Within Stoic philosophy from Ancient Greece, the teachings of a central figure named Epictetus are compiled in the Enchiridion, a short handbook on how to live according to these values. You can compare the major translations here. This post just adapts some of the guidelines to be clearer and easier to reference for my own personal reflections. It is not a translation of the original text, which, by the way, is way more inspiring than my notes here, and includes bars like: "If any instance of pain or pleasure, glory or disgrace, be set before you, remember that now is the combat, now the Olympiad comes on, nor can it be put off; and that by one failure and defeat honor may be lost - or won."
Valley of the Creuse, Claude Monet
- There are things within our power, and things beyond our power. Within our power are mostly our thoughts and choices, which are by nature free, as no one else can control these things. Beyond our power are things like our health, possessions, and status, that we are never guaranteed to have because they are dependent upon other people or circumstances. If we try to control these things in life, we will only suffer when we fail to do so. Instead, we should try to control what is fully ours, which is our judgment, and for anything beyond our power, after examining it, we must be prepared to say that it is only an impression.
- When we want something, we attach our happiness to the outcome of getting it, and the same goes for when we don’t want something, to the outcome of avoiding it. If we want to avoid illness, or death, or poverty, we risk being unhappy because these things are beyond our power. But if we want to avoid making bad choices, it is in our power to do so. Thus, we can never be discouraged if we only try to avoid the undesirable things that we have the power to bring upon (and so take away from) ourselves.
- Everything is temporary by nature, from something as common as a favorite object of yours, all the way to the closest people in your life. Whether it’s the object or the people that you may lose, you can bear it.
- Before you do something, think about what could go wrong by the nature of that thing. Whatever happens, try to keep your will in harmony with nature rather than fight against what you can’t control. If things do go wrong, you’ll be able to deal with them with grace and composure.
- When something upsets us, often it’s not the thing itself but the judgments we make of it. We should never blame others, or even ourselves, for what upsets us, only our judgments.
- Don’t take pride in things that are not your own, but in things you make by your own will. The only thing you can really call your own is the way you deal with your impressions. If you deal with your impressions in harmony with nature, you should be proud!
- Be prepared that life may suddenly take you away from what you love.
- Don’t hope for anything to happen as you want it to. Hope for it to happen as it will happen, and you will never be discouraged.
- Things like illness and injury don't hinder the will, only something else, like the body. So it goes for most things, unless you let them.
- When you are overwhelmed by the impression of something, always remember to turn to yourself and ask what faculty or mental strength you have to deal with it.
More to come