Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 1.8 ¶3 — Epictetus
From “That the Faculties Are Not Safe to the Uninstructed”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 1.8 ¶3
“What then, was not Plato a philosopher?” I reply: and was not Hippocrates a physician? but you see how Hippocrates speaks. Does Hippocrates then speak thus in respect of being a physician? Why do you mingle things which have been accidentally united in the same men? And if Plato was handsome and strong, ought I also to set to work and endeavor to become handsome or strong, as if this was necessary for philosophy, because a certain philosopher was at the same time handsome and a philosopher? Will you not choose to see and to distinguish in respect to what men become philosophers, and what things belong to them in other respects? And if I were a philosopher, ought you also to be made lame? What then? Do I take away these faculties which you possess? By no means; for neither do I take away the faculty of seeing. But if you ask me what is the good of man, I cannot mention to you anything else than that it is a certain disposition of the will with respect to appearances.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 1.8 ¶3, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/1.8.3
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDo not confuse traits that happen to go along with a great person, such as looks or strength, with what makes him good at his craft. The real good of a human being is a certain disposition of the will towards the impressions that come to us.
Older wording
- “disposition of the will”
- — a settled state of your choices and judgements
- “appearances”
- — how things seem to you; your impressions
- “Hippocrates”
- — the famous Greek physician
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Judgements and impressions
- What is in our control
- Envy and comparison
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