Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.1 ¶4 — Epictetus
From “Of the Things Which Are in Our Power, and Not in Our Power”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.1 ¶4
Well, do these seem to you small matters? I hope not. Be content with them then and pray to the gods. But now when it is in our power to look after one thing, and to attach ourselves to it, we prefer to look after many things, and to be bound to many things, to the body and to property, and to brother and to friend, and to child and to slave. Since then we are bound to many things, we are depressed by them and dragged down. For this reason, when the weather is not fit for sailing, we sit down and torment ourselves, and continually look out to see what wind is blowing. It is north. What is that to us? When will the west wind blow? When it shall choose, my good man, or when it shall please Aeolus; for God has not made you the manager of the winds, but Aeolus. What then? We must make the best use that we can of the things which are in our power, and use the rest according to their nature. What is their nature then? As God may please.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.1 ¶4, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.1.4
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe one thing in our power is small but enough, yet we cling to many things like body, property, family and friends and are dragged down by them. We fret over things like the wind as though we were in charge of it, when we should make the best use of what is ours and take the rest as it comes.
Older wording
- “Aeolus”
- — the Greek god who keeps the winds
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Acceptance and fate
- Fear and anxiety
- Peace of mind
- Anxiety about the future
- Everyday irritations
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