The Death of Marcus Aurelius

The Death of Marcus Aurelius

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Epictetus, Discourses 2.9.3


Of course any one of us can discourse for the moment on what is good and what is bad: as thus, “Of things that are, some are good, some bad, some indifferent; good are virtues and things that have part in virtues; evil are the opposite; indifferent are wealth, health, reputation.” 
 
And then if some loud noise disturbs us while we are speaking or one of the bystanders laughs at us, we are put out of countenance. Philosopher, where are those principles you were talking of? Whence did you fetch them forth to utter? From the lips and no further. 
 
These principles are not your own: why do you make a mess of them? Why do you gamble with things of highest moment? 
 
It is one thing (to use an illustration) to put bread and wine away into a store-cupboard, and another thing to eat. What you eat is digested and distributed, and is turned into sinews, flesh, bones, blood, complexion, breath. What you store away you have at hand and can show to others at will, but it does you no good except for the mere name of having it. 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.9 
 
Over the years, I have parroted countless profound maxims, and I have thought myself worthy for quoting from a vast library of venerable sources. Far less common, however, were the times when I actually turned words into deeds, such that there was quite a bit of talking with very little doing. It can’t be called wisdom if it doesn’t transform me into a different man that I was before. 
 
A pithy summary of Stoic ethics, like the one above, is useless without a wholehearted commitment to daily practice. I claim that virtue alone is good for me, but I remain envious of my neighbor’s new car. I insist that the soul is what matters, though I despair about the aches and pains in my body. I advise others to be content with their integrity, even as I scheme for a promotion at work. 
 
The worst part is when I am seething with rage at the hypocrisy around me, when all the while my own insincerity betrays me: there would be no anger if I had first put myself in order. It is both deeply embarrassing, and also completely necessary, to admit this to oneself. If done right, the public displays will cease, and the private conversion will be the only proof required. 
 
I recently had a sort of epiphany during a heated philosophical debate, as clever insults were being hurled about the room. I wondered why these folks were being so petty, until I realized how I was myself a participant, just by egging them on. I felt sick to my stomach, and I quietly left the room. Later, I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut when a colleague accused me of being a coward for not taking sides. True principles are not subject to stubborn factions. 
 
I need to be careful when I acquire new books, mindful of becoming a hoarder instead of a learner. Yes, while they can look good on the shelf, and I can impress my sophisticated friends by citing arcane passages, the contents of a fine volume must be absorbed into my very character, and they must express themselves in an increase of my power to understand and to love. Give the book to someone more deserving if it will merely serve as an ornament. 
 
There is a certain kind of grasping man who obsessively buys expensive works of art, and then he locks them away in a dusty room. I do not wish to become that sort of man. 

—Reflection written in 7/2001 

IMAGE: David Teniers the Younger, The Gallery of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels (c. 1650) 



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