The Teaching of Epictetus Part 8

CHAPTER XIV.

FACULTIES.

Remember at anything that shall befall thee to turn to thyself and seek what faculty thou hast for making use of it. If thou see a beautiful person, thou wilt find a faculty for that-namely, Self-mastery. If toil is laid upon thee, thou wilt find the faculty of Perseverance. If thou art reviled, thou wilt find Patience. And making this thy wont, thou shalt not be carried away by the appearances.

CHAPTER XV.

RETURNS.

Never in any case say, _I have lost_ such a thing, but _I have returned it_. Is thy child dead? it is returned. Is thy wife dead? she is returned. Art thou deprived of thy estate? is not this also returned?

--"But he is wicked who deprives me of it!"

But what is that to thee, through whom the Giver demands his own? As long, therefore, as he grants it to thee, steward it like another's property, as travelers use an inn.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE PRICE OF TRANQUILLITY.

1. If you would advance in philosophy you must abandon such thoughts as, _If I neglect my affairs I shall not have the means of living. If I do not correct my servant he will be good for nothing._ For it is better to die of hunger, having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit amid abundance. And it is better to have a bad servant than an afflicted mind.

2. Make a beginning then in small matters. Is a little of your oil spilt, or a little wine stolen? Then say to yourself, _For so much peace is bought, this is the price of tranquillity_. For nothing can be gained without paying for it. And when you call your servant, bethink you that he may not hear, or, hearing, may not obey. For him, indeed, that is not well, but for you it is altogether well that he have not the power to trouble your mind.

CHAPTER XVII.

A CHOICE.

If thou wouldst advance, be content to let people think thee senseless and foolish as regards external things. Wish not ever to seem wise, and if ever thou shalt find thyself accounted to be somebody, then mistrust thyself. For know that it is not easy to make a choice that shall agree both with outward things and with Nature, but it must needs be that he who is careful of the one shall neglect the other.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THAT WHERE THE HEART IS THE BOND IS.

1. Thou art a fool if thou desire wife and children and friends to live forever, for that is desiring things to be in thy power which are not in thy power, and things pertaining to others to be thine own. So also thou art a fool to desire that thy servant should never do anything amiss, for that is desiring evil not to be evil, but something else. But if thou desire never to fail in any pursuit, this thou canst do. This, therefore, practice to attain-namely, the attainable.

2. The lord of each of us is he that hath power over the things that we desire or dislike, to give or to take them away. Whosoever, then, will be free, let him neither desire nor shun any of the things that are in others' power; otherwise he must needs be enslaved.

3. Wherefore Demetrius[1] said to Nero, _You threaten me with death, but Nature threatens you_. If I am taken up with my poor body, or my property, I have given myself over to slavery, for I immediately show of my own self with what I may be captured. As when a snake draws in his head, I say, _Strike at that part of him which he guards_. And know thou, that at the part thou desirest to guard, there thy master will fall upon thee. Remembering this, whom wilt thou still flatter or fear?

4. Think that thou shouldst conduct thyself in life as at a feast. Is some dish brought to thee? Then put forth thyself in seemly fashion.

Doth it pa.s.s thee by? Then hold it not back. Hath it not yet come? Then do not reach out for it at a distance, but wait till it is at thine hand. And thus doing with regard to children and wife and governments and wealth, thou wilt be a worthy guest at the table of the G.o.ds. And if thou even pa.s.s over things that are offered to thee, and refuse to take of them, then thou wilt not only share the banquet, but also the dominion of the G.o.ds. For so doing Diogenes and Heracleitus, and the like, both were, and were reported to be, rightly divine.

CHAPTER XIX.

THAT WE LAMENT NOT FROM WITHIN.

When thou seest one lamenting in grief because his son is gone abroad, or because he hath lost his goods, look to it that thou be not carried away by the appearance to think that he hath truly fallen into misfortune, in outward things. But be the thought at hand, _It is not the thing itself that afflicts this man-since there are others whom it afflicts not-but the opinion he has about it_. And so far as speech, be not slow to fit thyself to his mood, and even if so it be to lament with him. But have a care that thou lament not also from within.

CHAPTER XX.

THAT A MAN MAY ACT HIS PART BUT NOT CHOOSE IT.

1. Remember that thou art an actor in a play, of such a part as it may please the director to a.s.sign thee; of a short part if he choose a short part; of a long one if he choose a long. And if he will have thee take the part of a poor man, or of a cripple, or a governor, or a private person, mayest thou act that part with grace! For thine it is to act well the allotted part, but to choose it is another's.

2. Say no more then, _How will it be with me?_ for however it be thou wilt settle it well, and the issue shall be fortunate. What would Hercules have been had he said, _How shall I contrive that a great lion may not appear to me, or a great boar, or a savage man?_ And what hast thou to do with that? if a great boar appear, thou wilt fight the greater fight; if evil men, thou wilt clear the earth of them. _But if I die thus?_ Thou wilt die a good man, in the accomplishing of a n.o.ble deed. For since we must by all means die, a man cannot be found but he will be doing somewhat, either tilling or digging or trading or governing, or having an indigestion or a diarrha. What wilt thou, then, that Death shall find thee doing? I, for my part, will choose some work, humane, beneficent, social, n.o.ble. But if I am not able to be found doing things of this greatness, then, at least, I will be doing that which none can hinder me to do, that which is given to me to do-namely, correcting myself, bettering my faculty for making use of appearances, working out my peace, giving what is due in every obligation of life; and if I prosper so far, then entering upon the third topic of philosophy, which concerneth the security of judgments.

3. If Death shall find me in the midst of these studies, it shall suffice me if I can lift up my hands to G.o.d and say, _The means which thou gavest me for the perceiving of thy government, and for the following of the same, have I not neglected: so far as in me lies, I have not dishonored thee. Behold how I have used my senses, and my natural conceptions. Have I ever blamed thee? was I ever offended at aught that happened, or did I desire it should happen otherwise? Did I ever desire to transgress my obligations? That thou didst beget me I thank thee for what thou gavest. I am content that I have used thy gifts so long. Take them again, and set them in what place thou wilt, for thine were all things, and thou gavest them me._

4. Is it not enough to depart in this condition? and what life is better and fairer than one like this, and what end more happy?

CHAPTER XXI.

DISTINCTIONS.

1. When a raven croaks you a bad omen, be not carried away by the appearance; but straightway distinguish with yourself and say, _None of these things bodes aught to myself, but either to this poor body or this wretched property of mine, or to my good repute, or to my children, or to my wife. But to me all omens are fortunate if I choose to have it so.

For whatever of these things may come to pa.s.s, it lies with me to have it serve me._

2. You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest but where the victory depends upon yourself.