Enchiridion of Epictetus
A short Stoic handbook of practical maxims, compiled by a student from Epictetus' lectures.
The Enchiridion — "handbook", literally something held in the hand — is a compact selection of Epictetus' teaching assembled by his pupil Arrian in the early second century. Epictetus, born enslaved and later a teacher in Greece, wrote nothing himself.
Its organising idea is the dichotomy of control: some things are up to us, and some are not. Nearly every maxim in the collection is an application of that opening distinction.
The form matters for quotation. These are lecture points condensed for memorisation, so they are unusually quotable and unusually easy to strip of the argument that supports them.
Common mistake: reading its counsel as passivity. The Stoic claim is about where effort is wasted, not about withdrawing effort; the same text insists on duties to family and city.
“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the opinions they hold about things.”
Keep reading the glossary
A 2,000-year-old practice of distilling ethical instruction into short, repeatable lines.
Marcus Aurelius's private notebook, written for himself and quoted by everyone else.
A short rule for conduct, usually stated as a general principle.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers — collected wisdom of the early Christian monastic elders.