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What Would Stoics Do

Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE

Fragments 30 — Epictetus

Translation by George Long (1877)

Epictetus, Fragments 30

Take care that the food which you put into the stomach does not fatten (nourish) you, but the cheerfulness of the mind: for the food is changed into excrement, and ejected, and the urine also flows out at the same time; but the cheerfulness, even if the soul be separated, remains always uncorrupted.
— Epictetus, Fragments 30 · tr. George Long (1877)Read in context →

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Epictetus, Fragments 30, tr. George Long (1877)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/30

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

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In plain English

AI-written notes

What you eat ends up as waste, but a cheerful mind lasts. So make sure what you take in nourishes your spirit and not just your stomach, because the lasting good is your inner cheerfulness.

Older wording

“uncorrupted”
— unspoiled, unharmed

Themes and situations

  • Peace of mind
  • Pleasure and pain
  • Simplicity and frugality

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Epictetus, Fragments 30, tr. George Long (1877)