Discourses 3.22 ¶3 — Epictetus

Epictetus, Discourses 3.22 ¶3

In the first place, in the things which relate to yourself, you must not be in any respect like what you do now: you must not blame God or man; you must take away desire altogether, you must transfer avoidance (ἔκκλισις) only to the things which are within the power of the will; you must not feel anger nor resentment nor envy nor pity; a girl must not appear handsome to you, nor must you love a little reputation, nor be pleased with a boy or a cake. For you ought to know that the rest of men throw walls around them and houses and darkness when they do any such things, and they have many means of concealment. A man shuts the door, he sets somebody before the chamber: “if a person comes, say that he is out, he is not at leisure.” But the Cynic instead of all these things must use modesty as his protection: if he does not, he will be indecent in his nakedness and under the open sky. This is his house, his door; this is the slave before his bedchamber; this is his darkness. For he ought not to wish to hide anything that he does; and if he does, he is gone: he has lost the character of a Cynic, of a man who lives under the open sky, of a free man; he has begun to fear some external thing, he has begun to have need of concealment, nor can he get concealment when he chooses. For where shall he hide himself and how? And if by chance this public instructor shall be detected, this pedagogue, what kind of things will he be compelled to suffer? When then a man fears these things, is it possible for him to be bold with his whole soul to superintend men? It cannot be: it is impossible.