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01 - The Enchiridion - Epictetus · Logic Library

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  The Encarridian by Epictetus, translated by Percy Matheson, Chapter one. Of all
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  existing things, some are in our power, and others are not in our
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  power. In our power are thought, impulse, will to get, and
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  will to avoid, and in a word, everything which is our own doing.
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  Things not in our power include the body, property, reputation, office,
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  and in a word, everything which is not our own doing. Things
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  in our power are by nature free, unhindered, untrammeled. Things not in
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  our power are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, dependent on others.
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  Remember then, that if you imagine that what is naturally slavish is free,
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  and what is naturally in others is your own, you will be hampered,
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  You will mourn, you will be put to confusion, You will blame God's
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  inn men. But if you think that only your own belongs to you,
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  and that what is in other's is indeed in others, no one will ever
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  put compulsion or hindrance on you. You will blame none, You will accuse
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  none. You will do nothing against your will. No one will harm you.
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  You will have no enemy, for no harm can touch you. Aiming
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  then at these high matters, you must remember that to attain them requires more
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  than ordinary effort. You will have to give up some things entirely and put
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  off others for the moment. And if you would have these also, office
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  and wealth, it may be that you will fail to get them, just
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  because your desire is set on the former, and you will certainly fail to
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  attain those things which alone bring freedom and happiness. Make it your study,
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  then, to confront every harsh impression with the words, you are but an
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  impression, and not at all what you seem to be. Then tested by
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  those rules that you possess, and first by this the chief test of all.
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  Is it concerned with what is in our power or with what is not
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  in our power? And if it is concerned with what is not in our
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  power, be ready with the answer that it is nothing to you. Chapter
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  two. Remember that the will to get promises attainment of what you will,
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  and the will to avoid promises escape from what you avoid. And he who
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  fails to get what he wills is unfortunate, and he who does not escape
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  what he wills to avoid is miserable. If then you try to avoid only
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  what is unnatural in the region within your control, you will escape from all
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  that you avoid. But if you try to avoid disease or death or poverty,
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  you will be miserable. Therefore, let your will to avoid have no
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  concern with what is not in man's power. Direct it only to things in
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  man's power that are contrary to nature. But for the moment you must utterly
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  remove the will to get. For if you will to get something not in
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  man's power, you are bound to be unfortunate. While none of the things
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  in man's power that you could honorably will to get is yet within your reach.
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  Impulse to act and not to act, these are your concern. Yet
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  exercise them gently and without strain, and provisionally. Three. When anything from
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  the meanest thing upwards is attractive, or serviceable, or an object of affection,
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  remember always to say to yourself, what is its nature. If you
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  are fond of a jug, Say you are fond of a jug, then
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  you will not be disturbed if it be broken. If you kiss your child
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  or your wife, say to yourself that you're kissing a human being, For
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  then if death strikes it, you will not be disturbed. Chapter four.
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  When you are about to take something in hand, remind yourself what manner of
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  thing it is. If you are going to bathe. Put before your mind
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  what happens in the bath water, pouring over, some others being jostled,
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  some reviling, others, stealing. And you will set to work more securely
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  if you say to yourself at once, I want to bathe, and I
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  want to keep my will in harmony with nature. And so in each thing
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  you do, for in this way, if anything turns up to hinder you
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  in your bathing, you will be ready to say, I did not want
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  only to bathe, but to keep my will in harmony with nature, and
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  I shall not so keep it if I lose my temper at what happens.
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  Chapter five. What disturbs men's minds is not events, but their judgments on
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  events. For instance, death is nothing dreadful, or else Socrates would have
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  thought it so. No, the only dreadful thing about it is men's judgment
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  that it is dreadful. And so when we are hindered or disturbed or distressed,
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  let us never lay the blame on others, but on ourselves, that
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  is, on our own judgments. To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is
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  a sign of want of education. To accuse one's self shows that one's education
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  has begun to accuse neither one's self nor others, shows that one's education is
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  complete. Chapter six. Be not elated at an excellence which is not your
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  own. If the horse in his pride were to say I am handsome,
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  we could bear with it. But when you say with pride, I have
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  a handsome horse, know that the good horse is the ground of your pride.
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  You ask, then, what you can call your own. The answer
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  is the way you deal with your impressions. Therefore, when you deal with
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  your impressions in accord with nature, then you may be proud, indeed,
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  for your pride will be in a good which is your own. Chapter seven.
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  When you are on a voyage and your ship is at anchorage, and
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  you disembark to get fresh water, you may pick up a small shellfish or
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  a shuffle by the way, but you must keep your attention fixed on the
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  ship and keep looking towards it constantly to see if the helmsman calls you,
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  And if he does, you have to leave everything or be bundled on board
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  with your legs tied like a sheep. So it is in life. If
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  you have a dear wife or child given you, they are like the shellfish
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  or the truffle. They are very well in their way. Only if the
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  helmsman call, run back to your ship. Leave all else, and do
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  not look behind you. And if you are old, never go far from
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  the ship, so that when you are called you may not fail to appear.
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  Chapter eight. Ask not that events should happen as you will, but
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  let your will be that events should happen as they do, and you shall
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  have peace. Chapter nine. Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but
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  not to the will, unless the will consent. Lameness is a hindrance to
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  the leg, but not to the will. Say this to yourself at each
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  event that happens, for you shall find that though it hinders something else,
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  it will not hinder you. Chapter ten. When anything happens to you,
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  always remember to turn to yourself and ask what faculty you have to deal with
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  it. If you see a beautiful boy or a beautiful woman, you will
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  find continance the faculty to exercise there. If trouble is laid on you,
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  you will find endurance. If rivaldry, you will find patience. And if
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  you train yourself in this habit, your impressions will not carry you away end
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  of chapters one through ten,