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What Would Stoics Do

Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE

Fragments 176 — Epictetus

Translation by George Long (1877)

Epictetus, Fragments 176

You are a little soul carrying a dead body, as Epictetus said.
— Epictetus, Fragments 176 · tr. George Long (1877)Read in context →

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Epictetus, Fragments 176, tr. George Long (1877)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/176

Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences

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Your real self is the small mind or soul inside, not the body it carries around, and the body is mortal and will not last. Keep your priorities on your character instead of on the flesh.

Themes and situations

  • Death and mortality
  • Illness and the body
  • Nature and the cosmos
  • Illness or diagnosis
  • Getting older
  • Fear of death

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Epictetus, Fragments 176, tr. George Long (1877)