Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 43 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 43
As he who is in health would not choose to be served (ministered to) by the sick, nor for those who dwell with him to be sick, so neither would a free man endure to be served by slaves, or for those who live with him to be slaves.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 43, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/43
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesNo healthy person would want to be waited on by sick people or to live among them, and in the same way a truly free person would not put up with being served by slaves or living among them. Owning people is at odds with real freedom.
Older wording
- “ministered to”
- — waited on or cared for
Themes and situations
- Freedom
- Justice and fairness
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Community and our duty to others
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