Epictetus Enchiridion
Epictetus: When you have brought yourself to supply the…
When you have brought yourself to supply the necessities of your body at a small price, don't pique yourself upon it; nor, if you drink water, be saying upon every occasion, "I drink water." But first consider how much more sparing and patient of hardship the poor are than we.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of the Enchiridion. The reading beside it is ours.
Choosing a simpler life can strengthen you, but it becomes another form of vanity when you turn it into a performance. There is no special wisdom in announcing every cold shower, cheap meal, deleted app, or day without coffee. In fact, people with far fewer choices endure genuine hardship every day without an audience. Voluntary discomfort is useful because it teaches you that comfort is not a requirement for a good life. Eat a plain meal now and then. Delay an unnecessary purchase. Travel without every convenience. But do it to train your independence, not to create a new identity that needs admiration. Humility also requires perspective: your experiment is not the same as poverty, illness, or lack of options. Today, practice one modest inconvenience privately. Let it remind you that you can need less, while keeping you grateful for what you already have.
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius And lastly, which beareth me that tread upon it, and beareth with me that so many ways do abuse it, or so freely make…
- Marcus Aurelius Those things which the common sort of people do admire, are most of them such things as are very general, and may be…
- Epictetus Happiness cannot live with craving what is absent. The happy person has what is needed, like one well fed, without…