‘If you must laugh at someone then laugh at yourself as well.’ (p. To follow Epictetus’ advice is to treat others kindly, not to judge them, to recognise that you are as weak and as fallible as anybody else. In vivid language, which avoids the dry and obscure prose of much more recent philosophy, it is difficult to see how a person could read this book and not come away with any benefit. Money, lust, fame, things of these kind are diversions away from the source of true happiness, they are things which cannot deliver the satisfaction that we hope to achieve through them. 81.) To invest our well-being and in things essentially beyond our control is a foolish delusion. ‘Freedom is not achieved by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it.’ (p. It is the release from excessive desire for anything ‘external’ the acceptance of things as they are and a rejection of worries. 25.) This freedom, we are told, and the calm, happy life is within everybody’s reach. Cultivation of freedom is the ultimate pursuit of human life, and ‘What else is freedom but the power to live our life the way we want?’ (p. But this hopeful guide to living a worthwhile life, on how to be a happy person and a good person (which are one and the same) feels as present and necessary as ever.Īmongst the greatest of classical Stoic philosophers, Epictetus’ goal is to teach others how to achieve peace and satisfaction, by focusing on what is truly valuable, and not on things which only appear to be. It is adapted from the Discourses written by Epictetus, an emancipated Greek slave living in the Roman Empire (55- 135 AD). This magical little book comes from a time and place far, far away.
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