The Teaching of Epictetus Part 9

3. When you shall see a man honored above others, or mighty in power, or otherwise esteemed, look to it that thou deem him not blessed, being carried away by the appearance. For if the essence of the Good be in those things that are in our own power, then neither envy nor jealousy have any place, nor thou thyself shalt not desire to be commander or prince or consul, but to be free. And to this there is one road-scorn of the things that are not in our own power.

4. Remember, it is not he that strikes or he that reviles that doth any man an injury, but the opinion about these things, that they are injurious. When, then, some one may provoke thee to wrath, know that it is thine own conception which hath provoked thee. Strive, therefore, at the outset not to be carried away by the appearance; for if thou once gain time and delay, thou wilt more easily master thyself.

5. Death and exile, and all things that appear dreadful, let these be every day before thine eyes. But Death most of all; for so thou wilt neither despise nor too greatly desire any condition of life.

CHAPTER XXII.

THAT A MAN IS SUFFICIENT TO HIMSELF.

1. If thou set thine heart upon philosophy, prepare straightway to be laughed at and mocked by many who will say, _Behold, he has suddenly come back to us a philosopher_; or, _How came you by that brow of scorn?_ But do thou cherish no scorn, but hold to those things that seem to thee the best, as one set by G.o.d in that place. Remember, too, that if thou abide in that way, those that first mocked thee, the same shall afterwards reverence thee; but if thou yield to them, thou shalt receive double mockery.

2. If it shall ever happen to thee to be turned to outward things in the desire to please some person, know that thou hast lost thy way of life.

Let it be enough for thee in all things to _be_ a philosopher. But if thou desire also to seem one, then seem so to thyself, for this thou canst.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THAT EVERY MAN FULFILL HIS OWN TASK.

1. Let such thoughts never afflict thee as, _I shall live unhonored, and never be anybody anywhere_. For if lack of honor be an evil, thou canst no more fall into evil through another's doings than into vice. Is it, then, of thy own doing to be made a governor, or invited to feasts?

By no means. How, then, is this to be unhonored? How shouldst thou _never be anybody anywhere_, whom it behooves to be somebody only in the things that are in thine own power, wherein it lies with thee to be of the greatest worth?

2. _But I shall not be able to serve my friends._ How sayst thou? to serve them? They shall not have money from thee, nor shalt thou make them Roman citizens. Who, then, told thee that these were of the things that are in our power, and not alien to us? And who can give that which himself hath not?

3. _Acquire, then_, they say, _that we may possess_. If I can acquire, and lose not piety, and faith, and magnanimity withal, show me the way, and I will do it. But if ye will have me lose the good things I possess, that ye may compa.s.s things that are not good at all, how unjust and unthinking are ye? But which will ye rather have-money, or a faithful and pious friend? Then, rather take part with me to this end; and ask me not to do aught through which I must cast away those things.

4. _But_, he saith, _I shall not do my part in serving my country_.

Again, what is this service? Thy country shall not have porticos nor baths from thee, and what then? Neither hath she shoes from the smith, nor arms from the cobbler; but it is enough if every man fulfill his own task. And if thou hast made one other pious and faithful citizen for her, art thou, then, of no service? Wherefore, neither shalt thou be useless to thy country.

5. _What place, then_, he saith, _can I hold in the State_? Whatever place thou canst, guarding still thy faith and piety. But if in wishing to serve her thou cast away these things, what wilt thou profit her then, when perfected in shamelessness and faithlessness?

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE WORLD'S PRICE FOR THE WORLD'S WORTH.

1. Is some one preferred before thee at a feast, or in salutation, or in being invited to give counsel? Then, if these things are good, it behooves thee rejoice that he hath gained them; but if evil, be not vexed that thou hast not gained them; but remember that if thou act not as other men to gain the things that are not in our own power, neither canst thou be held worthy of a like reward with them.

2. For how is it possible for him who will not hang about other men's doors to have a like reward with him who doth so? or him who will not attend on them with him who doth attend? or him who will not flatter them with the flatterer? Thou art unjust, then, and insatiable, if thou desire to gain those things for nothing, without paying the price for which they are sold.

3. But how much is a lettuce sold for? A penny, perchance. If any one, then, will spend a penny, he shall have lettuce; but thou, not spending, shalt not have. But think not thou art worse off than he; for as he has the lettuce, so thou the penny which thou wouldst not give.

4. And likewise in this matter. Thou art not invited to some man's feast? That is, for thou gavest not to the host the price of the supper; and it is sold for flattery, it is sold for attendance. Pay, then, the price, if it will profit thee, for which the thing is sold. But if thou wilt not give the price, and wilt have the thing, greedy art thou and infatuated.

5. Shalt thou have nothing, then, instead of the supper? Thou shalt have this-not to have praised one whom thou hadst no mind to praise, and not to have endured the insolence of his door-keepers.

CHAPTER XXV.

AIMS OF NATURE.

1. The will of Nature is to be learned from matters which do not concern ourselves.[1] Thus, when a boy may break the cup of another man, we are ready to say, _It is a common chance_. Know, then, that when thine own is broken, it behooves thee to be as though it were another man's. And apply this even to greater things. Has another man's child died, or his wife? who is there that will not say, _It is the lot of humanity_. But when his own may die, then straightway it is, _Alas, wretched that I am!_ But we should bethink ourselves what we felt on hearing of others in the same plight.

2. As a mark is not set up to be missed, even so the nature of evil exists not in the universe.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE MIND'S SECURITY.

If any one should set your body at the mercy of every pa.s.ser-by, you would be indignant. When, therefore, you set your own mind at the mercy of every chance, to be troubled and perturbed when any one may revile you, have you no shame of this?

CHAPTER XXVII.

THAT A MAN SHOULD BE ONE MAN.

1. In every work you will take in hand mark well what must go before and what must follow, and so proceed. For else you shall at first set out eagerly, as not regarding what is to follow; but in the end, if any difficulties have arisen, you will leave it off with shame.

2. So you wish to conquer in the Olympic games? And I, too, by the G.o.ds; and a fine thing it would be. But mark the prefaces and the consequences, and then set to work. You must go under discipline, eat by rule, abstain from dainties, exercise yourself at the appointed hour, in heat or cold, whether you will or no, drink nothing cold, nor wine at will; in a word, you must give yourself over to the trainer as to a physician. Then in the contest itself there is the digging race,[1] and you are like enough to dislocate your wrist, or turn your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, to be soundly drubbed, and after all these things to be defeated.

3. If, having considered these things, you are still in the mind to enter for the contest, then do so. But without consideration you will turn from one thing to another like a child, who now plays the wrestler, now the gladiator, now sounds the trumpet, then declaims like an actor; and so you, too, will be first an athlete, then a gladiator, then an orator, then a philosopher, and nothing with your whole soul; but as an ape you will mimic everything you see, and be charmed with one thing after another. For you approached nothing with consideration nor regularity, but rashly, and with a cold desire.

4. And thus some men, having seen a philosopher, and heard discourse like that of Euphrates[2] (yet who indeed can say that any discourse is like his?), desire that they also may become philosophers.

5. But, O man! consider first what it is you are about to do, and then inquire of your own nature whether you can carry it out. Will you be a pentathlos,[3] or a wrestler? Then, scan your arms and thighs; try your loins. For different men are made for different ends.

6. Think you, you can be a sage, and continue to eat and drink and be wrathful and take offense just as you were wont? Nay, but you must watch and labor, and withdraw yourself from your household, and be despised by any serving boy, and be ridiculed by your neighbors, and take the lower place everywhere, in honors, in authority, in courts of justice, in dealings of every kind.[4]

7. Consider these things-whether you are willing at such a price to gain peace, freedom, and an untroubled spirit. And if not, then attempt it not, nor, like a child, play now the philosopher, then the tax-gatherer, then the orator, then the Procurator of Caesar. For these things agree not among themselves; and, good or bad, it behooves you to be one man. You should be perfecting either your own ruling faculty, or your outward well-being; spending your art either on the life within or the life without; that is to say, you must hold your place either among the sages or the vulgar.