The Wisdom of the Stoics: Selections from Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius

FRAGMENTS OF EPICTETUS

1
It is better to offend seldom (owning it when we do), and act often wisely, than to say we seldom err, and offend frequently.

2
Be not so much ashamed of what is void of glory, as studious to shun what is void of truth.

3
If you would be well spoken of, learn to speak well of others. And, when you have learned to speak well of them, endeavor likewise to do well to them; and thus you will reap the fruit of being well spoken of by them.

4
If you would live with tranquillity and content, endeavor to have all who live with you good. And you will have them good by instructing the willing and dismissing the unwilling.

5
No one who is a lover of money, a lover of pleasure, or a lover of glory, is likewise a lover of mankind; but only he who is a lover of virtue.

6
When we are invited to an entertainment, we take what we find; and if any one should bid the master of the house set fish or tarts before him, he would be thought absurd. Yet, in the world, we ask the gods for what they do not give us, and that though they have given us so many things.

7
They are pretty fellows indeed, said he, who value themselves on things not in our own power. I am a better man than you, says one, for I have many estates, and you are pining with hunger. I have been consul, says another; I am a governor, a third; and I have a fine head of hair, says a fourth. Yet one horse doth not say to another, “I am better than you, for I have a great deal of hay and a great deal of oats; and I have a gold bridle and embroidered trappings”; but, “I am swifter than you.” And every creature is better or worse, from its own good or bad qualities. Is man, then, the only creature which hath no natural good quality? And must we consider hair, and clothes, and ancestors [to judge of him]?

8
Examine yourself, whether you had rather be rich or happy; and, if rich, be assured that this is neither a good, nor altogether in your own power; but, if happy, that this is both a good, and in your own power, since the one is a temporary loan of fortune and the other depends on choice.

9
As it is better to lie straitened for room upon a little couch in health, than to toss upon a wide bed in sickness, so it is better to contract yourself within the compass of a small fortune and be happy, than to have a great one and be wretched.

10
It is not poverty that causes sorrow, but covetous desires; nor do riches deliver from fear, but reasoning. If, therefore, you acquire a habit of reasoning, you will neither desire riches nor com­plain of poverty.

11
It is better, by yielding to truth, to conquer opinion; than, by yielding to opinion, to be defeated by truth.

12
It is better, by living with one free person, to be fearless and free, than to be a slave in company of many.

13
Whenever any one exceeds moderation, the most delightful things may become the most undelightful.

14
If you would give a just sentence, mind neither parties nor pleaders, but the cause itself.

15
You will commit the fewest faults in judging, if you are faultless in your own life.

16
When Pittacus had been unjustly treated by some person, and had the power of chastising him, he let him go; saying, “Forgiveness is better than punish­ment; for the one is the proof of a gentle, the other of a savage nature.”

17
Consult nothing so much, upon every occasion, as safety. Now it is safer to be silent than to speak; and omit speaking whatever is not accompanied with sense and reason.

18
As lighthouses in havens, by kindling a great flame from a few fagots, afford a considerable assistance to ships wandering on the sea: so an illustrious person, in a state harassed by storms, while he is contented with little himself, confers great benefits on his fellow-citizens.

19
As, if you were to breed lions, you would not be solicitous about the magnificence of their dens, but the qualities of the animals themselves: so, if you undertake to preside over your fellow-citizens, be not so solicitous about the magnificence of the buildings, as careful of the fortitude of those who inhabit them.

20
As neither a goose is alarmed by gaggling, nor a sheep by bleating: so neither be you terrified by the voice of a senseless multitude.

21
As the sun doth not wait for prayers and incan­tations to be prevailed on to rise, but immediately shines forth, and is received with universal salutation: so, neither do you wait for applauses and shouts and praises, in order to do good; but be a voluntary benefactor, and you will be beloved like the sun.

22
A ship ought not to be fixed by one anchor, nor life on a single hope.

23
We ought not to stretch either our legs or our hopes to a point they cannot reach.

24
Thales, being asked what was the most univer­sally enjoyed of all things, answered, “Hope; for they have it who have nothing else.”

25
Pyrrho used to say, “There is no difference between living and dying.” A person asked him, Why, then, do not you die? “Because,” answered Pyrrho, “there is no difference.”

26
If you always remember that God stands by, an inspector of whatever you do either in soul or body, you will never err, either in your prayers or actions, and you will have God abiding with you.

27
Epictetus being asked how a person might grieve his enemy, answered, “By doing as well as possible himself.”

28
Let no wise man estrange himself from the government of the state; for it is both impious to withdraw from being useful to those that need it, and cowardly to give way to the worthless. For it is foolish to choose rather to be governed ill, than to govern well.

29
[Remember] that such is, and was, and will be, the nature of the world; nor is it possible that things should be otherwise than they now are, and that not only men and other animals upon earth partake of this change and transformation, but the divinities also. For, indeed, even the four elements are transformed and changed up and down; and earth becomes water, and water air, and this again is transformed into other things. And the same manner of transformation happens from things above to those below. Whoever endeavors to turn his mind towards these points, and persuade himself to receive with willingness what cannot be avoided, he will pass his life with moderation and harmony.