Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 3.5 ¶2 — Epictetus
From “Against Those Who on Account of Sickness Go Away Home”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 3.5 ¶2
“But my mother will not hold my head when I am sick.” Go to your mother then; for you are a fit person to have your head held when you are sick. “But at home I used to lie down on a delicious bed.” Go away to your bed: indeed you are fit to lie on such a bed even when you are in health: do not then lose what you can do there (at home).
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 3.5 ¶2, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/3.5.2
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesMissing the comforts of home, such as a mother's care when you are sick or a soft bed, is no justification for abandoning difficult work; if comfort is your priority you belong back at home. Decide whether you are here for growth or for ease.
Themes and situations
- Resilience and endurance
- Illness and the body
- Pleasure and pain
- Self-discipline and habit
- Illness or diagnosis
- Moving away or exile
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