He suggests that you aim not to suffer at all, to accept what is outside your control and be happy about the little that is within it. More concerning, however, is how Epictetus completely rejects the concept of bodily autonomy by keeping what affects our body outside our realm of choice.

In time, you will grow to be confident that there is not a single impression that you will not have the moral means to tolerate.These are parameters which were there from the start, and one wonders if a king is less tormented than a peasant, maybe they only differ in what kind of torments they suffer. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love.

If he says, ‘I will throw you into prison,’ I say, ‘He is threatening my entire body’; if he threatens exile, I say the same. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. The Stoic social ethos begins with the recognition of each man as “your own brother, who has Zeus as his ancestor and is a son born of the same seed as yourself, with the same high lineage. Because we are particles of God, and thus are equiped with reason as well, albeit not as perfect as His Reason.Without this training in the art of life, it is only the existence of slaves which one should expect. Epictetus' perfect philosopher is very much the vagabond sage modeled on Socrates and Diogenes who has denounced all material and social ties and lives purely for virtue. Central to his Stoic teaching is the need to resign yourself, ideally in a joyful spirit, to all that outside your control. Nu depind de noi trupul, averea, părerile pe care le au alții despre noi, funcțiile publice și, într-un cuvânt, toate câte nu reprezintă propriile noastre fapte. It is reasonable to suppose, then, that the divine nature and the nature of the good correspond” (II.

Well, since most of you are blind, I suppose there has to be someone who fills this role, and will praise God on others’ behalf. As part of the universal city that is the universe, human beings have a duty of care to all fellow humans.Supported by various podcasts and further readings, I have been trying to apply Epictetus’ teachings ever since.