EPICTETUS On Natural Law
#Epictetus #ancientwisdom #naturallaw #stoicwisdom
Epictetus (/ˌɛpɪkˈtiːtəs/, EH-pick-TEE-təss; Greek: Ἐπίκτητος, Epíktētos; c. 50 – c. 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece, where he spent the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion.
Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment.
In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.
Happiness and personal fulfillment are the natural consequences of doing the right thing.
But God has introduced man to be a spectator of God and of His works; and not only a spectator of them, but an interpreter. For this reason it is shameful for man to begin and to end where irrational animals do, but rather he ought to begin where they begin, and to end where nature ends in us; and nature ends in contemplation and understanding, in a way of life conformable to nature. Take care then not to die without having been spectators of these things.
By accepting life's limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, we become free.
Renew every day your conversation with God: Do this even in preference to eating. Think more often of God than you breathe.
Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can't control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.
Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and whatever are not our own actions.
Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.
You become what you give your attention to... If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest.
MUSIC: "Father Time" by G-ILL (Produced by Santos)