Epictetus · Complete work
Chapter 51
Chapter 51 of 53. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
Open the complete readerOriginal Ancient Greek
[51.1] εἰς ποῖον ἔτι χρόνον ἀναβάλλῃ τὸ τῶν βελτίστων ἀξιοῦν σεαυτὸν καὶ ἐν μηδενὶ παραβαίνειν τὸν διαιροῦντα λόγον; παρείληφας τὰ θεωρήματα, οἷς ἔδει σε συμβάλλειν, καὶ συμβέβληκας. ποῖον οὖν ἔτι διδάσκαλον προσδοκᾷς, ἵνα εἰς ἐκεῖνον ὑπερθῇ τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν ποιῆσαι τὴν σεαυτοῦ; οὐκ ἔτι εἶ μειράκιον, ἀλλὰ ἀνὴρ ἤδη τέλειος. ἂν νῦν ἀμελήσῃς καὶ ῥᾳθυμήσῃς καὶ ἀεὶ προθέσεις ἐκ προθέσεως ποιῇ καὶ ἡμέρας ἄλλας ἐπʼ ἄλλαις ὁρίζῃς, μεθʼ ἃς προσέξεις σεαυτῷ, λήσεις σεαυτὸν οὐ προκόψας, ἀλλʼ ἰδιώτης διατελέσεις καὶ ζῶν καὶ ἀποθνῄσκων.
[51.2] ἤδη οὖν ἀξίωσον σεαυτὸν βιοῦν ὡς τέλειον καὶ προκόπτοντα· καὶ πᾶν τὸ βέλτιστον φαινόμενον ἔστω σοι νόμος ἀπαράβατος. κἂν ἐπίπονόν τι ἢ ἡδὺ ἢ ἔνδοξον ἢ ἄδοξον προσάγηται, μέμνησο, ὅτι νῦν ὁ ἀγὼν καὶ ἤδη πάρεστι τὰ Ὀλύμπια καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀναβάλλεσθαι οὐκέτι καὶ ὅτι παρὰ μίαν ἡμέραν καὶ ἓν πρᾶγμα καὶ ἀπόλλυται προκοπὴ καὶ σῴζεται.
[51.3] Σωκράτης οὕτως ἀπετελέσθη, ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν προσαγομένων αὐτῷ μηδενὶ ἄλλῳ προσέχων ἢ τῷ λόγῳ. σὺ δὲ εἰ καὶ μήπω εἶ Σωκράτης, ὡς Σωκράτης γε εἶναι βουλόμενος ὀφείλεις βιοῦν.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 53 Ancient Greek chapters and 105 sections for fidelity, Stoic precision, clarity, structure, and cadence.
[51.1] How much longer will you postpone deeming yourself worthy of the highest things and transgressing in nothing the judgment of reason? You have received the principles with which you needed to come to grips, and you have come to grips with them. What teacher, then, are you still waiting for, that you may defer to him the task of reforming yourself? You are no longer a youth, but already a grown man. If you are negligent and indolent now, forever making one postponement after another and appointing one day after another on which you will attend to yourself, then, before you know it, you will have made no progress and will continue to live and die an ordinary man.
[51.2] Therefore, from this moment deem yourself worthy of living as a mature man who is making progress, and let whatever appears best to you be an inviolable law. And if anything painful or pleasant, glorious or inglorious, is brought before you, remember that the contest is now, that the Olympic Games are already at hand, and that there can be no further postponement; and that by a single day and a single action, progress is either lost or preserved.
[51.3] It was in this way that Socrates attained perfection: in everything that came before him, he attended to nothing but reason. And though you are not yet Socrates, you ought to live as one who desires to be Socrates.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 53 Ancient Greek chapters and 105 sections.
[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.