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Some of the Golden Sayings of Epictetus
Written by Jerry on August 25, 2009 – 1:16 am -
The reason why I lost my lamp was that the thief was superior to me in vigilance. He paid however this price for the lamp, that in exchange for it he consented to become a thief: in exchange for it, to become faithless.
You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man’s own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life.
The beginning of philosophy is to know the condition of one’s own mind. If a man recognises that this is in a weakly state, he will not then want to apply it to questions of the greatest moment. As it is, men who are not fit to swallow even a morsel, buy whole treatises and try to devour them. Accordingly they either vomit them up again, or suffer from indigestion, whence come gripings, fluxions, and fevers. Whereas they should have stopped to consider their capacity.
Wouldst thou have men speak good of thee? Speak good of them. And when thou hast learned to speak good of them, try to do good unto them, and thus thou wilt reap in return their speaking good of thee.
No labour, according to Diogenes, is good but that which aims at producing courage and strength of soul rather than of body.
A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.
No man is free who is not master of himself.
When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never shun being seen doing it, even though the multitude should be likely to judge the matter amiss. For if you are not acting rightly, shun the act itself; if rightly, however, why fear misplaced censure?
As a mark is not set up in order to be missed, so neither is such a thing as natural evil produced in the World.
If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated.
(From the Golden Sayings Of Epecttetus)
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Tags: Anchor, Censure, Courage, Epictetus, Fevers, Fluxions, Golden Sayings, Indigestion, Labour, Life Philosophy, Morsel, Multitude, Natural Evil, Principle, Recognises, Thief, Treatises, Truth, Victory, Vigilance
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