Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.22 ¶4 — Epictetus
From “On Precognitions”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.22 ¶4
What should we do then? This is the inquiry of the true philosopher who is in labor. Now I do not see what the Good is nor the Bad. Am I not mad? Yes. But suppose that I place the good somewhere among the things which depend on the will: all will laugh at me. There will come some greyhead wearing many gold rings on his fingers, and he will shake his head and say: Hear, my child. It is right that you should philosophize; but you ought to have some brains also: all this that you are doing is silly. You learn the syllogism from philosophers; but you know how to act better than philosophers do.—Man, why then do you blame me, if I know? What shall I say to this slave? If I am silent, he will burst. I must speak in this way: Excuse me, as you would excuse lovers: I am not my own master: I am mad.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.22 ¶4, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.22.4
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA serious student of philosophy feels lost about what is truly good, and when they locate it in their own choices, worldly older men with gold rings laugh at them as impractical. The passage dramatises how foolish commitment to inner goods can look to people who measure everything by status and success.
Older wording
- “syllogism”
- — a formal three-step logical argument
- “greyhead”
- — an old man
Themes and situations
- Learning and progress
- Virtue and character
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Ambition and success
- Being criticised or insulted
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