Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 3.11 — Epictetus
From “Certain Miscellaneous Matters”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 3.11
There are certain penalties fixed as by law for those who disobey the divine administration. Whoever thinks any other thing to be good except those things which depend on the will, let him envy, let him desire, let him flatter, let him be perturbed; whoever considers anything else to be evil, let him grieve, let him lament, let him weep, let him be unhappy. And yet, though so severely punished, we cannot desist. Remember what the poet says about the stranger: Stranger, I must not, e’en if a worse man come. This then may be applied even to a father: I must not, even if a worse man than you should come, treat a father unworthily; for all are from paternal Zeus. And (let the same be said) of a brother, for all are from the Zeus who presides over kindred. And so in the other relations of life we shall find Zeus to be an inspector.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 3.11, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/3.11
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesPeople who treat outside things as good or bad are punished by their own envy, craving, flattery, grief and unhappiness, and yet they keep doing it. Everyone, including a father or brother, belongs to the same divine order, so we owe each relation proper treatment however they behave.
Older wording
- “divine administration”
- — the rational order that governs the universe
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Family and love
- Nature and the cosmos
- Duty and roles
- Emotions and the passions
- Family conflict
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.