Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.29 ¶11 — Epictetus
From “On Constancy (Or Firmness)”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.29 ¶11
Will you not leave the small arguments (λογάρια) about these matters to others, to lazy fellows, that they may sit in a corner and receive their sorry pay, or grumble that no one gives them anything; and will you not come forward and make use of what you have learned? For it is not these small arguments that are wanted now: the writings of the Stoics are full of them. What then is the thing which is wanted? A man who shall apply them, one who by his acts shall bear testimony to his words. Assume, I entreat you, this character, that we may no longer use in the schools the examples of the ancients, but may have some example of our own.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.29 ¶11, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.29.11
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesClever theory is cheap, and books already hold plenty of it. What is needed is someone who actually applies the ideas and lets their actions prove their words, becoming a living example rather than a repeater of old examples.
Older wording
- “λογάρια”
- — petty arguments, small talk of logic
Themes and situations
- Learning and progress
- Virtue and character
- Duty and roles
- Procrastination
- Searching for meaning
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