Epictetus Enchiridion
Epictetus: It is sold for praise; it is sold for…
It is sold for praise; it is sold for attendance. Give him then the value, if it is for your advantage. But if you would, at the same time, not pay the one and yet receive the other, you are insatiable, and a blockhead. Have you nothing, then, instead of the supper?
The passage follows a public-domain translation of the Enchiridion. The reading beside it is ours.
Every benefit has a price. Sometimes the price is money. Sometimes it is flattery, attendance, compromise, or time you do not really have. Epictetus asks us to stop pretending we can collect the benefit while refusing its cost. If you want access to a certain social circle, you may have to spend evenings there. If you want a promotion, you may need to take on responsibility. If that price is not worth paying, you are free to decline. What creates misery is demanding both the reward and a life untouched by what it requires. This applies especially to envy. Before resenting someone else's seat at the table, ask what they gave for it and whether you would truly make the same trade. You may discover you do not want the prize after all. Contentment begins when you choose your costs consciously instead of coveting outcomes in isolation.
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius As the ordinary shows of the theatre and of other such places, when thou art presented with them, affect thee; as the…
- Epictetus Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own. If a horse should be prideful and say, " I am handsome,"…
- Epictetus Every matter has two handles: one by which it can be carried, another by which it cannot. When a brother wrongs you,…