But if you wish to keep what is outside you as well—your paltry body, and goods, and reputation—I advise you to begin this moment to make all possible preparation, and further to study the character of your judge and your opponent.
If you must clasp his knees, clasp them; if you must weep, then weep; if you must lament, then lament. For when once you allow outward things to dominate what is your own, you had better become a slave and have done with it.
Don't be drawn this way and that, wishing to be a slave one moment and free another, but be this or that simply and with all your mind, free or slave, philosopher or unenlightened, a fighting cock of spirit, or one of no spirit; either bear stroke after stroke patiently until you die, or give way at once. Let it not be your lot to suffer many blows and then give way in the end.
If such conduct is shameful, get your own mind clear at once: “Where is the nature of good and evil to be found? Where truth is. Where truth and nature are, there is caution; where truth and nature are, there is confidence."
If you must clasp his knees, clasp them; if you must weep, then weep; if you must lament, then lament. For when once you allow outward things to dominate what is your own, you had better become a slave and have done with it.
Don't be drawn this way and that, wishing to be a slave one moment and free another, but be this or that simply and with all your mind, free or slave, philosopher or unenlightened, a fighting cock of spirit, or one of no spirit; either bear stroke after stroke patiently until you die, or give way at once. Let it not be your lot to suffer many blows and then give way in the end.
If such conduct is shameful, get your own mind clear at once: “Where is the nature of good and evil to be found? Where truth is. Where truth and nature are, there is caution; where truth and nature are, there is confidence."
—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.2
There are so many folksy sayings about the perils of equivocating, precisely because it is a matter of such common sense that only those with their heads in the clouds, to put it politely, believe they can have their cake and eat it too. Cook or get out of the kitchen. Stop sitting on the fence. Get off the pot. Fish or cut bait. Feed the goat or keep the cabbage. If you chase two rabbits, you’ll catch neither.
Perhaps it is just a reflection of my solemn disposition, but I always remember, with appropriate fear and trembling, this version from the Scriptures: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”
If I know it to be true, I should commit to it. If I judge it to be good, I should act upon it. If I perceive it to be beautiful, I should cling to it. And with all of my might! What’s with the half measures?
If I don’t yet comprehend, now is the time to find out. If I am hesitant to decide, this is the moment to take a stand. If my senses are confused, let me get my bearings. Otherwise, I am doing nothing less than brushing aside my human calling.
Do I truly wish to pledge myself to a life of wealth, honor, and pleasure? Then my dedication ought to be absolute, if it is indeed the best thing to do. Now I must expect to calculate the odds, to estimate others by their utility, to learn the art of manipulation. There will need to be flattery, and crocodile tears, and gratitude that is probably not so heartfelt. I will be placing my own fate in the hands of circumstances.
But if I don’t want to make myself a slave to fortune, it remains within my power to go in a completely different direction. Yet I don’t have the time to dawdle—only today is assured, perhaps only this very hour.
I do not need to assume some “tough guy” attitude, or retreat into a cold disregard for the world. To possess my own mind and my own will is enough for me to understand and to love.
There are so many folksy sayings about the perils of equivocating, precisely because it is a matter of such common sense that only those with their heads in the clouds, to put it politely, believe they can have their cake and eat it too. Cook or get out of the kitchen. Stop sitting on the fence. Get off the pot. Fish or cut bait. Feed the goat or keep the cabbage. If you chase two rabbits, you’ll catch neither.
Perhaps it is just a reflection of my solemn disposition, but I always remember, with appropriate fear and trembling, this version from the Scriptures: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”
If I don’t yet comprehend, now is the time to find out. If I am hesitant to decide, this is the moment to take a stand. If my senses are confused, let me get my bearings. Otherwise, I am doing nothing less than brushing aside my human calling.
Do I truly wish to pledge myself to a life of wealth, honor, and pleasure? Then my dedication ought to be absolute, if it is indeed the best thing to do. Now I must expect to calculate the odds, to estimate others by their utility, to learn the art of manipulation. There will need to be flattery, and crocodile tears, and gratitude that is probably not so heartfelt. I will be placing my own fate in the hands of circumstances.
But if I don’t want to make myself a slave to fortune, it remains within my power to go in a completely different direction. Yet I don’t have the time to dawdle—only today is assured, perhaps only this very hour.
I do not need to assume some “tough guy” attitude, or retreat into a cold disregard for the world. To possess my own mind and my own will is enough for me to understand and to love.
—Reflection written in 6/2001
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