Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.1 ¶3 — Epictetus
From “Of the Things Which Are in Our Power, and Not in Our Power”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.1 ¶3
But what says Zeus? “Epictetus, if it were possible, I would have made both your little body and your little property free and not exposed to hindrance. But now be not ignorant of this: this body is not yours, but it is clay finely tempered. And since I was not able to do for you what I have mentioned, I have given you a small portion of us, this faculty of pursuing an object and avoiding it, and the faculty of desire and aversion, and, in a word, the faculty of using the appearances of things; and if you will take care of this faculty and consider it your only possession, you will never be hindered, never meet with impediments; you will not lament, you will not blame, you will not flatter any person.”
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.1 ¶3, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.1.3
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesIn an imagined speech from Zeus, the body and possessions are not truly ours, only a little clay, while the one thing really ours is the power to choose, to pursue and avoid, and to use impressions well. If we take care of that and treat it as our only possession, nothing can hinder us and we will have no reason to complain, blame or flatter.
Older wording
- “faculty”
- — a mental power or capacity
- “aversion”
- — the impulse to avoid or push away something
- “impediments”
- — obstacles
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Freedom
- Judgements and impressions
- Acceptance and fate
- Losing money
- Illness or diagnosis
- Anxiety about the future
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