The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

What's the Big Idea?

By: Epictetus

Narrated by: David L. Stanley

What’s the big idea? Former slave Epictetus argues that since we cannot control the external world, true freedom comes from the reasoned control of one’s own desires and passions.

This is the core of Stoic thought that Epictetus taught in Western Greece about AD 100. Stoicism became the dominant moral philosophy of the Hellenistic and Roman world, and Epictetus became its dominant and most respected teacher.

Though Epictetus wrote nothing that has survived, writer Arrian attended his lectures and took those notes that preserved Epictetus’ teachings. Besides Arrian, Epictetus had another notable listener, the young Publius Aelius Hadrianus, who would go on to become Roman Emperor Hadrian, reigning from AD 117 to 138.

Stoic philosophy echoed down the centuries, starting with St. Paul, whose “Acts” is shot through with Stoic thought. St. Ambrose and Tertullian show Stoic influence in their writings.

In the modern world, Stoicism remains important. Prussian emperor Frederick the Great, essayist Montaigne, and even George Washington were inspired by the Stoics. Perhaps the most prominent modern writer influenced by the stoics is American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. His Man the Reformer and Self Reliance are almost modern Stoic handbooks.

Let’s go back a couple of thousand years to Nicopolis and listen to Epictetus explain Stoicism. We can cheat a bit and look over Arrian’s shoulder and hear his lecture notes.

©2021 Bill McGann (P)2022 Bill McGann

Incredible for getting one's composure

If you are the right listener, this is amazing. What do I mean, "right listener"? I mean a person who can handle the particular language used here, without being provoked by it. This is a translation by a Victorian-era translator, slightly modernized by this author. A key thing is relating with reverence and gratitude and joy to the bounty we have, just in ourselves and our destinies, unadorned, and our innate power of sound judgment, as gifted to us by something we might alternately call "nature," "god," or "gods." Each of these words is used here, seemingly interchangeably, but the most common one here is "god." If you can handle that gracefully, I suppose substituting if you like, "nature" in your mind for "god," if that is what it takes to be comfortable and get to the inner deeper points, this will reward you immensely. Or anyway, it did that for me. That said, this works better for managing distraction and anxiety than any other thing I have ever encountered. I find it life-changing. And that is something I utterly, desperately need, right now. It is so vital. I'm pleasantly amazed.

Also, I felt, for now, I would bog down with, say, 13 hours of this stuff. This selection gets to the point!