Epictetus Good And Evil Essay
The numerous maxims of Epictetus are emphasizing virtues. that lead to happiness. Listed below is a sample.
1. “No one is master of another's moral character, and in this alone lies good and evil. No one, therefore, can secure the good for me, or involve me in evil, but I alone have authority over myself in these matters. (Discourses 4.12.7–8, trans. Dobbin)
2. God is beneficial. Good is also beneficial. It should seem, then, that where the essence of God is, there too is the essence of good. What, then, is the essence of God? Flesh? - By no means. An estate? Fame? - by no means. Intelligence? Knowledge? Right reason? - Certainly. Here then, without more ado, seek the essence of good. Book II, 6 p.81 pdf The Wisdom of the Stoics
3. The key …show more content…
It takes more than just a good-looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
6. The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.
7. Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
8. If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.
9. Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
10. Men do not marry and have children to be miserable, but rather to be happy. If they are not happy it is because they don’t know how to follow nature. Family affection is certainly in accord with nature and with what is good. It is perhaps no great loss not to know the difference between colors and flavors and smells, but one must know what is good and what is evil and what is natural and what is unnatural. (I, Chapter 11 summary. pp. …show more content…
Ignorance, or lack of knowledge and instruction, is harmful in matters that are indispensable. Your greatest goal is to discover how to tell what is natural and to apply this skill in each case as it occurs. Isn’t it fair and reasonable for a man to expect others to act as he would in a given circumstance? If you were sick would you want your friends and relatives to show their affection and good sense by deserting you? Therefore, when you left your sick child you were not acting naturally, affectionately or reasonably. We do things because we are so minded; our acts are the results of our thoughts and judgments. Clearly, the effects of an action correspond to the thoughts that caused the action, so when we do a thing wrongly we can only blame the judgment that led us to it. We shall no longer blame family, neighbor or fortune for causing our ills once we freely admit that we alone are responsible for our actions and not anything outside of
1. “No one is master of another's moral character, and in this alone lies good and evil. No one, therefore, can secure the good for me, or involve me in evil, but I alone have authority over myself in these matters. (Discourses 4.12.7–8, trans. Dobbin)
2. God is beneficial. Good is also beneficial. It should seem, then, that where the essence of God is, there too is the essence of good. What, then, is the essence of God? Flesh? - By no means. An estate? Fame? - by no means. Intelligence? Knowledge? Right reason? - Certainly. Here then, without more ado, seek the essence of good. Book II, 6 p.81 pdf The Wisdom of the Stoics
3. The key …show more content…
It takes more than just a good-looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
6. The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.
7. Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
8. If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.
9. Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
10. Men do not marry and have children to be miserable, but rather to be happy. If they are not happy it is because they don’t know how to follow nature. Family affection is certainly in accord with nature and with what is good. It is perhaps no great loss not to know the difference between colors and flavors and smells, but one must know what is good and what is evil and what is natural and what is unnatural. (I, Chapter 11 summary. pp. …show more content…
Ignorance, or lack of knowledge and instruction, is harmful in matters that are indispensable. Your greatest goal is to discover how to tell what is natural and to apply this skill in each case as it occurs. Isn’t it fair and reasonable for a man to expect others to act as he would in a given circumstance? If you were sick would you want your friends and relatives to show their affection and good sense by deserting you? Therefore, when you left your sick child you were not acting naturally, affectionately or reasonably. We do things because we are so minded; our acts are the results of our thoughts and judgments. Clearly, the effects of an action correspond to the thoughts that caused the action, so when we do a thing wrongly we can only blame the judgment that led us to it. We shall no longer blame family, neighbor or fortune for causing our ills once we freely admit that we alone are responsible for our actions and not anything outside of