Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 53 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 53
In Rome the women have in their hands Plato’s Polity (the Republic), because it allows (advises) the women to be common, for they attend only to the words of Plato, not to his meaning. Now he does not recommend marriage and one man to cohabit with one woman, and then that the women should be common: but he takes away such a marriage, and introduces another kind of marriage. And in fine, men are pleased with finding excuses for their faults. Yet philosophy says that we ought not to stretch out even a finger without a reason.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 53, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/53
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesPeople twist philosophers' words to excuse their own faults, like those who cite Plato's Republic to justify loose behaviour while ignoring that he proposes a different kind of marriage, not none. Do not read for excuses; philosophy demands a reason for even the smallest action.
Older wording
- “Polity”
- — Plato's Republic
- “cohabit”
- — live together as a couple
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Judgements and impressions
- Self-discipline and habit
- Learning and progress
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