Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.18 ¶4 — Epictetus
From “That We Ought Not to Be Angry with the Errors (Faults) of Others”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.18 ¶4
Who then is the invincible? It is he whom none of the things disturb which are independent of the will. Then examining one circumstance after another I observe, as in the case of an athlete; he has come off victorious in the first contest: well then, as to the second? and what if there should be great heat? and what if it should be at Olympia? And the same I say in this case: if you should throw money in his way, he will despise it. Well, suppose you put a young girl in his way, what then? and what if it is in the dark? what if it should be a little reputation, or abuse; and what if it should be praise; and what if it should be death? He is able to overcome all. What then if it be in heat, and what if it is in the rain, and what if he be in a melancholy (mad) mood, and what if he be asleep? He will still conquer. This is my invincible athlete.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.18 ¶4, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.18.4
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe truly unbeatable person is not the strongest but the one whom nothing outside their own choices can shake, tested like an athlete against one trial after another: money, temptation, a bad reputation, praise, even death. Each test is passed by remembering what is genuinely yours.
Older wording
- “independent of the will”
- — outside your own power of choice
Themes and situations
- Resilience and endurance
- Courage
- Self-discipline and habit
- What is in our control
- Desire and craving
- Breaking a bad habit
- Money, status and wanting more
- Being criticised or insulted
- Handling success
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