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Enchiridion - Epictetus · The Enchiridion

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  Speaker 1: Chapters one through ten of the Ncorridian. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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  Speaker 1: The Ncridian by Epictetus, translated by Percy Matheson, Chapter one.
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  Speaker 1: Of all existing things, some are in our power, and
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  Speaker 1: others are not in our power. In our power are thought, impulse,
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  Speaker 1: will to get, and will to avoid, and in a word,
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  Speaker 1: everything which is our own doing. Things not in our
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  Speaker 1: power include the body, property, reputation, office, and in a
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  Speaker 1: word everything which is not our own doing. Things in
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  Speaker 1: our power are by nature free, unhindered, untrammeled. Things not
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  Speaker 1: in our power are weak, servile, subject to hindris, dependent
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  Speaker 1: on others. Remember then, that if you imagine that what
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  Speaker 1: is naturally slavish is free, and what is naturally in
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  Speaker 1: other's is your own, you will be hampered, You will mourn,
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  Speaker 1: you will be put to confusion, you will blame gods
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  Speaker 1: and men. But if you think that only your own
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  Speaker 1: belongs to you, and that what is in other's is
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  Speaker 1: indeed in others, no one will ever put compulsion or
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  Speaker 1: hindrance on you. You will blame none, you will accuse none.
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  Speaker 1: You will do nothing against your will. No one will
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  Speaker 1: harm you. You will have no enemy, for no harm
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  Speaker 1: can touch you. Aiming then at these high matters, you
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  Speaker 1: must remember that to attain them requires more than ordinary effort.
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  Speaker 1: You will have to give up some things entirely and
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  Speaker 1: put off others for the moment. And if you would
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  Speaker 1: have these also office and wealth, it may be that
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  Speaker 1: you will fail to get them, just because your desire
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  Speaker 1: is set on the former, and you will certainly fail
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  Speaker 1: to attain those things which will bring freedom and happiness.
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  Speaker 1: Make it your study, then, to confront every harsh impression
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  Speaker 1: with the words you are but an impression, and not
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  Speaker 1: at all what you seem to be. Then tested by
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  Speaker 1: those rules that you possess, And first by this the
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  Speaker 1: chief test of all. Is it concerned with what is
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  Speaker 1: in our power or with what is not in our power?
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  Speaker 1: And if it is concerned with what is not in
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  Speaker 1: our power, be ready with the answer that it is
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  Speaker 1: nothing to you. Chapter two. Remember that the will to
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  Speaker 1: get promises attainment of what you will, and the will
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  Speaker 1: to avoid promises escape from what you avoid. And he
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  Speaker 1: who fails to get what he wills is unfortunate, and
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  Speaker 1: he who does not escape what he wills to avoid
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  Speaker 1: is miserable. If then you try to avoid only what
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  Speaker 1: is unnatural in the region within your control, you will
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  Speaker 1: escape from all that you avoid. But if you try
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  Speaker 1: to avoid disease or death or poverty, you will be miserable. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: let your will to avoid have no concern with what
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  Speaker 1: is not in man's power. Direct it only to things
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  Speaker 1: in man's power that are contrary to nature. But for
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  Speaker 1: the moment you must utterly remove the will to get.
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  Speaker 1: For if you will to get something not in man's power,
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  Speaker 1: you are bound to be unfortunate, while none of the
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  Speaker 1: things in man's power that you could honorably will to
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  Speaker 1: get is yet within your reach. Impulse to act and
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  Speaker 1: not to act, these are your concern. Yet exercise them
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  Speaker 1: gently and without strain, and provisionally. Chapter three. When anything
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  Speaker 1: from the meanest thing upwards is attractive or serviceable, or
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  Speaker 1: an object of affection, remember always to say to yourself,
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  Speaker 1: what is its nature? If you are fond of a jug,
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  Speaker 1: Say you are fond of a jug, then you will
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  Speaker 1: not be disturbed if it be broken. If you kiss
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  Speaker 1: your child or your wife, say to yourself that you
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  Speaker 1: are kissing a human being. For then if death strikes it,
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  Speaker 1: you will not be disturbed. Chapter four. When you are
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  Speaker 1: about to take something in hand, remind yourself what manner
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  Speaker 1: of thing it is. If you are going to bathe,
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  Speaker 1: Put before your mind what happens in the bath water
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  Speaker 1: pouring over, some others, being jostled, some reviling, others, stealing.
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  Speaker 1: And you will set to work more securely if you
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  Speaker 1: say to yourself at once, I want to bathe, and
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  Speaker 1: I want to keep my will in harmony with nature.
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  Speaker 1: And so in each thing you do, for in this way,
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  Speaker 1: if anything turns up to hinder you in your bathing,
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  Speaker 1: you will be ready to say, I did not want
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  Speaker 1: only to bathe, but to keep my will in harmony
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  Speaker 1: with nature. And I shall not so keep it if
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  Speaker 1: I lose my temper at what happens. Chapter five. What
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  Speaker 1: disturbs men's minds is not events, but their judgments on events.
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  Speaker 1: For instance, death is nothing dreadful, or else Socrates would
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  Speaker 1: have thought it. So. No, the only dreadful thing about
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  Speaker 1: it is men's judgment that it is dreadful. And so
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  Speaker 1: when we are hindered or disturbed or distressed, let us
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  Speaker 1: never lay the blame on others, but on ourselves, that is,
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  Speaker 1: on our own judgments. To accuse others for one's own
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  Speaker 1: misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse
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  Speaker 1: one's self shows that one's education has begun. To accuse
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  Speaker 1: neither one's self nor others shows that one's education is complete.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter six. Be not elated at an excellence which is
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  Speaker 1: not your own. If the horse and his pride were
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  Speaker 1: to say I am handsome, we could bear with it.
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  Speaker 1: But when you say with pride, I have a handsome horse,
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  Speaker 1: know that the good horse is the ground of your pride.
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  Speaker 1: You asked, then, what you can call your own? The
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  Speaker 1: answer is the way you deal with your impressions. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: when you deal with your impressions in accord with nature,
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  Speaker 1: then you may be proud, indeed, for your pride will
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  Speaker 1: be in a good which is your own. Chapter seven.
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  Speaker 1: When you are on a voyage and your ship is
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  Speaker 1: at anchorage, and you disembark to get fresh water, you
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  Speaker 1: may pick up a small shellfish or a shuffle by
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  Speaker 1: the way, but you must keep your attention fixed on
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  Speaker 1: the ship and keep looking towards it constantly to see
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  Speaker 1: if the helmsman calls you, and if he does, you
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  Speaker 1: have to leave everything or be bundled on board with
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  Speaker 1: your legs tied like a sheep. So it is in life.
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  Speaker 1: If you have a dear wife or child given you,
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  Speaker 1: they are like the shellfish or the truffle. They are
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  Speaker 1: very well in their way. Only if the helmsman call,
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  Speaker 1: run back to your ship. Leave all else, and do
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  Speaker 1: not look behind you. And if you are old, never
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  Speaker 1: go far from the ship, so that when you are
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  Speaker 1: called you may not fail to appear. Chapter eight. Ask
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  Speaker 1: not that events should happen as you will, but let
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  Speaker 1: your will be that events should happen as they do,
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  Speaker 1: and you shall have peace. Chapter nine. Sickness is a
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  Speaker 1: hindrance to the body, but not to the will, unless
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  Speaker 1: the will consent. Lameness is a hindrance to the leg,
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  Speaker 1: but not to the will. Say this to yourself at
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  Speaker 1: each event that happens, for you shall find that though
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  Speaker 1: it hinders something else, it will not hinder you. Chapter ten.
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  Speaker 1: When anything happens to you, always remember to turn to
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  Speaker 1: yourself and ask what faculty you have to deal with it.
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  Speaker 1: If you see a beautiful boy or a beautiful woman,
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  Speaker 1: you will find continence the faculty to exercise there. If
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  Speaker 1: trouble is laid on you, you will find endurance. If rivaldry,
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  Speaker 1: you will find patience. And if you train yourself in
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  Speaker 1: this habit, your impressions will not carry you away. End
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  Speaker 1: of chapters one through ten, recorded by John Peterson. Chapters
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  Speaker 1: eleven through twenty of the Ncridian. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
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  Speaker 1: Ncoridian by epictetis translated by Percy Matheson chapter eleven. Never
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  Speaker 1: say of anything I lost it, but say I gave
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  Speaker 1: it back. Has your child died it was given back?
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  Speaker 1: Has your wife died she was given back? Has your
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  Speaker 1: estate been taken from you? Was not this also given back?
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  Speaker 1: But you say he who took it from me is wicked?
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  Speaker 1: What does it matter to you through whom the giver
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  Speaker 1: asked it back? As long as he gives it, you
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  Speaker 1: take care of it, but not as your own. Treat
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  Speaker 1: it as passers by treat an inn chapter twelve. If
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  Speaker 1: you wish to make progress, abandon reasonings of this sort.
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  Speaker 1: If I neglect my affairs, I shall have nothing to
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  Speaker 1: live on. If I do not punish my son, he
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  Speaker 1: will be wicked. For it is better to die of
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  Speaker 1: hunger so that you be free from pain and free
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  Speaker 1: from fear, than to live in plenty and be troubled
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  Speaker 1: in mind. It is better for your son to be
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  Speaker 1: wicked than for you to be miserable. Wherefore, begin with
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  Speaker 1: little things. Is your drop of oil spilt? Is your
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  Speaker 1: sup of wine stolen? Say to yourself, this is the
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  Speaker 1: price paid for freedom from passion. This is the price
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  Speaker 1: of a quiet mind. Nothing can be had without a price.
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  Speaker 1: When you call your slave boy, reflect that he may
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  Speaker 1: not be able to hear you, and if he hears you,
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  Speaker 1: he may not be able to do anything you want.
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  Speaker 1: But he is not so well off that it rests
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  Speaker 1: with him to give you peace of mind. Chapter thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: If you wish to make progress, you must be content
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  Speaker 1: in external matters to seem a fool and a simpleton.
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  Speaker 1: Do not wish men to think you know anything. And
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  Speaker 1: if any should think you to be somebody, distrust yourself.
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  Speaker 1: For know that it is not easy to keep your
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  Speaker 1: will in accord with nature and at the same time
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  Speaker 1: keep outward things. If you attend to one, you must
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  Speaker 1: needs neglect the other. Chapter fourteen. It is silly to
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  Speaker 1: want your children, and your wife and your friends to
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  Speaker 1: live forever, For that means that you want what is
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  Speaker 1: not in your control to be in your control, and
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  Speaker 1: what is not your own to be yours. In the
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  Speaker 1: same way, if you want your servant to make no mistakes,
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  Speaker 1: you are a fool, for you want vice not to
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  Speaker 1: be vice, but something different. But if you want not
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  Speaker 1: to be disappointed, and your will to get you can
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  Speaker 1: attain to that. Exercise yourself then in what lies in
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  Speaker 1: your power. Each man's master is the man who has
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  Speaker 1: authority over what he wishes or does not wish to
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  Speaker 1: secure the one or to take away the other. Let him, then,
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  Speaker 1: who wishes to be free, not wish for anything or
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  Speaker 1: avoid anything that depends on others or else. He is
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  Speaker 1: bound to be a slave. Chapter fifteen. Remember that you
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  Speaker 1: must behave in life as you would at a banquet.
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  Speaker 1: A dish is handed round and comes to you. Put
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  Speaker 1: out your hand and take it politely. It passes. You
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  Speaker 1: do not stop it. It has not reached you. Do
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  Speaker 1: not be impatient to get it, but wait till your
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  Speaker 1: turn comes. Bear yourself thus towards children, wife, office, wealth,
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  Speaker 1: and one day you will be worthy to banquet with
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  Speaker 1: the gods. But if, when they are set before you,
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  Speaker 1: you do not take them but despise them, then you
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  Speaker 1: shall not only share the god's banquet, but shall share
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  Speaker 1: their rule. For by doing so, Diogenes and Heraclitus and
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  Speaker 1: men like them were called divine and deserve the name.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen. When you see a man shedding tears and
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  Speaker 1: sorrow for a child abroad or dead, or for loss
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  Speaker 1: of property, beware that you are not carried away by
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  Speaker 1: the impression that it is outward ills that make him miserable.
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  Speaker 1: Keep this thought by you. What distresses him is not
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  Speaker 1: the event, for that does not distress another, but his
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  Speaker 1: judgment on the event. Therefore, do not hesitate to sympathize
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  Speaker 1: with him so far as words go, and if it's
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  Speaker 1: so chance, even to groan with him, but take heed
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  Speaker 1: that you do not also groan in your inner being.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen. Remember that you are an actor in a play,
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  Speaker 1: and the playwright chooses the manner of it. If he
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  Speaker 1: wants it short, it is short, if long it is long.
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  Speaker 1: If he wants you to act a poor man, you
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  Speaker 1: must act the part with all your powers. And so
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  Speaker 1: if your part be a cripple, or a magistrate or
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  Speaker 1: a plain man, for your business is to act the
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  Speaker 1: character that has given you, and act it well. The
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  Speaker 1: choice of the caste is in Other's chapter eighteen, when
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  Speaker 1: a raven croaks with evil omen. Let not the impression
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  Speaker 1: carry you away, but stray away. Distinguish in your own mind,
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  Speaker 1: and say, these portents mean nothing to me, but only
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  Speaker 1: to my bit of a body, or my bit of property,
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  Speaker 1: or name, or my children or my wife. But for me,
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  Speaker 1: all omens are favorable. If I will, for whatever the
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  Speaker 1: issue may be, it is in my power to benefit.
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  Speaker 1: Therefrom Chapter nineteen. You can be invincible if you never
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  Speaker 1: enter on a contest where victory is not in your power.
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  Speaker 1: Beware then, that when you see a man raised to honor,
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  Speaker 1: or to great power or high repute, you do not
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  Speaker 1: let your impression carry you away. For if the reality
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  Speaker 1: of good lies in what is in our power, there
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  Speaker 1: is no room for envy or jealousy. And you will
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  Speaker 1: not wish to be pritur or prefect or counsel, but
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  Speaker 1: to be free. And there is but one way to freedom,
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  Speaker 1: to despise what is not in our power. Chapter twenty.
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  Speaker 1: Remember that foul words or blows in themselves are no outrage,
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  Speaker 1: but your judgment that they are so. So when anyone
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  Speaker 1: makes you angry, know that it is your own thought
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  Speaker 1: that has angered you. Wherefore, make it your first endeavor
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  Speaker 1: not to let your impressions carry you away, For if
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  Speaker 1: once you gain time and delay, you will find it
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  Speaker 1: easier to control yourself. End of chapters eleven through twenty
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  Speaker 1: recorded by John Peterson. Chapters twenty one through thirty of
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  Speaker 1: the Nkridian. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. The Ncridian by epictetis translated
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  Speaker 1: by Percy Matheson. Chapter twenty one. Keep before your eyes
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  Speaker 1: from day to day death and exile, and all things
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  Speaker 1: that seem terrible, by death most of all. And then
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  Speaker 1: you will never set your thoughts on what is low,
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  Speaker 1: and will never desire anything beyond measure. Chapter twenty two.
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  Speaker 1: If you set your desire on philosophy, you must have
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  Speaker 1: once prepared to meet with ridicule and the jeers of
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  Speaker 1: many who will say here he is again turn philosopher.
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  Speaker 1: Where has he got these proud looks? Nay, put on
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  Speaker 1: no proud looks. But hold fast to what seems best
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  Speaker 1: to you, and confidence that God has set you at
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  Speaker 1: this post. And remember that if you abide where you are,
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  Speaker 1: those who first laugh at you will one day admire you,
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  Speaker 1: and that if you give way to them, you will
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  Speaker 1: get doubly laughed at. Chapter twenty three. If it ever
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  Speaker 1: happened to you to be diverted to things outside so
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  Speaker 1: that you desire to please another, know that you have
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  Speaker 1: lost your life's plan. Be content, then always to be
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  Speaker 1: a philosopher. If you wish to be regarded as one, too,
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  Speaker 1: show yourself that you are one, and you will be
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  Speaker 1: able to achieve it. Chapter twenty four. Let not reflections
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  Speaker 1: such as these afflict you. I shall live with honor
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  Speaker 1: and never be of any account, For of honor is
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  Speaker 1: and evil. No one but yourself can involve you in
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  Speaker 1: evil any more than in shame. Is it your business
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  Speaker 1: to get office or to be invited to an entertainment?
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  Speaker 1: Certainly not? Where then is the dishonor that you talk of?
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  Speaker 1: How can you be of no account anywhere when you
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  Speaker 1: want to count for something in those matters only which
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  Speaker 1: are in your power, where you may achieve the highest worth.
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  Speaker 1: But by friends, you say, well, lack of assistance. What
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  Speaker 1: do you mean by lack assistance? They will not have
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  Speaker 1: cash from you, and you will not make them. Roman
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  Speaker 1: citizens who told you that to do these things is
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  Speaker 1: in our power and not dependent upon others. Who can
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  Speaker 1: give to another what is not his to give get them?
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  Speaker 1: Then says he that we may have them if I
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  Speaker 1: can get them and keep my self respect, honor, magnanimity,
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  Speaker 1: Show the way, and I will get them. But if
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  Speaker 1: you call on me to lose the good things that
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  Speaker 1: are mine in order that you may win things that
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  Speaker 1: are not good, look how unfair and thoughtless you are,
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  Speaker 1: and which do you really prefer? Money or a faithful,
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  Speaker 1: modest friend. Therefore, help me rather to keep these qualities,
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  Speaker 1: and do not expect from me actions which will make
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  Speaker 1: me lose them. But my country says he will lack
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  Speaker 1: assistance so far as lies in me. Once more, I ask,
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  Speaker 1: what assistance do you mean? It will not owe colonnades
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  Speaker 1: or baths to you? What of that? It does not
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  Speaker 1: owe shoes to the blacksmith or arms to the shoemaker.
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  Speaker 1: It is sufficient if each man fulfills his own function.
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  Speaker 1: Would you do it no good if you secured to
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  Speaker 1: it another faithful and modest citizen. Yes, well, then you
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  Speaker 1: will not be useless to it. What place then shall
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  Speaker 1: I have in the city, whatever place you can hold
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  Speaker 1: while you keep your character for honor and self respect?
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  Speaker 1: But if you are going to lose these qualities and
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  Speaker 1: trying to benefit your city, what benefit I ask would
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  Speaker 1: you have done her when you attain to the perfection
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  Speaker 1: of being lost to shame and honor? Twenty five? Has
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  Speaker 1: someone had precedence of you at an entertainment or a levee,
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  Speaker 1: or been called in before you to give advice? If
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  Speaker 1: these things are good, you ought to be glad that
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  Speaker 1: he got them. If they are evil, do not be
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  Speaker 1: angry that you do not get them yourself. Remember that
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  Speaker 1: if you want to get what is not in your power,
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  Speaker 1: you cannot earn the same reward as others unless you
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  Speaker 1: act as they do. How is it possible for one
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  Speaker 1: who does not haunt the great Man's door to have
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  Speaker 1: equal shares with one who does, or one who does
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  Speaker 1: not go in his train, equality with one who does,
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  Speaker 1: or one who does not praise him? With one who does.
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  Speaker 1: You will be unjust then and insatiable. If you wish
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  Speaker 1: to get these privileges for nothing without paying their price.
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  Speaker 1: What is the price of a lettuce an obol? Perhaps,
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  Speaker 1: if then a man pays his obol and gets his lettuces,
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  Speaker 1: and you do not pay and do not get them,
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  Speaker 1: do not think you are defrauded. For as he has lettuces,
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  Speaker 1: so you have the obol you do not give. The
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  Speaker 1: same principle holds good too in conduct. You were not
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  Speaker 1: invited to someone's entertainment because you do not give the
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  Speaker 1: host the price for which he sells his dinner. He
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  Speaker 1: sells it for compliments, he sells it for attentions. Pay
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: him the price. Then, if it is to your profit.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: But if you wish to get the one and yet
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: not give up the other, nothing can satisfy you in
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: your folly. What you say you have nothing instead of
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: the dinner, Nay, you have this. You have not praised
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: the man you do not want to praise. You have
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: not had to bear with the insults of his doorstep.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six. It is in our power to discover
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: the will of nature from those matters on which we
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: have no difference of opinion. For instance, when another man's
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: slave has broken the wine cup, we are very ready
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: to say at once such things must happen. Know then
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: that when your own cup is broken, you ought to
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: behave in the same way as when your neighbors was broken.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: The same principle to higher matters. Is another's child or
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: wife dead not one of us, but would say such
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: as the lot of man. But when one's own dies
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: straightway one cries alas miserable, am i? But we ought
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: to remember what our feelings are when we hear it
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: of another Chapter twenty seven. As a mark is not
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: set up for men to miss it, So there is
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: nothing intrinsically evil in the world. Chapter twenty eight. If
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: anyone trusted your body to the first man he met,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: you would be indignant. But yet you trust your mind
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: to the chance corner, and allow it to be disturbed
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: and confounded. If he revile you, are you not ashamed
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: to do so? Chapter twenty nine. In everything you do,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: consider what comes first and what follows, and so approach it.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Otherwise you will come to it with a good heart
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: at first, because you have not reflected on any of
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: the consequences. And afterwards, when difficulties have appeared, you will
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: desist to your shame. Do you wish to win at Olympia,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: so do I, by the gods, for it is a
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: fine thing. But consider the first steps to it and
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: the consequences, and so lay your hand to the work.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: You must submit to discipline, eat to order, touch, no sweets,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: train under compulsion at a fixed hour, in heat and cold.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Drink no cold water nor wine except by order. You
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: must hand yourself over completely to your trainer, as you
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: would to a physician. And then when the contest comes,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: you must risk getting hacked, and sometimes dislocate your hand,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: twist your ankle, swallow plenty of sand, sometimes get a flogging,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: and with all this suffer defeat. When you have considered
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: all this well, then enter on the athlete's course if
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: you still wish it. If you act without thought, you
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: will be behaving like children who one day play at wrestlers,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: another day at gladiators. Now sound the trumpet, and next
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: start the stage. Like them, you will be now an athlete,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: now a gladiator, then orator, then philosopher, but nothing with
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: all your soul. Like an ape, you imitate every site
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: you see, and one thing after another takes your fancy.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: When you undertake a thing, you do it casually and
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: half heartedly, instead of considering it and looking at it
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: all round. In the same way, some people, when they
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: see a philosopher and hear a man speaking like Euphrates,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: and indeed who can speak as he can, wish to
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: be philosophers themselves. Man, consider first what it is you
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: are undertaking. Then look at your own powers and see
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: if you can bear it. Do you want to compete
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: in the pentathlon or in wrestling, Look to your arms,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: your thighs, See what your loins are like. For different
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: men are born for different tasks. Do you suppose that
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: if you do this you can live as you do now,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: eat and drink as you do now, indulge desire and
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: discontent just as before. Nay, you must sit up late,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: work hard, abandon your own people, be looked down on
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: by a mere slave, be ridiculed by those who meet you,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: get the worst of it in everything, in honor, in office,
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: in justice, in every possible thing. This is what you
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: have to consider whether you are willing to pay this
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: price for peace of mind, freedom, tranquility. If not, do
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: not come near, Do not be like the children first
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: a philosopher, then a tax collector, then an orator, than
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: one of Caesar's procurators. These collings do not agree. You
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: must be one man, good or bad. You must develop
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: either your governing principle or your outward endowments. You must
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: study either your inner man or outward things. In a word,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: you must choose between the position of a philosopher and
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: that of a mere outsider. Chapter thirty. Appropriate acts are
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: in general measured by the relations they are concerned with.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: He is your father. This means you are called on
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: to take care of him, give way to him in
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: all things, bear with him if he reviles or strikes you.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: But he is a bad father, Well have you not
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: any natural claim to a good father? No, only to
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: a father. My brother wrongs me. Be careful, then, to
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: maintain the relation you hold to him, And do not
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: consider what he does, but what you must do if
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: your purpose is to keep in accord with nature. For
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: no one shall harm you without your consent. You will
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: only be harmed when you think you are harmed. You
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: will only discover what is proper to expect from neighbor, citizen,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: or praetor. If you get into the habit of looking
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: at the relations implied by each end of chapters twenty
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: one through thirty recorded by John Peterson chapters thirty one
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: through forty of the Ncridian. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Ncarridian by epictetis translated by Percy Matheson chapter thirty one.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: For piety towards the Gods, know that the most important
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: thing is this, to have right opinions about them, that
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: they exist, and that they govern the universe well and justly,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: and to have set yourself to obey them, and to
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: give way to all that happens following events with a
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: free will, in the belief that they are fulfilled by
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: the highest mind. For thus you will never blame the
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: gods nor accuse them of neglecting you. But this you
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: cannot achieve unless you apply a conception of good and
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: evil to those things only which are in our power,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: and not to those which are out of our power.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: For if you apply your notion of good or evil
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: to the latter, then as soon as you fail to
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: get what you will to get or fail to avoid.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: What you will to avoid, you will be bound to
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: blame and hate those you hold responsible for. Every living
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: creature has a natural tendency to avoid and shun what
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: seems harmful and all that causes it, and to pursue
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: and admire what is helpful in all that causes it.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: It is not possible, then, for one who thinks he
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: is harmed, to take pleasure in what he thinks is
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: the author of the harm, any more than to take
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: pleasure in the harm itself. That is why a father
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: is reviled by his son when he does not give
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: his son a share of what the son regards as
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: good things. Thus, polynices and ethiocles were set at enemony
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: with one another by thinking that a king's throne was
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: a good thing. That is why the farmer and the sailor,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: and the merchant, and those who lose wife or children
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: revile the gods. For men's religion is bound up with
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: their interest. Therefore, he who makes it his concern rightly
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: to direct his will to get and his will to avoid,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: is thereby making piety his concern. But it is proper
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: on each occasion to make libation and sacrifice, and to
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: offer first fruits according to the custom of our fathers,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: with purity and not in slovenly or careless fashion, without meanness,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: and without extravagance. Chapter thirty two. When you make use
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: of prophecy, remember that while you know not what the
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: issue will be, but are come to learn it from
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: the prophet, you do know before you come what manner
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: of thing it is if you are really a philosopher.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: For if the event is not in our control, it
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: cannot be either good or evil. Therefore, do not bring
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: with you to the profit the will to get or
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the will to avoid, and do not approach him with trembling,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: but with your mind made up that the whole issue
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: is indifferent and does not affect you, and that wherever
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: it be, it will be in your power to make
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: good use of it, and no one shall hinder this.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: With confident d's then approach the gods as counselors. And further,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: when the council has given you, remember whose counsel it
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: is and whom you will be disregarding if you disobey
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: and consult the oracle. As Socrates thought, men should only
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: when the whole question turns upon the issue of events,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: and neither reason nor any art of man provides opportunities
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: for discovering what lies before you. Therefore, when it is
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: your duty to risk your life with friend or country,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: do not ask the oracle whether you should risk your life.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: For if the prophet warns you that the sacrifice is unfavorable,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: though it is plain that this means death or exile,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: or injury to some part of your body. Yet reason
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: requires that even at this cost, you must stand by
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: your friend and share your country's danger. Wherefore, pay heed
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: to the greater prophet Pythion Apollo, who cast out of
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: his temple the man who did not help his friend
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: when he was being killed. Chapter thirty three. Lay down
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: for yourself from the first a definite state and style
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: of conduct which you will maintain when you are alone
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: and also in the society of men. Be silent for
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: the most part, or if you speak, say only what
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: is necessary, and in a few words, talk but rarely
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: if occasion calls you. But do not talk of ordinary things,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: of gladiators or horse races, or athletes, or of meats
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: or drinks. These are topics that arise everywhere. But above all,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: do not talk about men in blame or compliments or comparison.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: If you can turn the conversation of your company by
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: your talk to some fitting subject. But if you should
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: chance to be isolated among strangers, be silent. Do not
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: laugh much, nor at many things, nor without restraint. Refuse
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: to take oaths altogether, if that be possible, but if not,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: as far as circumstances allow, refuse the entertainments of strangers
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: and the vulgar. But if occasion arise to accept them,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: then strain every nerve to avoid lapsing into the state
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: of the vulgar. For know that if your comrade have
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: a stain on him, he that associates with him must
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: needs share the stain, even though he be clean in himself.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: For your body, take just so much as your bare
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: need requires, such as food, drink, clothing, house servants, but
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: cut down all that tends to luxury and outward show.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Avoid impurity to the utmost of your power before marriage.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: And if you indulge your passion, let it be done lawfully.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: But do not be offensive or censorious to those who
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: indulge it. And do not be always bringing up your
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: own chastity. If someone tells you that so and so
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: speaks ill of you. Do not defend yourself against what
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: he says, but answer, he did not know my other faults,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: or he would not have mentioned these alone. It is
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: not necessary, for the most part to go to the games.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: But if you should have occasion to go, show that
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: your first concern is for yourself. That is wish that
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: only to happen which does happen in him, only to
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: win who does win? For so you will suffer no hindrance.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: But refrain entirely from applause or ridicule or prolonged excitement.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: And when you go away, do not talk much of
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: what happened there, except so far as it tends to
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: your improvement. For to talk about it implies that the
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: spectacle excited your wonder. Do not go lightly or casually
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: to hear lectures. But if you do go, maintain your
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: gravity and dignity, and do not make yourself offensive. When
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: you are going to meet anyone, and particularly some man
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: of reputed eminence, set before your mind the thought what
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: would Socrates or Zeno have done? And you will not
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: fail to make proper use of the occasion. When you
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: go to visit some great man, prepare your mind by
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: thinking that you will not find him in, that you
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: will be shut out, that the doors will be slammed
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: in your face, that he will pay no heed to you.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: And if in spite of all this you find it
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: fitting for you to go, go and bear what happens,
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: and never say to yourself it was not worth all this,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: for that shows a vulgar mind and one at odds
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: with outward things. In your conversation, avoid frequent and disapportionate
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: mention of your own doings or adventures, for other people.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Do not take the same pleasure in hearing what has
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: happened to you as you take in recounting your adventures.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: Avoid raising men's laughter, for it is a habit that
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: easily slips into vulgarity, and it may well suffice to
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: lessen your neighbor's respect. It is dangerous, too, to lapse
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: into foul language when anything of the kind occurs. Rebuke
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the offender, if the occasion allow, and if not, make
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: it plain to him by your silence or a blush
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: or a frown, that you are angry at his words
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty four. When you imagine some pleasure, beware that
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: it does not carry you away. Like other imaginations, wait
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: awhile and give yourself pause. Next, remember two things, how
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: long you will enjoy the pleasure, and also how long
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: you will afterwards repent and revile yourself, and set on
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: the other side the joy and self satisfaction you will
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: feel if you refrain, And if the moment seems come
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: to realize it, take heed that you be not overcome
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: by the winning, sweetness and attraction of it. Set in
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: the other scale the thought, how much better is the
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: consciousness of having vanquished it? Chapter thirty five. When you
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: do a thing because you have determined that it ought
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: to be done, never avoid being seen doing it, even
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: if the opinion of the multitude is going to condemn you.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: For if your action is wrong, then avoid doing it altogether.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: But if it is right, why do you fear those
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: who will rebuke you wrongly? Chapter thirty six. The phrase
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: is it is day and it is night mean a
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: great deal if taken separately, but have no meaning if combined.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: In the same way, to choose the larger portion of
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: a banquet may be worthwhile for your body, but if
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: you want to maintain social decencies, it is worthless. Therefore,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: when you are at meat with another. Remember not only
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: to consider the value of what is set before you
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: for the body, but also to maintain your self respect
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: before your host. Chapter thirty seven. If you try to
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: act a part beyond your powers, you not only disgrace
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: yourself in it, but you neglect the part which you
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: could have filled with success. Chapter thirty eight. As in walking,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: you take care not to tread on a nail or
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: to twist your foot, so take care that you do
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: not harm your governing principle. And if reguard this in
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: everything we do, we shall set to work more securely.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty nine. Every man's body is a measure for
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: his property, as the foot is the measure for his shoe.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: If you stick to this limit, you will keep the
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: right measure. If you go beyond it, you are bound
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: to be carried away down a precipice. In the end,
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: just as with the shoe. If once you go beyond
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: the foot, your shoe puts on gilding, and soon purple
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: and embroidery. For when once you go beyond the measure,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: there is no limit. Chapter forty. Women from fourteen years
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: upwards are called madam by men. Wherefore, when they see
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: that the only advantage they have got is to be marriageable,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: that begin to make themselves smart, and to set all
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: their hopes on this. We must take pains then to
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: make them understand that they are really honored for nothing
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: but a modest and decorous life. End of chapters thirty
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: one through forty recorded by John Peterson. Chapters forty one
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: through fifty three of the Anchoridian. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings or in the public domain. For more
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: Ncarridian by Epictetus, translated by Percy Matheson, Chapter forty one.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: It is a sign of a dull mind to dwell
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: upon the cares of the body, to prolong exercise, eating, drinking,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: and other bodily functions. These things are to be done,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: by the way. All your attention must be given to
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: the mind. Chapter forty two. When a man speaks evil
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: or does evil to you, remember that he does or
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: says it because he thinks it is fitting for him.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: It is not possible for him to follow what seems
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: good to you, but only what seems good to him,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: so that if his opinion is wrong, he suffers in
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: that he is the victim of deception. In the same way,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: if a composite judgment which is true is thought to
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: be false, it is not the judgment that suffers, but
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: the man who is deluded about it. If you act
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: on this principle, you will be gentle to him who
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: reviles you, saying to yourself, on each occasion, he thought
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: it right. Chapter forty three. Everything has two handles, one
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: by which you can carry it, the other by which
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: you cannot. If your brother wrongs, you do not take
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: it by that handle the handle of his wrong, for
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: you cannot carry it by that, but rather by the
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: other handle. That he is a brother brought up with you,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: and then you will take it by the handle that
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: you can carry by Chapter forty four. It is illogical
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: to reason, thus I am richer than you, therefore I
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: am superior to you. I am more eloquent than you.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Therefore I am superior to you. It is more logical
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: to reason, I am richer than you. Therefore my property
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: is superior to yours. I am more eloquent than you.
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: Therefore my speech is superior to yours. You are something
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: more than property or speech. Chapter forty five. If a
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: man washed quickly, do not say that he washes badly,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: but that he washes quickly. If a man drank much wine,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: do not say that he drinks badly, but that he
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: drinks much. For till you have decided what judgment prompts him,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: how do you know that he acts badly? If you
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: do as I say, you will assent to your apprehensive
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: impressions and to none other. Chapter forty six. On no
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: occasion call yourself a philosopher, nor talk at large of
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: your principles among the multitude, But act on your principles.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: For instance, at a banquet, do not say how one
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: ought to eat, but eat as you ought. Remember that
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: Socrates had so completely got rid of the thought of
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: display that when men came and wanted an introduction to philosophers,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: he took them to be introduced. So patient of neglect
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: was he. And if a discussion arise among the multitude
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: on some principle, keep silent for the most part, for
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: you are in great danger of blurting out some undigested thought.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: And when some one says to you you know nothing,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: and you do not let it provoke you, then know
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: that you are really on the right road. For sheep
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: do not bring grass to their shepherds and show them
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: how much they have eaten, but they digest their fodder
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: and then produce it in the form of wool and milk.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Do the same yourself. Instead of displaying your principles to
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: the multitude, show them the results of the principles you
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: have digested Chapter forty seven. When you have adopted the
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: simple life, do not pride yourself upon it. And if
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: you are a water drinker, do not stay on every occasion.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: I am a water drinker. And if you ever want
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: to train laboriously, keep it to yourself, and do not
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: make a show of it. Do not embrace statues. If
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: you are very thirsty, take a good draft of cold
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: water and rinse your mouth, and tell no one Chapter
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: forty eight. The ignorant man's position and character is this
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: he never looks to himself for benefit or harm, but
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: to the world outside him. The philosopher's position and character
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: is that he always looks to himself for benefit and harm.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: The signs of one who is making progress are he
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: blames none, praises none, complains of none, accuses none, never
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: speaks of himself as if he were somebody, or as
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: if he knew anything. And if anyone compliments him, he
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: laughs in himself at his compliment, And if one blames him,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: he makes no defense. He goes about like a convalescent,
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: careful not to disturb his constitution on its road to
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: recovery until it has got firm hold. He has got
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: rid of the will to get, and his will to
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: avoid is directed no longer to what is beyond our power,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: but only to what is inner power, and contrary to nature.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: In all things he exercises his will without strain. If
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: men regard him as foolish or ignorant, he pays no heed.
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: In one word, he keeps watching guard on himself as
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: his own enemy. Lie in and wait for him. Chapter
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: forty nine, When a man prides himself on being able
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: to understand and interpret the books of Chrysippus, say to yourself,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: if Chrysippus had not written obscurely, this man would have
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: had nothing on which to pride himself. What is my object?
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: To understand nature and follow her? I look then for
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: someone who interprets her, And having heard that Chrysippus does,
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: I come to him. But I do not understand his writings.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: So I seek an interpreter. So far there is nothing
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: to be proud of. But when I have found the interpreter,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: it remains for me to act on his precepts. That,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: and that alone is a thing to be proud of.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: But if I admire the mere power of exposition position,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: it comes to this that I am turned into a
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: grammarian instead of a philosopher, except that I interpret Chrysippus
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: in place of Homer. Therefore, when someone says to me,
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: read me Chrysippus. When I cannot point to actions which
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: are in harmony and correspondence with his teaching, I am
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: rather inclined to blush. Chapter fifty Whatever principles you put
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: before you, hold fast to them as laws which it
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: will be impious to transgress. But pay no heed to
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: what anyone says of you, for this is something beyond
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: your own control. Chapter fifty one. How long will you
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: wait to think yourself worthy of the highest and transgress
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: in nothing the clear pronouncement of reason? You have received
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: the precepts which you ought to accept, and you have
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: accepted them. Why then do you still wait for a
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: master that you may delay the amendment of yourself till
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: he comes you are a youth no longer. You are
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: now a full grown man. If now you are careless
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: and indolent, and are always putting off, fixing one day
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: after another as the limit when you mean to begin
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: attending to yourself, then living or dying you will make
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: no progress, but will continue unawares in ignorance. Therefore, make
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: up your mind before it is too late, to live
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: as one who is mature and proficient. And let all
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: that seems best to you be a law that you
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: cannot transgress. And if you encounter anything troublesome or pleasant,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: or glorious or inglorious, remember that the hour of struggle
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: is come, the Olympic contest is here, and you may
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: put off no longer, and that one day and one
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: action determines whether the progress you have achieved is lost
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: or maintained. This was how Socrates attained perfection, paying heed
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: to nothing but reason in all that he encountered. And
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: if you are not yet Socrates yet ought you to
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: live as one who would wish to be a Socrates
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter fifty two. The first and most necessary department of
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: philosophy deals with the application of principles, for instance, not
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: to lie. The second deals with demonstrations. For instance, how
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: comes it that one ought not to lie? The third
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: is concerned with establishing and analyzing these processes? For instance,
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: how comes it that this is a demonstration? What is demonstration?
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: What is consequence? What is contradiction? What is true? What
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: is false? It follows then that the third department is
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: necessary because of the second, and the second because of
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: the first. The first is the most necessary part, and
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: that in which we must rest. But we reverse the order.
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: We occupy ourselves with a third and make that our
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: whole concern, and the first we completely neglect. Wherefore we lie,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: but are ready enough with the demonstration that lying is
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: wrong Chapter fifty three. On every occasion we must have
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: these thoughts at hand. Lead me, o zeus, and lead
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: me destiny. Whither ordain. It is by your decree all follow,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: doubting not, or if with will recreatet i falter I
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: shall follow still Cleanthes, who rightly, with necessity complies in
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: things divine, we count him skilled and wise Euripides, Fragment
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: nine hundred and sixty five. Well, Credo, if this be
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: the God's will, so be it Plato, Credo forty three,
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: d Anetus and Melitus have power to put me to death,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: but not to harm me. Plato Apology, thirty s end
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: of Chapters forty one through fifty three. End of the
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: Ancorridian by Epictetus, Translated by Percy Matheson, Recorded by John Peterson,