Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 136 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 136
All things obey and serve the world (the universe), earth and sea and sun and the rest of the stars, and the plants of earth and animals. And our body obeys it also both in disease and in health when it (the universe) chooses, both in youth and in age, and when it is passing through the other changes. What is reasonable then and in our power is this, for our judgment not to be the only thing which resists it (the universe): for it is strong and superior, and it has determined better about us by administering (governing) us also together with the whole. And besides, this opposition also is unreasonable and does nothing more than cause us to be tormented uselessly and to fall into pain and sorrow.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 136, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/136
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEverything in the universe, including our own bodies through sickness, health, youth and old age, follows the way things are governed. The only thing that can resist is our own opinion, and that resistance is pointless and only brings pain and sorrow, so stop fighting it.
Older wording
- “administering”
- — governing, managing
- “judgment”
- — your opinion about what happens
Themes and situations
- Acceptance and fate
- Nature and the cosmos
- What is in our control
- Judgements and impressions
- Illness or diagnosis
- Getting older
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