Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Enchiridion 5 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things: for example, death is nothing terrible, for if it were, it would have seemed so to Socrates; for the opinion about death, that it is terrible, is the terrible thing. When then we are impeded or disturbed or grieved, let us never blame others, but ourselves, that is, our opinions. It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay the blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Enchiridion 5, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/enchiridion/5
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesPeople are upset not by events but by their judgements about events, and even death is terrible only because we judge it so. When you feel blocked, upset or sad, look at your own opinions and not at other people, since blaming others is where beginners stay, blaming yourself is learning, and finished wisdom blames no one.
Older wording
- “ill-instructed”
- — poorly taught, untrained in philosophy
- “impeded”
- — blocked or obstructed
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Emotions and the passions
- Death and mortality
- What is in our control
- Anxiety about the future
- Fear of death
- Being angry with someone
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