Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Discourses 2.16 ¶3 — Epictetus
From “That We Do Not Strive to Use Our Opinions About Good and Evil”
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Discourses 2.16 ¶3
Why then are we still surprised, if we are well practiced in thinking about matters (any given subject), but in our acts are low, without decency, worthless, cowardly, impatient of labor, altogether bad? For we do not care about these things nor do we study them. But if we had feared not death or banishment, but fear itself, we should have studied not to fall into those things which appear to us evils. Now in the school we are irritable and wordy; and if any little question arises about any of these things, we are able to examine them fully. But drag us to practice, and you will find us miserably shipwrecked. Let some disturbing appearance come on us, and you will know what we have been studying and in what we have been exercising ourselves. Consequently through want of discipline we are always adding something to the appearance and representing things to be greater than what they are. For instance as to myself, when I am on a voyage and look down on the deep sea, or look round on it and see no land, I am out of my mind and imagine that I must drink up all this water if I am wrecked, and it does not occur to me that three pints are enough. What then disturbs me? The sea? No, but my opinion. Again, when an earthquake shall happen, I imagine that the city is going to fall on me; but is not one little stone enough to knock my brains out?
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Discourses 2.16 ¶3, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/discourses/2.16.3
Epictetus, Discourses (as recorded by Arrian), tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesKnowing the theory is not enough, because under real pressure your untrained habits take over and you exaggerate what you see. Fear of the sea or of an earthquake comes from your opinion about the danger, not the thing itself, and the real risk is usually much smaller than the picture in your mind. Practise your principles in real situations, and fear fear itself rather than death or exile.
Older wording
- “appearance”
- — the impression something makes on your mind
- “opinion”
- — your judgement about what a thing is
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Fear and anxiety
- Learning and progress
- Self-discipline and habit
- Preparing for difficulty
- Anxiety about the future
- Fear of failure
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