners in the market, but he was not successful.
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  Speaker 1: During the rule of Domitian, Epictetus, with many other philosophers,
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  Speaker 1: was exiled from Rome, probably between 89 and 92 A.D.
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  Speaker 1: He went to Nicopolis, across Actium and Epirus, where he
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  Speaker 1: conducted his own school. He was so well regarded and
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  Speaker 1: highly esteemed that he established the reputation of the place
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  Speaker 1: as the town of Epictetus' school. Students came from Athens
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  Speaker 1: and Rome to attend his classes. Private citizens came to
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  Speaker 1: ask his advice and guidance. Some of his students returned
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  Speaker 1: to their homes to enter the traditional careers in which
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  Speaker 1: they were socially obligated. Others assumed the philosophic way of
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  Speaker 1: life in order to escape into the sphere of Stoic freedom.
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  Speaker 2: Among the students.
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  Speaker 1: Was a young Roman, Flavius Arian, who took courses at
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  Speaker 1: Nicopolis when Epictetus was already old.
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  Speaker 2: Flavius, who was.
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  Speaker 1: Born in 108 AD, was one of the intimates of Hadrian,
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  Speaker 1: who made him consul in 130 AD. He probably studied
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  Speaker 1: with Epictetus between the years 123 and 126 AD. The
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  Speaker 1: informal philosophical talks which Epictetus had with his students fascinated him.
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  Speaker 1: Needless to say, there were also systematic courses in the
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  Speaker 1: fields of philosophy. But it was the informal discourses which
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  Speaker 1: convinced Arian that he had finally discovered a Stoic Socrates
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  Speaker 1: or a Stoic Diogenes, who was not merely teaching a doctrine,
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  Speaker 1: but also living the truth. Arian recorded many of the
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  Speaker 1: discourses and informal conversations of Epictetus with his intimate students.
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  Speaker 1: He took them down in shorthand in order not to
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  Speaker 1: lose the ineffable liveliness, grace, and wit of the beloved teacher.
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  Speaker 1: Arian retired into private life after the death of Hadrian
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  Speaker 1: in 138 AD and dedicated himself to his literary work.
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  Speaker 1: He published his notes on Epictetus' teaching under the title
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  Speaker 1: Discourses in Four Books. The Enchiridion, which was also arranged
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  Speaker 1: by Arian, is a brief summary of the basic ideas
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  Speaker 1: of Stoic philosophy and an introduction to the techniques required
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  Speaker 1: to transform Stoic philosophy into a way of life. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: we do not have any original writings of Epictetus.
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  Speaker 2: Like G.H.
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  Speaker 1: Mead in recent times, he was completely dedicated to the
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  Speaker 1: human and intellectual problems of his students. He left it
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  Speaker 1: for them to preserve what they considered to be the
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  Speaker 1: lasting message of the teacher. In contrast to Seneca and
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  Speaker 1: Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus had no subjective approach to the Stoic doctrines.
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  Speaker 1: Moral philosophy was the center of his teaching, and epistemology
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  Speaker 1: was only instrumental. it is even permissible to say that
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  Speaker 1: he took physics or cosmology too lightly. If this is granted,
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  Speaker 1: we must admit that he is completely absorbed by the
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  Speaker 1: fundamentals of Stoic thought as presented in the Enchiridion. Epictetus'
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  Speaker 1: personality is totally integrated in the act of reasoning, which
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  Speaker 1: establishes conformity with nature. A remarkable difference between the Discourses
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  Speaker 1: and the Enchiridion should be mentioned. The Discourses are a
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  Speaker 1: living image of the teacher in action. They present the
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  Speaker 1: process of philosophizing, not the finished product. They show the
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  Speaker 1: enthusiastic and sober, the realistic and pathetic moralist in constantly
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  Speaker 1: changing perspectives determined by the changing students with their various concerns, problems,
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  Speaker 1: and questions. His teachings, his formulations, have direct reference to
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  Speaker 1: the various life situations in which the students should apply
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  Speaker 1: and practice the Master's Stoic Teaching. No human situation is
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  Speaker 1: omitted as a guide to conduct. Philosophy has relevance for all.
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  Speaker 1: Whether the students have to attend a dinner party, whether
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  Speaker 1: they are among competitors in a stadium or a swimming pool,
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  Speaker 1: whether they have to present themselves at court or in
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  Speaker 1: an office, whether they are in the company of their
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  Speaker 1: mothers and sisters or of girlfriends, in all human situations,
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  Speaker 1: the philosopher knows the correct advice for the philosophical apprentice. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: in the Discourses, Arian presents the unique individuality of the
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  Speaker 1: philosopher and of his applied moral method in living contact
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  Speaker 1: with various students in concrete situations. Epictetus as a teacher
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  Speaker 1: anticipates very modern educational methods in his regard for the
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  Speaker 1: structure of situations and the changing perspectives in human relationships.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing like this is revealed in the Enchiridion. The Enchiridion
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  Speaker 1: is a manual for the combat officer. This analogy should
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  Speaker 1: be taken seriously. The Roman Stoics coined the formula, Vivra Militare,
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  Speaker 1: life is being a soldier. The student of philosophy is
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  Speaker 1: a private, the advancing Stoic is a non-commissioned officer, and
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  Speaker 1: the philosopher is the combat officer. For this reason, all
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  Speaker 1: Roman Stoics apply metaphors and images derived from military life.
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  Speaker 1: Apprentice students of Stoicism are described as messengers, as scouts
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  Speaker 1: of God, as representatives of divine nature. The advancing student
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  Speaker 1: who is close to the goal of being a philosopher
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  Speaker 1: has the rank of an officer. He is already able
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  Speaker 1: to establish inner freedom and independence. He understands the basic
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  Speaker 1: stoic truth of subjective consciousness. which is to distinguish what
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  Speaker 1: is in our power from what is not in our power.
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  Speaker 1: Not in our power are all the elements which constitute
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  Speaker 1: our environment, such as wealth, health, reputation, social prestige, power, the.
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  Speaker 2: Lives of those we love, and death.
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  Speaker 1: In our power are our thinking, our intentions, our desires,
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  Speaker 1: our decisions. These make it possible for us to control
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  Speaker 1: ourselves and to make of ourselves elements and parts of
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  Speaker 1: the universe of nature. This knowledge of ourselves makes us
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  Speaker 1: free in a world of dependencies. This superiority of our
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  Speaker 1: powers enables us to live in conformity with nature. The
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  Speaker 1: rational philosophy of control of self and of adjustment to
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  Speaker 1: the whole implies an asceticism of the emotional and the
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  Speaker 1: sensitive life. The philosopher must examine and control his passions,
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  Speaker 1: his love, his tenderness at all times, in order always
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  Speaker 1: to be ready for the inevitable moment of farewell. The
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  Speaker 1: Stoics practiced a Jesuitism avant-illetre. They were able to live
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  Speaker 1: in the world as if they did not live in it.
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  Speaker 1: To the Stoic, life is a military camp, a play
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  Speaker 1: on the stage, a banquet to which we are invited.
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  Speaker 1: The Enchiridion briefly indicated the techniques which the philosophers should
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  Speaker 1: apply in acting well the diverse roles which God might
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  Speaker 1: assign to those whom he loves, the Stoic philosophers. From
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  Speaker 1: the rules of social conduct to the recommendations of sexual
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  Speaker 1: asceticism before marriage and the method of true thinking, the
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  Speaker 1: advanced Stoic will find all principles of perfection and all
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  Speaker 1: precepts for realizing philosophical principles in his conduct in this
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  Speaker 1: tiny volume. Thus the Enchiridion was liberating for all intellectuals
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  Speaker 1: who learn from it that there are philosophical ways of self-redemption.
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  Speaker 1: From its time, the secular thinker could feel jubilant because
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  Speaker 1: he was not in need of a divine grace. Epictetus
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  Speaker 1: had taught him that philosophical reason could make him free
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  Speaker 1: and that he was capable of redeeming himself by sound reasoning.
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  Speaker 1: In the Stoic distinctions of personality and world, of eye
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  Speaker 1: and mind, of subjective consciousness and the world of objects,
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  Speaker 1: of freedom and dependence, we find implicit the basic elements
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  Speaker 1: of modern philosophies of rationalism and of objective idealism or pantheism.
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  Speaker 1: For this reason, there is a continuous renaissance of Stoicism
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  Speaker 1: from Descartes, Grotius, and Bishop Butler.
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  Speaker 2: To Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and Kant.
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  Speaker 1: In this long development in modern times, the tiny Enchiridion
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  Speaker 1: of Epictetus played a remarkable part. The translations of Epictetus
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  Speaker 1: and of all other Stoics had the widest effect on philosophers, theologians,
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  Speaker 1: and lay thinkers. They were studied by the clergy of
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  Speaker 1: the various Christian denominations, by the scientists who were striving
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  Speaker 1: for a natural religion, and by the independent philosophers who
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  Speaker 1: were eager to separate philosophy from religion. There were many
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  Speaker 1: outstanding bishops in the Catholic and Anglican churches who were
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  Speaker 1: eager to transform the traditions of Roman Stoicism into Christian Stoicism.
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  Speaker 1: Among the Calvinistic denominations, there were many thinkers who were
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  Speaker 1: in sympathy with Stoic moral principles because of their praise
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  Speaker 1: of the austerity of life and of the control of passions. Likewise,
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  Speaker 1: the adherents of natural religion were propagating Stoicism as the
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  Speaker 1: ideal pattern of universally valid and intelligible religion. Renaissance Stoicism
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  Speaker 1: had three functions in the rise of the modern world. First,
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  Speaker 1: it reconciled Christian traditions to modern rationalistic philosophies. Secondly, it
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  Speaker 1: established an ideal pattern of natural religion. And thirdly, it
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  Speaker 1: opened the way for the autonomy of morals. Read by
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  Speaker 1: Brian Mumford The Enchiridion by Epictetus Precepts 1-10 1. There
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  Speaker 1: are things which are within our power, and there are
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  Speaker 1: things which are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion,
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  Speaker 1: and in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond
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  Speaker 1: our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word,
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  Speaker 1: whatever are not properly our own affairs. Now the things
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  Speaker 1: within our power are by nature free, unrestricted, unhindered. But
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  Speaker 1: those beyond our power are weak, dependent, restricted, alien. Remember
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  Speaker 1: then that if you attribute freedom to things by nature
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  Speaker 1: dependent and take what belongs to others for your own,
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  Speaker 1: you will be hindered. You will lament. You will be disturbed.
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  Speaker 1: You will find fault both with gods and men. But
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  Speaker 1: if you take for your own only that which is
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  Speaker 1: your own, and view what belongs to others just as
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  Speaker 1: it really is, then no one will ever compel you.
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  Speaker 1: No one will restrict you. You will find fault with
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  Speaker 1: no one. You will accuse no one. You will do
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  Speaker 1: nothing against your will. No one will hurt you. You
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  Speaker 1: will not have an enemy, nor will you suffer any harm. Aiming, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: at such great things. Remember you must not allow yourself
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  Speaker 1: any inclination, however slight, toward the attainment of the others,
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  Speaker 1: but that you must entirely quit some of them, and
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  Speaker 1: for the present postpone the rest. But if you would
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  Speaker 1: have these, and possess power and wealth likewise, you may
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  Speaker 1: miss the latter in seeking the former, and you will
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  Speaker 1: certainly fail of that by which alone happiness and freedom
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  Speaker 1: are procured. Seek it once, therefore, to be able to
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  Speaker 1: say to every unpleasing semblance, You are but a semblance,
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  Speaker 1: and by no means the real thing. And then examine
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  Speaker 1: it by those rules which you have, and first and
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  Speaker 1: chiefly by this, whether it concerns the things which are
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  Speaker 1: within our power, or those which are not. And if
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  Speaker 1: it concerns anything beyond our power, be prepared to say that.
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  Speaker 2: It is nothing to you. 2.
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  Speaker 1: Remember that desire demands the attainment of that which you
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  Speaker 1: are desirous, and aversion demands the avoidance of that to
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  Speaker 1: which you are averse. That he who fails of the
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  Speaker 1: object of his desires is disappointed, and he who incurs
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  Speaker 1: the object of his aversion is wretched. If, then, you
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  Speaker 1: shun only those undesirable things which you can control, you
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  Speaker 1: will never incur anything which you shun. But if you
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  Speaker 1: shun sickness or death or poverty, you will run the
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  Speaker 1: risk of wretchedness. Remove the habit of aversion, then, from
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  Speaker 1: all things that are not within our power, and apply
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  Speaker 1: it to things undesirable which are within our power. But
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  Speaker 1: for the present, altogether restrain desire. For if you desire
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  Speaker 1: any of the things not within our own power, you
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  Speaker 1: must necessarily be disappointed, and you are not yet secure
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  Speaker 1: of those which are within our power, and so are
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  Speaker 1: legitimate objects of desire. Where it is practically necessary for
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  Speaker 1: you to pursue or avoid anything, do even this with
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  Speaker 1: discretion and gentleness and moderation. 3. With regard to whatever
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  Speaker 1: objects either delight the mind or contribute to use or
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  Speaker 1: are tenderly beloved, remind yourself of what nature they are,
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  Speaker 1: beginning with the merest trifles. If you have a favorite cup,
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  Speaker 1: that it is but a cup of which you are
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  Speaker 1: fond of, for thus, if it is broken, you can
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  Speaker 1: bear it. If you embrace your child or your wife,
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  Speaker 1: that you embrace a mortal, and thus, if either of
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  Speaker 1: them dies, you can bear it. 4. When you set
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  Speaker 1: about any action, remind yourself of what nature the action is.
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  Speaker 1: If you are going to bathe, represent to yourself the
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  Speaker 1: incidents usual in the bath, some persons pouring out, others
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  Speaker 1: pushing in, others scolding, others pilfering, and thus you will
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  Speaker 1: more safely go about this action if you say to yourself,
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  Speaker 1: I will now go to bathe and keep my own
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  Speaker 1: will in harmony with nature, and so with regard to
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  Speaker 1: every other action. For thus, if any impediment arises in bathing,
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  Speaker 1: you will be able to say, It was not only
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  Speaker 1: to bathe that I desired, but to keep my will
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  Speaker 1: in harmony with nature, and I shall not keep it
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  Speaker 1: thus if I am out of humor at things that happen. 5.
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  Speaker 1: Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views
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  Speaker 1: which they take of things. Thus death is nothing terrible,
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  Speaker 1: else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the
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  Speaker 1: terror consists in our notion of death, that it is terrible. When, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: we are hindered or disturbed or grieved, Let us never
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  Speaker 1: impute it to others, but to ourselves, that is, to
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  Speaker 1: our own views. It is the action of an uninstructed
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  Speaker 1: person to reproach others for his own misfortunes, of one
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  Speaker 1: entering upon instruction to reproach himself, and one perfectly instructed
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  Speaker 1: to reproach neither others nor himself. 6. Be not elated
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  Speaker 1: at any excellence not your own. If a horse should
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  Speaker 1: be elated and say, I am handsome, it might be endurable.
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  Speaker 1: But when you are elated and say, I have a
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  Speaker 1: handsome horse, know that you are elated only on the
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  Speaker 1: merit of the horse.
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  Speaker 2: What then is your own?
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  Speaker 1: The use of the phenomena of existence. So that when
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  Speaker 1: you are in harmony with nature in this respect, you
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  Speaker 1: will be elated with some reason, for you will be
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  Speaker 1: elated at some good of your own. 7. As in
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  Speaker 1: a voyage, when the ship is at anchor, if you
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  Speaker 1: go on shore to get water, you may amuse yourself
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  Speaker 1: with picking up a shellfish or a truffle in your way,
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  Speaker 1: but your thoughts ought to be bent toward the ship,
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  Speaker 1: and perpetually attentive, lest the captain should call, and then
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  Speaker 1: you must leave all these things, that you may not
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  Speaker 1: have to be carried on board the vessel, bound like
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  Speaker 1: a sheep. Thus likewise in life, if, instead of a
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  Speaker 1: truffle or shellfish, such a thing as a wife or
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  Speaker 1: a child be granted you, there is no objection. But
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  Speaker 1: if the captain calls, run to the ship, leave all
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  Speaker 1: these things, and never look behind. But if you are old,
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  Speaker 1: never go far from the ship, lest you should be
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  Speaker 1: missing when called for. 8. Demand not that events should
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  Speaker 1: happen as you wish. but wish them to happen as
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  Speaker 1: they do happen, and you will go on well. 9.
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  Speaker 1: Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to
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  Speaker 1: the will unless itself pleases. Lameness is an impediment to
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  Speaker 1: the leg, but not to the will, and say this
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  Speaker 1: to yourself with regard to everything that happens, for you
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  Speaker 1: will find it to be an impediment to something else,
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  Speaker 1: but not truly to yourself.
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  Speaker 3: 10.
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  Speaker 1: Upon every accident, remember to turn toward yourself and inquire
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: what faculty you have for its use. If you encounter
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: a handsome person, you will find continence the faculty needed.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: If pain, then fortitude. If reviling, then patience. And when
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: thus habituated, the phenomena of existence will not overwhelm you.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Read by Brian Mumford The Enchiridion 11. Never say of anything,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: I have lost it, but I have restored it. Has
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: your child died? It is restored. Has your wife died?
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: She is restored. Has your estate been taken away? That
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: likewise is restored. But it was a bad man who
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: took it. What is it to you by whose hands
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: he who gave it has demanded it again? While he
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: permits you to possess it, hold it as something not
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: your own, as do travelers at an inn.
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: 12.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: If you would improve, lay aside such reasonings as these.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: If I neglect my affairs, I shall not have a maintenance.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: If I do not punish my servant, he will be
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: good for nothing. For it were better to die of hunger,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: exempt from grief and fear, than to live in affluence
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: with perturbation. And it is better that your servant should
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: be bad than you unhappy. Begin therefore with little things.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Is a little oil spilled, or a little wine stolen?
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Say to yourself, this is the price paid for peace
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: and tranquility, and nothing is to be had for nothing.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: And when you call your servant, consider that it is
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: possible that he may not come at your call, or,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: if he does, that he may not do what you wish.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: But it is not at all desirable for him, and
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: very undesirable for you, that it should be in his
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: power to cause you any disturbance.
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: 13.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: If you would improve, be content to be thought foolish
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: and dull with regard to externals. Do not desire to
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: be thought to know anything, and though you should appear
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: to others to be somebody, distrust yourself. For be assured,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: it is not easy at once to keep your will
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: in harmony with nature and to secure externals, but while
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: you are absorbed in the one, you must of necessity
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: neglect the other.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: 14.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: If you wish your children and your wife and your
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: friends to live forever, you are foolish. For you wish
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: things to be in your power which are not so,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: and what belongs to others to be your own. So likewise,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: if you wish your servant to be without fault, you
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: are foolish. For you wish vice not to be vice,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: but something else. But if you wish not to be
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: disappointed in your desires, that is in your power. Exercise
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: therefore what is in your power. A man's master is
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: he who is able to confer or remove whatever that
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: man seeks or shuns. Whoever then would be free, let
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: else he must necessarily be a slave.
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: 15.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Remember that you must behave as at a banquet. Is
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: anything brought round to you? Put out your hand and
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: take a moderate share. Does it pass by you? Do
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: not stop it. Is it not yet come? Do not
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: yearn and desire toward it, but wait till it reaches you.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: So with regard to children, wife, office, riches, and you
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: will sometime or other be worthy to feast with the gods.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: And if you do not so much as take the
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: things which are set before you, but are able even
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: to forego them, When you see anyone weeping for grief,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: either that his son has gone abroad or that he
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: has suffered in his affairs, take care not to be
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: overcome by the apparent evil, but discriminate and be ready
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: to say, what hurts this man is not this occurrence itself,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: for another man might not.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: Be hurt by it, but the view he chooses to
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: take of it.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: As far as conversation goes, however, do not disdain to
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: accommodate yourself to him, and, if need be, to groan
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: with him.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Take heed, however, not to groan inwardly, too.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: 17.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Remember that you are an actor in a drama of
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: such sort as the author chooses.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: If short, then in a short one. If long, then
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: in a long one.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: If it be his pleasure that you should enact a
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: poor man or a cripple or a ruler or a
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: private citizen, see that you act it well. For this
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: is your business, to act well the given part. but
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: to choose it belongs to another.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: 18.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: When a raven happens to croak unluckily, be not overcome
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: by appearances, but discriminate and say, nothing is portended to me,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: either to my paltry body or property or reputation or
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: children or wife. But to me, all portents are lucky
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: if I will. For whatsoever happens, it belongs to me
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: to derive advantage therefrom. Read by Brian Mumford. The Enchiridion
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: by Epictetus. Precepts 19-26.
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: 19.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: You can be unconquerable if you enter into no combat
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: in which it is not in your own power to conquer.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: When, therefore, you see anyone eminent in honors.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Or power, or in high esteem on any other account,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: take heed not to be bewildered by appearances and to
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: pronounce him happy. For if the essence of good consists
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: in things within our own power, there will be no
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: room for envy or emulation. But, for your part, do
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: not desire to be a general or a senator or
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: a consul, but to be free. And the only way
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: to this is a disregard of things which lie not
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: within our own power. Twenty Remember that it is not
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: he who gives abuse or blows who affronts, but the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: view we take of things as insulting. When, therefore, anyone
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: which provokes you. Try, therefore, in the first place not
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: to be bewildered by appearances, for if you once gain
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: time and respite, you will more easily command yourself.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: 21.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: be daily before your eyes, but death chiefly, and you
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: will never entertain an abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: If you have an earnest desire toward philosophy, prepare yourself
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: from the very first to have the multitude laugh and sneer,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: and say, He has returned to us a philosopher all
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: at once, and whence this supercilious look? Now, for your part,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: do not have a supercilious look indeed, but keep steadily
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: to those things which appear best to you, as one
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: appointed by God to this particular station. For remember that,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: if you are persistent, those very persons who at first
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: ridiculed will afterwards admire you. But if you are conquered
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: by them, you will incur a double ridicule.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: 23.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: If you ever happen to turn your attention to externals
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: for the pleasure of anyone, be assured that you have
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: ruined your scheme of life.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Be content then, in everything, with being a philosopher.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: And if you wish to seem so likewise to anyone,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: appear so to yourself, and it will suffice you.
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: 24.
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Let not such considerations as these distress you. I shall
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: live in discredit, and be nobody anywhere. For if discredit
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: be an evil, you can no more be involved in
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: evil through another than in baseness. Is it any business
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: of yours, then, to get power, or to be admitted
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: to an entertainment?
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: By no means. How then, after all, is this discredit?
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: And how is it true that you will be nobody anywhere,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: when you ought to be somebody in those things only
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: which are within your own power, in which you may
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: be of the greatest consequence? But my friends will be unassisted.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: What do you mean by unassisted? They will not have
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: money from you, nor will you make them Roman citizens.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Who told you then that these are among the things
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: within our power, and not rather the affairs of others?
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: And who can give to another the things which he
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: himself has not? Well, but get them then, that we
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: too may have a share. If I can get them
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: with the preservation of my own honor and fidelity and self-respect,
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: show me the way and I will get them. But
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: if you require me to lose my own proper good,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: that you may gain what is no good, consider how
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: unreasonable and foolish you are. Besides, which would you rather have,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: a sum of money or a faithful and honorable friend?
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Rather assist me, then, to gain this character, than require
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: me to do those things by which I may lose it. Well,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: but my country, say you, as far as depends upon me,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: will be unassisted. Here again, what assistance is this you mean?
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: It will not have porticos nor baths of your providing.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: And what signifies that? Why, neither does a smith provide
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: it with shoes, nor a shoemaker with arms. It is
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: enough if everyone fully performs his own proper business. And
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: were you to supply it with another faithful and honourable citizen.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: Would not he be of use to it? Yes.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: Therefore, neither are you yourself useless to it. What place, then,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: say you, shall I hold in the state? Whatever you
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: can hold, with the preservation of your fidelity and honour. But, if,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: by desiring to be useful to that, you lose these,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: how can you serve your country, when you have become
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: faithless and shameless?
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: 25.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Is anyone preferred before you at an entertainment, or in courtesies,
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: or in confidential intercourse? If these things are good, you
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: ought to rejoice that he has them. And if they
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: are evil, do not be grieved that you have them not.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: And remember that you cannot be permitted to rival others
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: and externals without using the same means to obtain them.
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: For how can he who will not haunt the door
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: of any man, will not attend him, will not praise him,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: have an equal share with him who does these things?
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: You are unjust then, and unreasonable, if you are unwilling
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: to pay the price for which these things are sold,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: and would have them for nothing.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: For how much are lettuces sold? An obelisk, for instance.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: If another then, paying an obelisk, takes the lettuces, and
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: you not paying it, go without them, do not imagine
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: that he has gained any advantage over you. For as
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: he has the lettuces, so you have the obelisk which
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: you did not give. So, in the present case, you
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: have not been invited to such a person's entertainment, because
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: you have not paid him the price for which a
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: supper is sold. It is sold for praise. It is
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: sold for attendance. Give him, then, the value, if it
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: be for your advantage. But if you would at the
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: same time not pay the one, and yet receive the other,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: you are unreasonable and foolish. Have you nothing, then, in
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: place of the supper? Yes, indeed you have. not to
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: praise him whom you do not like to praise, not
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: to bear the insolence of his lackeys.
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: 26.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: The will of nature may be learned from things upon
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: which we are all agreed. As when our neighbor's boy
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: has broken a cup, or the like, we are ready
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: at once to say, these are casualties that will happen.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Be assured then, that when your own cup is likewise broken,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: you ought to be affected just as when another's cup
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: was broken. Now apply this to greater things. Is the
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: child or wife of another dead? There is no one
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: who would not say, this is an accident of mortality.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: But if anyone's own child happens to die, it is immediately, alas,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: how wretched am I. It should be always remembered how
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: we are affected on hearing the same thing concerning others.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: Read by Brian Mumford The Enchiridion by Epictetus Precepts 27-32 27.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: As a mark is.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Not set up for the sake of missing the aim,
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: so neither does the nature of evil exist in the world.
• 35:47
  Speaker 3: 28.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: If a person had delivered up your body to some passerby,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: shame in delivering up your own mind to any reviler,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: to be disconcerted and confounded?
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: 29.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: In every affair, consider what proceeds and what follows, and
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: then undertake it. Otherwise you will begin with spirit and deed,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: careless of the consequences, and when these are developed, you
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: will shamefully desist. I would conquer at the Olympic Games.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: But consider what proceeds and what follows, and then, if
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: it be for your advantage, engage in the affair. You
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: must conform to rules, submit to a diet, refrain from dainties,
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: exercise your body, whether you choose it or not, at
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: a stated hour, in heat and cold. You must drink
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: no cold water, and sometimes no wine. In a word,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: you must give yourself up to your trainer, as to
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: a physician. Then, in the combat, you may be thrown
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: into a ditch, dislocate your arm, turn your ankle, Swallow
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: an abundance of dust, receive stripes for negligence, and after all,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: lose the victory. When you have reckoned up all this,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: if your inclination still holds, set about the combat. Otherwise,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: take notice. You will behave like children who sometimes play wrestlers,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: sometimes gladiators, sometimes blow a trumpet, and sometimes act a tragedy.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: when they happen to have seen and admire these shows.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Thus you too will at one time be a wrestler,
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: and another a gladiator, now a philosopher, now an orator,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: but nothing in earnest. Like an ape you mimic all
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: you see, and one thing after another is sure to
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: please you, but is out of favour as soon as
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: it becomes familiar. For you have never entered upon anything considerably,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: nor having surveyed and tested the whole matter, but carelessly,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: and with a halfway zeal, Thus some, when they have
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: seen a philosopher and heard a man speaking like Euphrates,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: though indeed who can speak like him, have a mind
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: to be philosophers too. Consider first, man, what the matter is,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: and what your own nature is able to bear. If
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: you would be a wrestler, consider your shoulders, your back,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: your thighs, for different persons are made for different things.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Do you think you can act as you do and
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: be a philosopher? That you can eat, drink, be angry,
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: be discontented, as you are now? You must watch, you
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: must labor, you must get the better of certain appetites,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: must quit your acquaintances, be despised by your servant, be
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: laughed at by those you meet, come off worse than
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: others in everything, in offices, in honors, before tribunals. When
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: you have fully considered all these things, approach, if you please.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: That is, if by parting with them you have a
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: mind to purchase serenity, freedom, and tranquility.
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: If not, do not come hither.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Do not, like children, be now a philosopher, then a publican,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: then an orator, and then one of Caesar's officers. These
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: things are not consistent. You must be one man, either
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: good or bad. You must cultivate either your own reason
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: or else externals. Apply yourself either to things within or
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: without you. That is, be either a philosopher or one
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: of the mob.
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: 30.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: Duties are universally measured by relations. Is a certain man
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: your father? In this are implied taking care of him,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: submitting to him in all things, patiently receiving his rewards.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: his correction but he is a bad father is your
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: natural tie then to a good father no but to
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: a father is a brother unjust well preserve your own
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: just relation toward him Consider not what he does, but
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: what you are to do to keep your own will
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: in its state comfortable to nature, for another cannot hurt
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: you unless you please. You will then be hurt when
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: you consent to be hurt. In this manner, therefore, if
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: you accustom yourself to contemplate the relations of neighbor, citizen, commander,
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: you can deduce from each the corresponding duties. 31 Be
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: assured that the essence of piety towards the gods lies
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: in this, to form right opinions concerning them, as existing
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: and as governing the universe justly and well. And fix
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: yourself in this resolution, to obey them and yield to them,
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: and willingly follow them amidst all events, as being ruled
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: by the most perfect wisdom. For thus you will never
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: find fault with the gods, nor accuse them of neglecting you.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: And it is not possible for this to be effected
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: in any other way than by withdrawing yourself from things
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: which are not within our own power, and by making
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: good or evil consist only in those which are.
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: For if you.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: Suppose any other things to be either good or evil,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: it is inevitable that, when you are disappointed of what
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: you wish or incur what you would avoid, you should
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: reproach and blame their authors. For every creature is naturally
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: formed to flee and abhor things that appear hurtful, and
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: that which causes them, and to pursue and admire those
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: which appear beneficial, and that which causes them. It is impracticable, then,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: that one who supposes himself to be hurt should rejoice
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: in the person who, as he thinks, hurts him, just
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: as it is impossible to rejoice in the hurt itself.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: Hence also, a father is reviled by his son when
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: he does not impart the things which seem to be good.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: And this made Polyneses and Edeocles mutually enemies. That empire
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: seemed good to both. On this account, the husbandman reviles
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: the gods, and so do the sailor, the merchant, or
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: those who have lost wife or child. For where our
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: interest is, there too is piety directed. so that whoever
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: is careful to regulate his desires and aversions as he
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: ought is thus made careful of piety likewise. But it
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: also becomes incumbent on everyone to offer libations and sacrifices
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: and first fruits, according to the customs of his country, purely,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: and not heedlessly nor negligently, not avariciously nor yet extravagantly.
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: 32.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: When you have recourse to divination, remember that you know
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: not what the event will be, and you come to
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: learn it of the diviner, but of what nature it
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: is you knew before coming, at least if you are
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: of philosophic mind. For if it is among the things
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: not within our power, it can by no means be
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: either good or evil. Do not, therefore, bring with you
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: to the diviner either desire or aversion, else you will
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: approach him trembling. But first clearly understand that every event
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: is indifferent and nothing to you, of whatever sort it
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: may be, for it will be in your power to
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: make a right use of it, and this no one
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: can hinder. Then come with confidence to the gods as
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: your counselors, and afterwards, when any counsel is given you,
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: remember what counselors you have assumed, and whose advice you
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: will neglect if you disobey. Come to divination as Socrates prescribed.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: in cases of which the whole consideration relates to the event,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: and in which no opportunities are afforded by reason or
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: any other art to discover the matter in view. When, therefore,
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: it is our duty to share the danger of a
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: friend or of our country, we ought not to consult
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: the oracle as to whether we shall share it with
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: them or not. For though the diviner should forewarn you
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: that the auspices are unfavorable, this means no more than
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: that either death or mutilation or exile is portended. But
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: we have reason within us, and it directs us, even
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: with these hazards, to stand by our friend and our country. Attend, therefore,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: to the greater diviner, the Pythian god, who once cast
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: out of the temple him who neglected to save his friend.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: Read by Brian Mumford. The Enchiridion by Epictetus. Precepts 33-41.
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: 33.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: Begin by prescribing to yourself some character and demeanor, such
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: as you may preserve both alone and in company. Be
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: mostly silent, or speak merely what is needful, and in
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: few words. We may, however, enter sparingly into discourse sometimes,
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: when occasion calls for it. But let it not run
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: on any of the common subjects, as gladiators or horse
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: races or athletic champions or food or drink, the vulgar
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: topics of conversation, and especially not on men, so as
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: either to.
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: Blame or praise or make comparisons.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: If you are able, then, by your own conversation, bring
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: over that of your company to proper subjects. But if
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: you happen to find yourself among strangers, be silent. Let
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: not your laughter be loud, frequent, or abundant. Avoid taking oaths,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: if possible, altogether, at any rate, so far as you
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: are able. Avoid public and vulgar entertainments. But if ever
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: an occasion calls you to them, keep your attention upon
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: the stretch, that you may not imperceptibly slide into vulgarity.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: For be assured that if a person be ever so
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: pure himself, yet, if his companion be corrupted, He who
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: converses with him will be corrupted likewise. Provide things relating
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: to the body no further than absolute need requires, as meat, drink, clothing, house, retinue.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: But cut off everything that looks towards show and luxury.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Before marriage, guard yourself with all your ability from unlawful
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: intercourse with women. Yet be not uncharitable or severe to
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: those who are led into this. nor boast frequently that
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: you yourself do otherwise. If anyone tells you that a
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: about what is said of you, but answer, He was
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: mentioned these alone. It is not necessary for you to
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: appear often at public spectacles, but if ever there is
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: a proper occasion for you to be there, do not
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: appear more solicitous for any other than for yourself, That is,
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: wish things to be only just as they are, and
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: only the best man to win. For thus nothing will
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: go against you. But abstain entirely from acclamations and derision
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: and violent emotions.
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: And when you come away.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: Do not discourse a great deal on what has passed,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: and what contributes nothing to your own amendment. For it
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: would appear by such discourse that you were dazzled by
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: the show. Be not prompt or ready to attend private recitations,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: but if you do attend, preserve your gravity and dignity,
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: and yet avoid making yourself disagreeable. When you are going
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: to confer with anyone, and especially with one who seems
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: your superior, represent to yourself how Socrates or Zeno would
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: behave in such a case, and you will not be
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: at a loss to meet properly whatever may occur. When
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: you are going before anyone in power, fancy to yourself
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: that you may not find him at home, that you
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: may be shut out, that the doors may not be
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: opened to you, that he may not notice you. If,
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: with all this, it be your duty to go, bear
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: what happens and never say to yourself, it was not
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: worth so much, for this is vulgar and like a
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: man bewildered by externals. In company, avoid a frequent and
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: excessive mention of your own actions and dangers, for however
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: agreeable it may be to yourself to allude to the
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: risks you have run, it is not equally agreeable to
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: others to hear your adventures. Avoid likewise an endeavor to
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: excite laughter, for this may readily slide you into vulgarity and, besides,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: may be apt to lower you in the esteem of
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: your acquaintance. Approaches to indecent discourse are likewise dangerous. Therefore,
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: when anything of this sort happens, use the first fit
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: opportunity to rebuke him who makes advances that way. Or,
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: at least, by silence and blushing and a serious look,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: show yourself to be displeased by such talk.
• 48:49
  Speaker 3: 34.
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: If you are dazzled by the semblance of any promised pleasure...
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: Guard yourself against being bewildered by it, but let the
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: affair wait your leisure, and procure yourself some delay. Then
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: bring to your mind both points of time, that in
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: which you shall enjoy the pleasure, and that in which
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: you will repent and reproach yourself, after you have enjoyed it,
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: and set before you, in opposition to these, how you
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: will rejoice and applaud yourself if you abstain. As the proposition,
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: either it is day or it is night, has much
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: force in a disjunctive argument, but none at all in
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: a conjunctive one, so at a feast, to choose the
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: largest share is very suitable to the bodily appetite, but
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: utterly inconsistent with the social spirit of the entertainment. Remember, then,
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: when you eat with another, not only the value to
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: the body of those things which are set before you, but.
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: Also the value of proper courtesy towards your host.
• 50:30
  Speaker 3: 37.
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: If you have assumed any character beyond your strength, you
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: have both demeaned yourself ill in that and.
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: Quitted one which you might have supported.
• 50:43
  Speaker 3: 38.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: As in walking, you take care not to tread upon
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: a nail or turn your foot, so likewise take care
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. And
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: if we were to guard against this in every action...
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: we should enter upon action more safely.
• 51:03
  Speaker 3: 39.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: The body is to everyone the proper measure of its possessions,
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: as the foot is of the shoe. If, therefore, you
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: stop at this, you will keep the measure. But if
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: you move beyond it, you must necessarily be carried forward,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: as down a precipice, as in the case of a shoe.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: If you go beyond its fitness to the foot, it
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: comes first to be gilded, then purple, and then stud
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: it with jewels. For to that which once exceeds the
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: fit measure, there is no bound.
• 51:38
  Speaker 3: 40.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: Women from fourteen years old are flattered by men with
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: the title of mistresses. Therefore, perceiving that they are regarded
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: only as qualified to give men pleasure, they begin to
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: adorn themselves, and in that.
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: To place all their hopes.
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: It is worthwhile, therefore, to try that they may perceive
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: themselves honored only so far as they appear beautiful in
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: their demeanor and modestly virtuous.
• 52:10
  Speaker 3: 41.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: It is a mark of want of intellect to spend
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: much time in things relating to the body, as to
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: be immoderate in exercises, in eating and drinking, and in
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: the discharge of other animal functions. These things should be
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: done incidentally, and our main strength be applied to our reason.
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: Read by Brian Mumford. The Enchiridion by Epictetus. Precepts 42-50.
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: 42.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: When any person does ill by you or speaks ill
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: of you, remember that he acts or speaks from an
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: impression that it is right for him to do so.
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: Now it is not possible that he should follow what
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: appears right to you, but only what appears so to himself. Therefore,
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: if he judges from false appearances and he is the
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: person hurt, since he too is the person deceived. For
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: if anyone takes a true proposition to be false, the
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: proposition is not hurt, but only the man is deceived.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: Setting out then from these principles, you will meekly bear
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: with a person who reviles you, for you will say
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: upon every occasion, it seems so to him.
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: 43.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: EVERYTHING HAS TWO HANDLES one by which it may be born,
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: another by which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly,
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: do not lay hold on the affair by the handle
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: of his injustice, for by that it cannot be born,
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: but rather by the opposite, that he is your brother,
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: that he was brought up with you, and thus you
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: will lay hold on it as it is to be born.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: These reasonings have no logical connection. I am richer than you,
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: therefore I am your superior. I am more eloquent than you,
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: therefore I am your superior. The true logical connection is
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: rather this. I am richer than you, therefore my possessions
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: must exceed yours. I am more eloquent than you, therefore
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: my style must surpass yours. But you, after all, consist
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: neither in property nor in style.
• 54:26
  Speaker 3: 45.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: Does anyone bathe hastily? Do not say that he does
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: it ill, but hastily. Does anyone drink much wine? Do
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: not say that he does ill, but that he drinks
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: a great deal. For unless you perfectly understand his motives,
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: how should you know if he acts ill? Thus you
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: will not risk yielding to any appearances, but such as
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: you fully comprehend.
• 54:54
  Speaker 3: 46.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: Never proclaim yourself a philosopher, nor make much talk among
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: the ignorant about your principles, but show them by your actions. Thus,
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: at an entertainment, do not discourse how people ought to eat,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: but eat as you ought. For remember that thus Socrates
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: also universally avoided all ostentation. And when persons came to
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: him and desired to be introduced to him by philosophers,
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: he took them and introduced them. So well did he
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: bear being overlooked. So if ever there should be among
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: the ignorant any discussion of principles, be for the most
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: part silent. For there is great danger in hastily throwing
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: out what is undigested. And if anyone tells you that
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it,
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: then you may be sure that you have really entered
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: on your work. For sheep do not hastily throw up
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten, but...
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: inwardly digesting their food, they produce it outwardly, in wool
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: and milk. Thus, therefore, do you not make an exhibition
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: before the ignorant of your principles, but of the actions
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: to which their digestion gives rise.
• 56:11
  Speaker 3: 47.
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: When you have learned to nourish your body frugally, do
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: not pique yourself upon it, nor, if you drink water,
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: be saying upon every occasion, I drink water. But first,
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: consider how much more frugal are the poor than we,
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: and how much more patient of hardship. If at any
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: time you would inure yourself by exercise to labor and privation,
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: for your own sake and not for the public, do
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: not attempt great feats, but when you are violently thirsty,
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: just rinse your mouth with water and tell nobody.
• 56:43
  Speaker 3: 48.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: The condition and characteristic of a vulgar person is that
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: he never looks for either help or harm from himself,
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: but only from externals. The condition and characteristic of a
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: philosopher is that he looks to himself for all help
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: or harm. The marks of a proficient are that he
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: censures no one, praises no one, blames no one, accuses
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: no one, says nothing concerning himself as being anybody or
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: knowing anything. When he is in any instance hindered or restrained,
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: he accuses himself. And if he is praised, he smiles
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: to himself at the person who praises him. And if
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: he is censured, he makes no defense. But he goes
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: about with the caution of a convalescent, careful of interference
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: with anything that is doing well, but not yet quite secure.
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: He restrains desire. He transfers his aversion to those things
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: only which thwart the proper use of our own will.
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: He employs his energies moderately in all directions. If he
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: appears stupid or ignorant, he does not care, and, in
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: a word, he keeps watch over himself as over an
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: enemy and one in ambush.
• 58:03
  Speaker 3: 49.
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: When anyone shows himself vain on being able to understand
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: and interpret the works of Sisyphus, say to yourself, unless
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: Sisyphus had written obscurely, this person would have had nothing
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: to be vain of.
• 58:22
  Speaker 2: But what do I desire? To understand nature and follow her.
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: I ask then, who interprets her? And hearing that Sisyphus does,
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: I have recourse to him. I do not understand his writings.
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: I seek, therefore, one to interpret them. So far, there
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: is nothing to value myself upon, and when I find
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: an interpreter, what remains is to make use of his instructions.
• 58:47
  Speaker 2: This alone is the valuable thing.
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: But if I admire merely the interpretation, what do I
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: become more than a grammarian instead of a philosopher, except, indeed,
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: that instead of Homer, I interpret Sisyphus? When anyone, therefore,
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: desires me to read Sisyphus to him, I rather blush
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: when I cannot exhibit actions that are harmonious and consonant.
• 59:12
  Speaker 2: With his discourse.
• 59:13
  Speaker 3: 50.
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: Whatever rules you have adopted, abide by them as laws,
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: and as if you would be impious to transgress them.
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: And do not regard what anyone says of you, for this,
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: after all, is no concern of yours. How long, then,
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: will you delay to demand of yourself the noblest improvements,
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: and in no instance to transgress the judgments of reason?
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: You have received the philosophic principles with which you ought
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: to be conversant, and.
• 59:46
  Speaker 2: You have been conversant with them.
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: For what other master, then, do you wait as an
• 59:51
  Speaker 1: excuse for this delay in self-reformation? You are no longer
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: a boy, but a grown man. If, therefore, you will
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: be negligent and slothful, and always add procrastination to procrastination,
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: purpose to purpose, and fix day after day in which
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: you will attend to yourself, you will insensibly continue to
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: accomplish nothing, and living and dying.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: Remain a vulgar mind.
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: This instant, then, think yourself worthy of living as a
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: man grown up, and a proficient. Let whatever appears to
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: be the best be to you an inviolable law. And
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: if any instance of pain or pleasure, glory or disgrace
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: be set before you, remember that now is the combat,
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: now the Olympiad comes on, nor can it be put off,
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: and that by one failure and defeat honor may be
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: lost or won. Thus Socrates became perfect, improving himself by everything,
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: following reason alone. And though you are not yet a Socrates,
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: you ought, however, to live as one seeking to be
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: a Socrates. Read by Brian Mumford The Enchiridion by Epictetus
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: Translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 2: 51st and Final Precept.
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: The first and most necessary topic in philosophy is the
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: practical application of principles as we.
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 2: Ought not to lie.
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: The second is that of demonstrations as why is it
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: that we ought not to lie. The third, that which
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: gives strength and logical connection to the other two as
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: why this is a demonstration. For what is a demonstration?
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: What is a consequence? What a contradiction?
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 2: What truth? What falsehood?
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: The third point is then necessary on account of the second,
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: and the second on account of the first. But the
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: most necessary, and that whereon we ought to rest, is
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: the first. But we do just the contrary, for we
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: spend all our time on the third point, and employ
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: all our diligence about that. and entirely neglect the first. Therefore,
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 1: at the same time that we lie, we are very
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: ready to show how it is demonstrated that lying is wrong.
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: Upon all occasions, we ought to have these maxims ready
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: at hand. Conduct me, Zeus, and thou, O destiny, wherever
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: your decrees have fixed my lot.
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 2: I follow cheerfully, and, did I not?
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: Wicked and wretched, I must follow still. Whoever yields properly
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: to fate is deemed wise among men, and knows the
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: laws of heaven. And this third. O Crito, if it
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: thus pleases the gods, thus let it be. Antaeus and
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: Meletus may kill me indeed, but hurt me they cannot.
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: End of the Enchiridion by Epictetus Translated by Thomas Wentworth
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: Higginson Read by Brian Mumford.
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 2: Steam Mill Village, Nova Scotia. August 17th, 2024.