Well, if you are a rider and have to confront a man on foot in the plain, where you have the advantage of practice and he has not, are you anxious?
“Nay, but he has power to put me to death.”
Miserable man, tell the truth and be not a braggart nor claim to be a philosopher. Know who are your masters. As long as you give them this hold over your body, you must follow everyone who is stronger than you.
But Socrates, who spoke to the Tyrants, to his judges, and in prison, in the tone we know, had studied speaking to some purpose. So had Diogenes, who spoke in the same tone to Alexander, to Philip, to the pirates, to his purchaser. . . .
Leave this to those who have made it their concern, to the confident: and do you go to your own concerns and never leave them again. Go and sit in your corner and weave syllogisms and propound them to others, “No ruler of a state is found in you."
“Nay, but he has power to put me to death.”
Miserable man, tell the truth and be not a braggart nor claim to be a philosopher. Know who are your masters. As long as you give them this hold over your body, you must follow everyone who is stronger than you.
But Socrates, who spoke to the Tyrants, to his judges, and in prison, in the tone we know, had studied speaking to some purpose. So had Diogenes, who spoke in the same tone to Alexander, to Philip, to the pirates, to his purchaser. . . .
Leave this to those who have made it their concern, to the confident: and do you go to your own concerns and never leave them again. Go and sit in your corner and weave syllogisms and propound them to others, “No ruler of a state is found in you."
—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.13
I feel sympathetic when Epictetus gets irritated with those whose convictions disappear at the moment they become inconvenient. Such folks are quick to brag about their lofty principles, and yet you won’t hear a peep out of them once there is any danger to their property or reputation, let alone a risk to life and limb. Allow them to sit in their corner, while you are now free to join the company of the sincere and the confident.
I may claim that I am merely playing it safe, but am I considering the true balance of my gains and losses? Perhaps I have retained some comforts for my body, at least for the time being, but what has been the cost to the dignity of my soul? As soon as I bow to the threats, I am selling the conscience within my power, and I have become subject to the circumstances beyond my power.
I sometimes hear the bounders debating whether it is better to be a little fish in a big pond or a big fish in a little pond, and I can only think that I would just prefer to be a good fish in any sort of pond. I should be much pickier about my character than I am about the scenery.
How quickly the sharks end up looking more like minnows! If I wish to be a man of any worth, I must first get my priorities in order. If I wish to aim at some great achievement, let that be in the pursuit of the virtues, where the fine words must always be followed by gutsy deeds. No one can ever take that away.
Do I aspire to be more like Socrates? Where some see only an agitator, feeding off the doubts of his neighbors, others will recognize his mission of self-awareness. He scolded the jurors so that they might learn to find a blessing in a curse. Socrates had no need to impress anyone, so he had no need to fear anyone.
Do I aspire to be more like Diogenes? Where some see only a showman, intent on shocking his audience, others will follow his example of self-mastery. He dismissed Alexander so that he might learn why a king is no different than a slave. Diogenes had no rank to protect, so he had no limits to his liberty.
An anxiety over our consequences decreases as a trust in our integrity increases.
I feel sympathetic when Epictetus gets irritated with those whose convictions disappear at the moment they become inconvenient. Such folks are quick to brag about their lofty principles, and yet you won’t hear a peep out of them once there is any danger to their property or reputation, let alone a risk to life and limb. Allow them to sit in their corner, while you are now free to join the company of the sincere and the confident.
I may claim that I am merely playing it safe, but am I considering the true balance of my gains and losses? Perhaps I have retained some comforts for my body, at least for the time being, but what has been the cost to the dignity of my soul? As soon as I bow to the threats, I am selling the conscience within my power, and I have become subject to the circumstances beyond my power.
I sometimes hear the bounders debating whether it is better to be a little fish in a big pond or a big fish in a little pond, and I can only think that I would just prefer to be a good fish in any sort of pond. I should be much pickier about my character than I am about the scenery.
How quickly the sharks end up looking more like minnows! If I wish to be a man of any worth, I must first get my priorities in order. If I wish to aim at some great achievement, let that be in the pursuit of the virtues, where the fine words must always be followed by gutsy deeds. No one can ever take that away.
Do I aspire to be more like Socrates? Where some see only an agitator, feeding off the doubts of his neighbors, others will recognize his mission of self-awareness. He scolded the jurors so that they might learn to find a blessing in a curse. Socrates had no need to impress anyone, so he had no need to fear anyone.
Do I aspire to be more like Diogenes? Where some see only a showman, intent on shocking his audience, others will follow his example of self-mastery. He dismissed Alexander so that he might learn why a king is no different than a slave. Diogenes had no rank to protect, so he had no limits to his liberty.
An anxiety over our consequences decreases as a trust in our integrity increases.
—Reflection written in 8/2001
IMAGE: Pierre Paul Puget, The Meeting of Alexander and Diogenes (1680)
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