Epictetus Enchiridion
Epictetus: The will of nature may be learned from those…
The will of nature may be learned from those things in which we don't distinguish from each other. For example, when our neighbor's boy breaks a cup, or the like, we are presently ready to say, "These things will happen." Be assured, then, that when your own cup likewise is broken, you ought to be affected just as when another's cup was broken.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of the Enchiridion. The reading beside it is ours.
We are often wise and forgiving about other people's problems and absurdly offended by our own. When a neighbor's laptop breaks or a colleague is delayed, we say, These things happen. When it happens to us, we act as though the universe has singled us out. Epictetus asks for the same perspective in both cases. This is not a call to suppress disappointment. It is a call to be consistent. Breakages, delays, mistakes, and losses are ordinary features of life, not special violations of your contract with it. Borrow the advice you would give someone else. If your friend spilled coffee on their computer, you would not tell them their life was over. Offer yourself the same sober kindness. In the next minor setback, imagine it happened to a stranger. What would you say? Then practice saying and believing it when the stranger is you.
Related passages
- Epictetus A philosopher brings the will into accord with events, so that nothing arrives wholly against it and no wish is…
- Epictetus Nothing outside my chosen judgment can obstruct or injure it; only it can damage itself. When we fail, blame no one…
- Marcus Aurelius A black or malign disposition, an effeminate disposition; an hard inexorable disposition, a wild inhuman disposition,…