Enchiridion

[1.1] Some things are up to us, and others are not up to us. Up to us are judgment, impulse, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is our own doing. Not up to us are the body, property, reputation, public office, and, in a word, whatever is not our own doing.

[1.2] The things up to us are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while the things not up to us are weak, enslaved, subject to hindrance, and not our own.

[1.3] Remember, then, that if you think things naturally enslaved are free and things belonging to others are your own, you will be obstructed, you will grieve, you will be disturbed, and you will blame both gods and human beings. But if you think only what is yours is yours, and what belongs to others is, as it really is, not your own, no one will ever compel you, no one will hinder you, you will blame no one, you will accuse no one, you will do nothing against your will, no one will harm you, and you will have no enemy, because you will not suffer anything harmful.

[1.4] Since you are aiming at such great things, remember that you must not undertake them with only moderate effort; instead, you must give up some things completely and postpone others for the present. But if you want these things and also want to hold public office and be rich, you may not obtain even office and wealth because you are also aiming at the former things; and you will certainly fail to obtain those things through which alone freedom and happiness are secured.

[1.5] So, whenever a harsh impression arises, immediately practice saying to it, “You are an impression and not necessarily what you appear to be.” Then examine it and test it by the standards you have, first and most of all by this one: whether it concerns things that are up to us or things that are not up to us. And if it concerns anything not up to us, be ready to say, “It is nothing to me.”

[2.1] Remember that desire promises the attainment of what you desire, while aversion promises that you will not fall into what you seek to avoid; and the person who fails in desire is unfortunate, while the person who falls into what he seeks to avoid is miserable. So if you avoid only what is contrary to nature among the things up to you, you will never fall into anything you seek to avoid. But if you seek to avoid illness, death, or poverty, you will be miserable.

[2.2] So remove your aversion from everything not up to us and transfer it to what is contrary to nature among the things up to us. For the present, suppress desire completely. For if you desire anything not up to us, you are bound to be unfortunate; and as for the things up to us that it would be good to desire, none of them is yet within your reach. Use only impulse toward action and impulse away from action, and even these lightly, with reservation, and without strain.

[3.1] With everything that delights you, is useful to you, or is dear to you, remember to tell yourself what kind of thing it is, beginning with the smallest things. If you are fond of a pot, say, “I am fond of a pot.” Then, if it breaks, you will not be disturbed. If you kiss your child or your wife affectionately, say, “I am kissing a human being.” Then, if that person dies, you will not be disturbed.

[4.1] Whenever you are about to undertake some action, remind yourself what kind of action it is. If you are going out to bathe, picture to yourself what happens at a public bath: people splashing you, people jostling you, people insulting you, and people stealing from you. You will undertake the action more securely if you say at once, “I want to bathe and also to preserve my faculty of choice in accordance with nature.” Do the same with every action. In this way, if anything interferes with your bathing, you will be ready to say, “But bathing was not the only thing I wanted; I also wanted to preserve my faculty of choice in accordance with nature. And I will not preserve it if I become angry at what happens.”

[5.1] People are disturbed not by things, but by their judgments about things. For example, death is nothing terrible, since otherwise it would have appeared terrible to Socrates as well. Rather, the judgment about death—that it is terrible—is what is terrible. So whenever we are obstructed, disturbed, or distressed, we should never blame anyone else, but ourselves—that is, our own judgments. It is the mark of an uneducated person to blame others for what he himself does badly; the mark of someone whose education has begun to blame himself; and the mark of an educated person to blame neither another nor himself.

[6.1] Do not take pride in any excellence that is not your own. If a horse proudly said, “I am beautiful,” that would be bearable. But when you proudly say, “I have a beautiful horse,” understand that you are taking pride in something good that belongs to the horse. What, then, is your own? Your use of impressions. Therefore, whenever your use of impressions is in accordance with nature, then you may take pride, because then you will be taking pride in something good that is your own.

[7.1] When a ship has anchored during a voyage and you go ashore to fetch water, you may pick up a little shellfish or a bulb along the way, but your attention must remain fixed on the ship, and you must keep looking back in case the helmsman calls. If he calls, you must leave all those things behind so that you are not tied up and thrown aboard like the sheep. In the same way, in life, if instead of a bulb or a little shellfish you are given a wife and a child, nothing prevents you from having them. But if the helmsman calls, run to the ship, leaving all those things behind without even looking back. And if you are old, never go far from the ship, so that when he calls you will not fail to appear.

[8.1] Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to. Instead, want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.

[9.1] Illness is an impediment to the body, but not to the faculty of choice, unless that faculty itself wills it. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the faculty of choice. Say this to yourself about everything that happens to you, for you will find that it is an impediment to something else, but not to you.

[10.1] With everything that happens to you, remember to turn inward and ask what capacity you have for dealing with it. If you see a handsome man or a beautiful woman, you will find self-control as your capacity for dealing with that. If hardship is imposed on you, you will find endurance. If you are insulted, you will find patience. And if you train yourself in this way, your impressions will not sweep you away.

[11.1] Never say about anything, “I have lost it,” but rather, “I have given it back.” Has your child died? The child has been given back. Has your wife died? She has been given back. Has your property been taken away? Then that too has been given back. “But the person who took it is wicked.” What does it matter to you through whom the giver asked for it back? As long as he gives it to you, take care of it as something that belongs to another, as travelers take care of an inn.

[12.1] If you want to make progress, let go of calculations like these: “If I neglect my affairs, I will have nothing to live on”; “If I do not punish my servant, he will turn out badly.” For it is better to die of hunger free from distress and fear than to live amid abundance in a state of turmoil. And it is better for your servant to be bad than for you to be miserable.

[12.2] Begin, then, with the little things. A little oil is spilled; a little wine is stolen. Tell yourself, “This is the price of freedom from passion; this is the price of tranquility.” Nothing is gained for nothing. When you call your servant, bear in mind that he may not answer, and even if he does answer, he may do none of the things you want. But he is not so well placed that your freedom from disturbance should depend on him.

[13.1] If you want to make progress, accept being thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Do not want to appear knowledgeable about anything; and even if some people think you are somebody, distrust yourself. For you should know that it is not easy both to keep your own faculty of choice in accordance with nature and to look after external things. If you attend to one, you are absolutely bound to neglect the other.

[14.1] If you want your children, your wife, and your friends to live forever, you are foolish, for you want things that are not up to you to be up to you, and things that belong to others to be your own. In the same way, if you want your servant never to do wrong, you are a fool, for you want vice not to be vice but something else. But if you want never to fail in getting what you desire, that is within your power. Practice, then, what is within your power.

[14.2] Anyone who has the power to secure or take away the things another person wants or does not want is that person’s master. So whoever wants to be free must neither want nor avoid anything that is under the control of others. Otherwise, he is bound to be a slave.

[15.1] Remember that you must behave as you would at a banquet. Something being passed around has come to you: reach out your hand and take a modest share. It passes by: do not hold it back. It has not reached you yet: do not stretch your desire out toward it, but wait until it comes to you. Act this way toward children, toward a wife, toward public offices, and toward wealth, and someday you will be a worthy fellow guest of the gods. But if, even when things are set before you, you do not take them but look down on them, then you will be not only a fellow guest of the gods but also a fellow ruler with them. By acting this way, Diogenes, Heraclitus, and others like them were deservedly divine and were called so.

[16.1] When you see someone weeping in grief because his child is away or because he has lost his possessions, take care not to let the impression carry you away into thinking that he is suffering because of these external events. Instead, keep this thought immediately at hand: “What distresses this person is not what has happened—for it does not distress someone else—but his judgment about it.” Still, as far as words go, do not hesitate to sympathize with him and, if the occasion calls for it, even to groan with him. Take care, however, not to groan inwardly as well.

[17.1] Remember that you are an actor in a play of whatever kind the director chooses: if a short one, then in a short one; if a long one, then in a long one. If he wants you to play a poor man, play even that role with natural skill; likewise if he wants you to play a cripple, a ruler, or a private citizen. For your task is to play well the role you have been given; choosing it belongs to someone else.

[18.1] When a raven croaks an unfavorable omen, do not let the impression carry you away. Instead, immediately distinguish within yourself and say, “None of these things is being foretold for me, but only for my poor body, my little property, my petty reputation, my children, or my wife. For me, every omen foretells good, if I choose to make it so. Whatever comes of these things, it is up to me to benefit from it.”

[19.1] You can be invincible if you enter no contest in which victory is not up to you.

[19.2] Take care that, when you see someone receiving greater honors, possessing great power, or otherwise enjoying a high reputation, you are not carried away by the impression and call him blessed. For if the essence of the good lies in things that are up to us, neither envy nor jealousy has any place. You yourself will not want to be a general, a chief magistrate, or a consul, but to be free. And there is one path to freedom: contempt for what is not up to us.

[20.1] Remember that it is not the person who insults or strikes you who outrages you, but your judgment that these things are outrageous. So when someone provokes you, know that it is your own opinion that has provoked you. Therefore, above all, try not to be carried away by the impression. Once you gain some time and delay, you will more easily master yourself.

[21.1] Let death, exile, and everything that appears terrible be before your eyes every day, especially death; and you will never entertain any degrading thought or desire anything excessively.

[22.1] If you desire philosophy, prepare yourself from the outset to be laughed at and mocked by many people, who will say, “Suddenly he has come back to us as a philosopher,” and, “Where did he get that haughty look?” But do not put on a haughty look. Hold fast to the things that seem best to you, as someone assigned by God to this post. And remember that if you remain faithful to the same principles, those who laughed at you before will later admire you; but if you let them defeat you, you will be laughed at twice as much.

[23.1] If it ever happens that you turn outward because you want to please someone, know that you have lost your position. So in every situation, be content to be a philosopher; and if you also want to appear to be one, appear so to yourself, and that will be enough.

[24.1] Do not let these thoughts distress you: “I will live without honor and be nobody anywhere.” For if lack of honor is an evil, you cannot be in an evil condition because of someone else, any more than you can be in a shameful one. Is it your responsibility, then, to obtain public office or be invited to a dinner? Not at all. How, then, can this still be a lack of honor? And how will you be nobody anywhere, when you need to be somebody only in matters that are up to you, in which it is possible for you to be a person of the greatest worth?

[24.2] “But your friends will be left without help.” What do you mean by “without help”? They will not receive a little money from you, and you will not make them Roman citizens. But who told you that these things are among what is up to us, rather than tasks belonging to others? And who can give another person what he does not possess himself? “Then acquire them,” someone says, “so that we may have them.”

[24.3] If I can acquire them while preserving my self-respect, faithfulness, and nobility of mind, show me the way, and I will acquire them. But if you expect me to lose the good things that are truly mine so that you may obtain things that are not good, see for yourselves how unfair and ungrateful you are. Besides, which would you rather have: money, or a faithful and self-respecting friend? Then help me more toward becoming such a friend, and do not expect me to do things that will cause me to lose precisely these qualities.

[24.4] “But as far as I am concerned,” someone says, “my country will be left without help.” Again, what kind of help do you mean? It will not have colonnades or bathhouses because of you. And what of it? It does not have shoes because of the blacksmith, or weapons because of the shoemaker. It is enough if each person fulfills his own function. If you provided your country with one more faithful and self-respecting citizen, would you not benefit it at all? “Yes.” Then you yourself would not be useless to it. “What place, then,” he says, “will I have in the city?” Whatever place you can hold while at the same time preserving your faithfulness and self-respect.

[24.5] But if, in wishing to benefit your country, you lose these qualities, what benefit could you be to it after becoming shameless and unfaithful?

[25.1] Has someone been preferred over you at a dinner, in being greeted, or in being invited to give advice? If these things are good, you should be glad that the other person received them. But if they are bad, do not be upset that you did not receive them. And remember that if you do not do the same things others do to obtain things that are not up to us, you cannot expect to be considered equally deserving of them.

[25.2] For how can someone who does not regularly visit a person’s door receive as much as someone who does? How can someone who does not escort him receive as much as someone who does? Or someone who does not praise him as much as someone who does? You will therefore be unjust and greedy if, without paying the price for which these things are sold, you want to receive them for nothing.

[25.3] How much does lettuce sell for? An obol, perhaps. So if someone pays the obol and receives the lettuce, while you do not pay it and do not receive any, do not think that you have less than the person who received it. For just as he has the lettuce, you have the obol that you did not give.

[25.4] The same applies here. You were not invited to someone’s dinner? That is because you did not pay the host the price for which he sells the meal. He sells it for praise; he sells it for personal attention. So pay the price for which it is sold, if doing so is to your advantage. But if you want both to keep the payment and to receive what it buys, you are greedy and foolish.

[25.5] Then do you have nothing in place of the dinner? Certainly you do: you did not have to praise the man you did not want to praise, or put up with what goes on at his door.

[26.1] The will of nature can be learned from the things about which we do not differ from one another. For example, when someone else’s little slave breaks a cup, the immediate response is, “These things happen.” Know, then, that when your own cup is broken, you should react just as you did when someone else’s was broken. Apply this in the same way to more serious matters. Someone else’s child or wife has died. There is no one who would not say, “That is part of being human.” But when someone’s own child or wife dies, he immediately cries, “Oh, how miserable I am!” Yet we should remember how we feel when we hear that the same thing has happened to others.

[27.1] Just as a target is not set up for the purpose of being missed, so the nature of evil does not arise in the universe.

[28.1] If someone handed your body over to every person he happened to meet, you would be indignant. But are you not ashamed that you hand your own mind over to anyone at all, so that if he insults you, your mind is disturbed and thrown into confusion?

[29.1] In every undertaking, consider what comes before it and what follows it, and only then proceed to it. Otherwise, you will approach it enthusiastically at first, because you have given no thought to what comes afterward; but later, when difficulties appear, you will abandon it disgracefully. Do you want to win at Olympia?

[29.2] By the gods, so do I, because it is a splendid thing. But consider what comes before it and what follows it, and only then take up the undertaking. You must submit to discipline, follow a strict diet, abstain from pastries, exercise under compulsion at an appointed time, in heat and in cold, drink no cold water and no wine whenever you please—in short, hand yourself over to your trainer as you would to a doctor. Then, in the contest, you must be gouged, sometimes have your hand dislocated, twist your ankle, swallow a great deal of sand, sometimes be whipped, and, after all that, be defeated.

[29.3] After considering all this, if you still want to, take up athletic training. Otherwise, you will behave like children, who now play at being wrestlers, then gladiators, then trumpet players, and then tragic actors. In the same way, you will now be an athlete, then a gladiator, then an orator, then a philosopher, but nothing with your whole soul. Like a monkey, you imitate every spectacle you see, and one thing after another appeals to you. For you did not approach anything after careful consideration and examining it from every side, but at random and on the basis of a lukewarm desire.

[29.4] In this way, some people, after seeing a philosopher and hearing someone speak as Euphrates speaks—and yet who can speak as he does?—

[29.5] want to practice philosophy themselves. Man, first examine what the undertaking is like. Then also study your own nature to see whether you can bear it. Do you want to be a pentathlete or a wrestler? Look at your arms, examine your thighs, and study your lower back.

[29.6] For different people are naturally suited to different things. Do you think that if you do these things, you can continue to eat in the same way, drink in the same way, have the same desires, and feel the same dissatisfaction? You must go without sleep, work hard, leave your family, be treated with contempt by a little slave, be laughed at by everyone you meet, and receive less in everything—in honor, in public office, in court, and in every minor affair.

[29.7] Consider these things, and decide whether you are willing to receive in exchange for them freedom from passion, freedom, and tranquility. If not, do not approach philosophy. Do not be like children—now a philosopher, later a tax collector, then an orator, and then an imperial procurator. These things do not go together. You must be one person, either good or bad. You must devote yourself either to your own governing faculty or to external things, and direct your efforts either toward what is within or toward what is outside. That is, you must occupy either the position of a philosopher or that of an ordinary person.

[30.1] Appropriate actions are generally determined by relationships. He is your father: this requires you to take care of him, yield to him in everything, and endure it when he insults or strikes you. “But he is a bad father.” Were you naturally assigned specifically to a good father, then? No, simply to a father. Your brother wrongs you. Then preserve your own proper role toward him, and do not consider what he is doing, but what you must do for your faculty of choice to remain in accordance with nature. For another person will not harm you unless you choose to be harmed; you will have been harmed only when you judge that you have been harmed. In this way, you will discover the appropriate action toward a neighbor, a fellow citizen, or a general, if you make a habit of considering your relationships.

[31.1] As for piety toward the gods, know that the most important thing is this: to have correct beliefs about them—that they exist and govern the whole universe well and justly—and to have committed yourself to obeying them, yielding to everything that happens, and following willingly, in the conviction that it is being brought about by the best judgment. For in this way you will never blame the gods or accuse them of neglecting you.

[31.2] But this cannot happen unless you remove good and evil from the things that are not up to us and place them only among the things that are up to us. For if you suppose that any of those other things is good or evil, then whenever you fail to get what you want and fall into what you do not want, you will inevitably blame and hate those you hold responsible.

[31.3] For every living creature is naturally inclined to flee and avoid things that appear harmful, along with their causes, and to pursue and admire things that are beneficial, along with their causes. It is therefore impossible for someone who thinks he is being harmed to take pleasure in what he believes is harming him, just as it is impossible to take pleasure in the harm itself.

[31.4] This is why even a father is abused by his son when he does not give the child a share of the things that seem to be good; and what made Polynices and Eteocles enemies of each other was their belief that tyranny was a good. This is why the farmer abuses the gods, why the sailor does, why the merchant does, and why those who lose their wives and children do. For where a person’s interest lies, there too lies his piety. Consequently, whoever takes care to desire and avoid things as he should is at the same time taking care of his piety.

[31.5] It is proper on every occasion to pour libations, offer sacrifices, and give first fruits according to ancestral custom, doing so with purity, not carelessly or negligently, not stingily, and not beyond your means.

[32.1] When you consult divination, remember that you do not know what will happen, but have come to learn it from the diviner; yet you came already knowing what kind of thing it is, if you are indeed a philosopher. For if it is one of the things that are not up to us, it must necessarily be neither good nor evil.

[32.2] So do not bring desire or aversion with you to the diviner, and do not approach him trembling. Instead, understand that everything that may happen is indifferent and nothing to you, and that, whatever it may be, you will be able to make good use of it, and no one will prevent you from doing so. Therefore go confidently to the gods as your advisers; and afterward, when some counsel has been given to you, remember whom you have taken as your advisers and whose counsel you will disregard if you disobey.

[32.3] Go to consult divination, as Socrates thought proper, only about matters in which the whole question depends on the outcome, and in which neither reason nor any other skill provides a basis for discerning what is at issue. Therefore, when you must share a friend’s or your country’s danger, do not consult divination about whether you should share the danger. For even if the diviner tells you that the sacrificial signs are unfavorable, it is clear that this indicates death, the loss of some part of the body, or exile. But reason chooses, even at that cost, to stand by your friend and share your country’s danger. Therefore heed the greater diviner, the Pythian god, who drove from his temple the man who had not helped his friend when that friend was being murdered.

[33.1] Establish right now a certain character and pattern for yourself, which you will preserve both when you are by yourself and when you meet with other people.

[33.2] Be silent for the most part, or say only what is necessary, and say it briefly. On rare occasions, when the situation calls on you to speak, speak, but not about ordinary subjects—not about gladiatorial contests, horse races, athletes, food or drink, the usual topics everywhere, and especially not about people, whether blaming, praising, or comparing them.

[33.3] If you can, use your own conversation to lead the conversation of your companions toward what is appropriate. But if you happen to find yourself isolated among strangers, keep silent.

[33.4] Do not laugh a great deal, or at many things, or without restraint.

[33.5] Refuse to swear an oath, if possible, under all circumstances; if that is not possible, refuse as far as circumstances allow. Avoid banquets given by outsiders and by people unfamiliar with philosophy;

[33.6] but if an occasion to attend one ever arises, keep your attention sharply focused so that you do not slip into the behavior of an ordinary person. For know that if your companion is polluted, anyone who rubs shoulders with him will inevitably become polluted as well, even if he himself happens to be clean.

[33.7] Take what concerns the body only to the point of bare necessity, such as food, drink, clothing, a house, and a household; completely exclude everything intended for prestige or luxury. As for sex, keep yourself pure before marriage as far as you are able;

[33.8] but if you do engage in it, take part only in what is lawful. Still, do not become burdensome or censorious toward those who engage in sex, and do not constantly advertise the fact that you yourself do not.

[33.9] If someone reports to you that a certain person is speaking badly of you, do not defend yourself against what has been said. Instead, reply, “He clearly did not know about my other faults, or he would not have mentioned only these.”

[33.10] It is not necessary to attend public spectacles often. But if an occasion to attend one ever arises, show that you are taking sides with no one but yourself; that is, want only what actually happens to happen, and only the actual winner to win. In this way you will not be frustrated. Completely refrain from shouting, laughing at anyone, or becoming excessively excited. After you leave, do not talk much about what happened except insofar as it contributes to your own improvement. For such talk reveals that you were impressed by the spectacle.

[33.11] Do not attend people’s lectures casually or without careful thought. But when you do attend, preserve your dignity and composure while at the same time avoiding being disagreeable.

[33.12] Whenever you are about to meet someone, especially someone regarded as eminent, set before yourself the question of what Socrates or Zeno would have done in this situation, and you will have no difficulty dealing appropriately with whatever occurs.

[33.13] Whenever you visit someone with great power, set before yourself the possibilities that you will not find him at home, that you will be shut out, that the doors will be slammed in your face, and that he will pay no attention to you. If it is still your duty to go despite these things, then go and bear whatever happens, and never say to yourself, “It was not worth that much.” For that is the response of an ordinary person who is at odds with external things.

[33.14] In conversation, refrain from talking at length and without restraint about your own deeds or dangers. For although it is pleasant for you to recall your dangers, it is not equally pleasant for others to hear about the things that have happened to you.

[33.15] Refrain also from trying to provoke laughter. For this behavior easily slips into vulgarity and is also likely to weaken your neighbors’ respect for you.

[33.16] It is also dangerous to drift into obscene talk. Whenever something of this kind occurs, if the occasion is suitable, rebuke the person who has resorted to it. If it is not, make your displeasure with the talk clear by remaining silent, blushing, and looking stern.

[34.1] Whenever you receive an impression of some pleasure, guard yourself, as with other impressions, against being swept away by it. Let the matter wait for you, and take some time before acting. Then remember both periods of time: the time when you will enjoy the pleasure and the time afterward when, having enjoyed it, you will regret it and reproach yourself. Set against these the joy and self-approval you will feel if you abstain. But if it seems to you that the right time has come to undertake the action, take care that its pleasantness, sweetness, and allure do not overcome you. Set against them how much better it is to be conscious of having won this victory over them.

[35.1] Whenever you have determined that something must be done and you do it, never avoid being seen doing it, even if most people are likely to form a different opinion about it. For if you are not acting rightly, avoid the act itself; but if you are acting rightly, why fear those who will wrongly criticize you?

[36.1] Just as the statements “It is day” and “It is night” have great value when separated by an “or,” but no value when joined by an “and,” so too choosing the larger portion may have value for the body, but it has no value for preserving the social consideration that is proper at a dinner. Therefore, when you eat with someone else, remember not only to consider the value for your body of the food set before you, but also to preserve your respect for your host.

[37.1] If you take on a role beyond your ability, you have both disgraced yourself in that role and neglected one you could have fulfilled.

[38.1] Just as, when walking, you take care not to step on a nail or twist your foot, so take care not to harm your own ruling faculty. If we guard against this in every action, we will undertake the action more safely.

[39.1] For each person, the body is the measure of possessions, just as the foot is the measure of a shoe. If you stop at this point, you will preserve the proper measure; but if you go beyond it, you will then inevitably be carried downward as if over a cliff. It is the same with a shoe: once you go beyond what the foot requires, first you get a gold-plated shoe, then a purple one, then an embroidered one. For once you go beyond the proper measure, there is no limit.

[40.1] Women, as soon as they reach the age of fourteen, are called “ladies” by men. And so, seeing that nothing else is expected of them except to sleep with men, they begin to beautify themselves and to place all their hopes in that. It is therefore worth taking care that they understand that they are honored for nothing other than appearing modest and self-respecting.

[41.1] It is a sign of a lack of natural aptitude to spend too much time on matters concerning the body—for example, exercising too much, eating too much, drinking too much, defecating too much, or having sex too much. These things should be done incidentally; your full attention should be directed toward your judgment.

[42.1] When someone treats you badly or speaks badly of you, remember that he does or says it because he thinks it is appropriate for him to do so. He therefore cannot follow what appears right to you, but only what appears right to him. Consequently, if his judgment is wrong, the one who is harmed is the one who has been deceived. For if someone supposes a true complex proposition to be false, it is not the proposition that has been harmed, but the person who was deceived. Starting from these considerations, then, you will be gentle toward anyone who insults you. For each time, say, “That is how it appeared to him.”

[43.1] Everything has two handles: one by which it can be carried, and one by which it cannot. If your brother wrongs you, do not take hold of the matter by the fact that he wrongs you, since that is the handle by which it cannot be carried. Instead, take hold of it by the fact that he is your brother and was raised with you, and you will be taking hold of it by the handle by which it can be carried.

[44.1] These arguments are invalid: “I am richer than you; therefore, I am better than you.” “I am more eloquent than you; therefore, I am better than you.” But these arguments are valid: “I am richer than you; therefore, my property is better than yours.” “I am more eloquent than you; therefore, my way of speaking is better than yours.” But you are neither property nor a way of speaking.

[45.1] Someone bathes quickly. Do not say that he bathes badly, but that he bathes quickly. Someone drinks a great deal of wine. Do not say that he drinks badly, but that he drinks a great deal. For before you have determined his judgment, how do you know whether he is acting badly? In this way, you will not form clear and graspable impressions of some things while assenting to others.

[46.1] Never call yourself a philosopher, and do not talk at length among ordinary people about philosophical principles. Instead, act in accordance with those principles. For example, at a banquet do not say how one ought to eat, but eat as one ought. Remember that Socrates had so completely eliminated ostentation from his conduct that people would come to him wanting him to introduce them to philosophers, and he would take them to those philosophers.

[46.2] That is how he endured being overlooked. And if a discussion of some philosophical principle arises among ordinary people, remain silent for the most part, since there is a great danger that you will immediately vomit up what you have not digested. When someone tells you that you know nothing and you are not stung by it, then know that you are beginning the work. Sheep do not bring their fodder to the shepherds and show them how much they have eaten; they digest their feed inside themselves and produce wool and milk outwardly. In the same way, do not display philosophical principles to ordinary people, but, once you have digested them, display the actions that come from them.

[47.1] When you have adopted a simple way of caring for your body, do not take pride in it. If you drink water, do not take every opportunity to say that you drink water. And if you ever want to train yourself to endure hardship, do it for yourself and not for outsiders. Do not embrace statues. Instead, when you are extremely thirsty, take a mouthful of cold water, spit it out, and tell no one.

[48.1] The position and character of an ordinary person: he never expects benefit or harm to come from himself, but from external things. The position and character of a philosopher: he expects every benefit and harm to come from himself.

[48.2] Signs of someone who is making progress: he criticizes no one, praises no one, blames no one, accuses no one, and says nothing about himself as though he were somebody or knew something. Whenever he is hindered or prevented from doing something, he blames himself. If someone praises him, he privately laughs at the person praising him; and if someone criticizes him, he does not defend himself. He goes about like someone recovering from an illness, taking care not to disturb anything that is being restored before it has become firmly settled.

[48.3] He has removed every desire from himself, and has transferred his aversion solely to those things within his control that are contrary to nature. He employs a relaxed impulse toward everything. If he appears foolish or ignorant, he does not care. In a word, he keeps watch over himself as though he were an enemy lying in ambush.

[49.1] When someone prides himself on being able to understand and interpret the books of Chrysippus, say to yourself, “If Chrysippus had not written obscurely, this man would have nothing to pride himself on.” But what do I want? To understand nature and follow it. So I ask who interprets nature, and when I hear that Chrysippus does, I go to him. But I do not understand his writings, so I look for someone to interpret them. Up to this point, there is still nothing to be proud of. But when I find an interpreter, what remains is to put the teachings into practice. This alone is something to be proud of. But if I admire the act of interpretation itself, what else have I become but a grammarian instead of a philosopher—except that I interpret Chrysippus rather than Homer? So when someone says to me, “Read Chrysippus to me,” I should instead blush if I cannot show that my actions match and agree with his words.

[50.1] Whatever principles you set before yourself, remain faithful to them as though they were laws and you would be committing an impiety if you violated them. Pay no attention to what anyone says about you, for that is no longer up to you.

[51.1] How much longer will you put off considering yourself worthy of the best and never violating the judgment of reason? You have received the principles you needed to examine, and you have examined them. What teacher are you still waiting for, so that you can postpone your own reform until he comes? You are no longer a boy but already a grown man. If you are careless and negligent now, continually making one postponement after another and setting one day after another on which you will attend to yourself, you will fail to notice that you are making no progress and will continue to live and die as an ordinary, untrained person.

[51.2] From this moment, then, consider yourself worthy of living as a mature person who is making progress, and let whatever appears best to you be an inviolable law. If anything painful or pleasant, honored or dishonored, confronts you, remember that the contest is now, that the Olympic Games are already here, and that there can be no further postponement. A single day and a single action can either destroy your progress or preserve it.

[51.3] This is how Socrates became perfect: in everything that confronted him, he paid attention to nothing but reason. And though you are not yet Socrates, you ought to live as someone who wants to be Socrates.

[52.1] The first and most necessary area of philosophy is the application of its principles, such as not lying. The second concerns proofs, such as why one must not lie. The third establishes and clarifies these very proofs, asking, for example: How do we know that this is a proof? What is a proof? What is a logical consequence? What is a contradiction? What is true? What is false?

[52.2] Therefore, the third area is necessary because of the second, and the second because of the first; but the first is the most necessary and is where we should come to rest. We do the opposite: we spend our time on the third area and devote all our effort to it, while completely neglecting the first. As a result, we lie, but we have ready at hand the proof that one must not lie.

[53.1] In every situation, keep these words ready at hand: “Lead me, O Zeus, and you, O Destiny, wherever I have been assigned by you. I will follow without hesitation; but even if I am unwilling and become base, I will follow nonetheless.”

[53.2] “Whoever has yielded properly to necessity is wise in our eyes and understands divine things.”

[53.3] “But, Crito, if this is pleasing to the gods, so be it.”

[53.4] “Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they cannot harm me.”