Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 31 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 31
In banquets remember that you entertain two guests, body and soul: and whatever you shall have given to the body you soon eject: but what you shall have given to the soul, you keep always.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 31, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/31
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesAt any big meal, remember you have two guests to feed, your body and your mind. What the body gets is soon gone, but what you give your mind stays with you, so do not spend all your attention on the plate.
Older wording
- “banquets”
- — formal feasts
Themes and situations
- Pleasure and pain
- Simplicity and frugality
- Virtue and character
- Self-discipline and habit
- Breaking a bad habit
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.