Monday, August 29, 2022

Enchridion by Epictetus

 This book consists of 53 chapters, each only a few paragraphs long.  It was meant to be internalized, rather than just read.  Epictetus, the famous Stoic, concocted this small volume as an extract for everyday use from his numerous and voluminous Stoic writing. 

The Stoic philosophy is simple: only worry and fret about the things that are in your control, which are very few, mostly your own thoughts, words and emotional responses.  Everything else you just take as a given, without complaining, bitching and moaning.  It is useless.  You cannot control the world anyway, so it is a waste of time and energy.

It s a very simple philosophy, but very difficult to implement. It requires enormous control over one self which cannot be achieved over night.  One has to start with small things and build toward larger ones.

Still, a very good volume to have in your library and remind yourself once in a while. 

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