Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Enchiridion 36 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Enchiridion 36
As the proposition it is either day or it is night is of great importance for the disjunctive argument, but for the conjunctive is of no value, so in a symposium (entertainment) to select the larger share is of great value for the body, but for the maintenance of the social feeling is worth nothing. When then you are eating with another, remember to look not only to the value for the body of the things set before you, but also to the value of the behaviour towards the host which ought to be observed.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Enchiridion 36, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/enchiridion/36
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesTaking the biggest portion at a meal may benefit your body, but it costs you good relations with the people around you. When you eat with others, weigh the value of the food against the value of treating your host and fellow guests well.
Older wording
- “disjunctive argument”
- — a logical argument of the either-or type
- “symposium”
- — a dinner party with drinks and conversation
Themes and situations
- Community and our duty to others
- Friendship
- Simplicity and frugality
- Self-discipline and habit
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.