Skip to content
What Would Stoics Do

Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE

Fragments 12 — Epictetus

Translation by George Long (1877)

Epictetus, Fragments 12

It is a shame for those who sweeten drink with the gifts of the bees, by badness to embitter reason which is the gift of the gods.
— Epictetus, Fragments 12 · tr. George Long (1877)Read in context →

Cite this passage

Epictetus, Fragments 12, tr. George Long (1877)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/12

Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences

Read Fragments in context →

In plain English

AI-written notes

You take care to sweeten your drink with honey, so it is shameful to spoil your reason, a gift from the gods, with bad conduct.

Older wording

“gifts of the bees”
— honey

Themes and situations

  • Virtue and character
  • Nature and the cosmos
  • Self-discipline and habit

Quote cards

The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.

Epictetus, Fragments 12, tr. George Long (1877)