Epictetus · c. 50 – c. 135 CE
Fragments 32 — Epictetus
Translation by George Long (1877)
Epictetus, Fragments 32
Do not mix anger with profuse expenditure and serve them up to your guests. Profusion which fills the body is quickly gone; but anger sinks into the soul and remains for a long time. Consider then that you be not transported with anger and insult your guests at a great expense; but rather please them with frugality and by gentle behaviour.
Cite this passage
Epictetus, Fragments 32, tr. George Long (1877)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/epictetus-fragments/32
Epictetus, Enchiridion and Fragments, tr. George Long (1877). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDo not serve your guests lavish food together with a bad temper. Expensive food is gone quickly, but anger lingers in people's memory, so win your guests over with simple fare and gentle manners rather than blowing up at them after spending a fortune.
Older wording
- “profuse expenditure”
- — lavish spending
- “transported with anger”
- — carried away by anger
Themes and situations
- Anger
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Simplicity and frugality
- Self-discipline and habit
- Being angry with someone
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