Epictetus, Discourses 2.5.2

“Do you mean then that outward things are to be used without care?”

 

By no means. For this again is evil for the will and unnatural to it. They must be used with care, for their use is not a matter of indifference, but at the same time with constancy and tranquility, for in themselves they are indifferent. 

 

For where the true value of things is concerned, no one can hinder or compel me. I am subject to hindrance and compulsion only in matters which lie out of my power to win, which are neither good nor evil, but they may be dealt with well or ill, and this rests with me.

 

It is difficult to unite and combine these qualities—the diligence of a man who devotes himself to material things, and the constancy of one who disregards them—yet not impossible. Otherwise, it would be impossible to be happy. 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.5 

 

Here is a great danger, of taking a Stoic “indifference” to mean that I should have no concern about the outside world, or that I should withdraw into myself and be reckless about the consequences of my deeds. If it’s all about my thoughts, why not forget the outcome? 

 

The false dichotomies must cease. There is no conflict between my needs and your needs. There is no opposition between intention and action. What Nature asks of me on the inside must be expressed with total integrity on the outside. 

 

I must start from the interior, and work to the exterior. I am unfortunately accustomed to the reverse, the monstrous concept that I must conform, that I must follow, that I must obey the man with the biggest muscles, or the finest credentials, or the thickest wallet. 

 

Where there is a sound mind and a brave heart, there will also be an impeccable commitment to living with virtue—by their fruits shall you know them. Don’t trust the fellow who speaks well, trust the fellow who does well, and strive to share what is good within yourself with those around you. 

 

The error is in thinking that being indifferent means not caring at all, when for the Stoic it is rather a matter of how and why we should care. 

 

The essential task of being human demands the formation of character, and to that end, all other conditions, however convenient or inconvenient, must be measured according to this standard. While all things have their own innate goodness, when I approach my own relationship to them, I am called to consider how I can employ them for the increase of my virtues, and for the decrease of my vices. Everything else is relative. 

 

With such a standard constantly in mind, I need no longer be ruled by my circumstances, but I can be confident in my ability to act rightly, whatever may happen. When I have acted in good conscience, I can then also be certain that, by playing my own part, I have contributed to the harmony and the balance of the whole. 

 

As Epictetus says, this makes for quite the challenge, since it requires both the devotion of a man of principle and the alertness of a man of the world. Yet it becomes possible by following through on our priorities, from the purity within to the justice without. 

—Reflection written in 6/2001 

IMAGE: Jan van den Hoecke, Hercules Between Virtue and Vice (c. 1650)