Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Enchiridion 15 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Enchiridion 15
Remember that in life you ought to behave as at a banquet. Suppose that something is carried round and is opposite to you. Stretch out your hand and take a portion with decency. Suppose that it passes by you. Do not detain it. Suppose that it is not yet come to you. Do not send your desire forward to it, but wait till it is opposite to you. Do so with respect to children, so with respect to a wife, so with respect to magisterial offices, so with respect to wealth, and you will be some time a worthy partner of the banquets of the gods. But if you take none of the things which are set before you, and even despise them, then you will be not only a fellow banqueter with the gods, but also a partner with them in power. For by acting thus Diogenes and Heracleitus and those like them were deservedly divine, and were so called.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Enchiridion 15, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/enchiridion/15
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesTreat life like a banquet: take a portion politely when a dish comes to you, let it go by without grabbing when it passes, and do not reach for what has not yet arrived. Apply that to family, public office and money, and if you can even do without what is offered, you become like the gods.
Older wording
- “magisterial offices”
- — public offices
- “Diogenes”
- — the Cynic philosopher famous for living with almost nothing
Themes and situations
- Desire and craving
- Simplicity and frugality
- Acceptance and fate
- Self-discipline and habit
- Peace of mind
- Envy and comparison
- Money, status and wanting more
Quote cards
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