Epictetus, The Discourses, Book 1.30: What Should We Have At Hand In Difficult Circumstances?
How do we prepare for life’s difficulties? As we all know, life is a string of events. Some happen in accordance with our hopes and desires, some spare us from the things we wish to avoid, but most don’t. In fact, Nature, Fate, or God doesn’t take these things into consideration. It knows only one way to act, and that is in accordance with reason and logic.
Read all the other Discourse summaries here.
Therefore, the majority of things that happen to us will not be what we had in mind. If we, then, allow that to govern our state of mind, we will surrender or fight the force that holds this power over us. But if we can accept it with gratitude, better yet welcome it, then we will be able to live more in peace.
Who holds authority over us?
“When you appear before some man of authority, remember that there is another who looks down from above on what passes here, and that it is him whom you must please rather than this man.”
Epictetus, The Discourses, Book 1, Chapter 30.1
Read more quotes from Epictetus here.
Everyone answers to someone or something, this we must remember. Epictetus goes directly to the source, to God or Nature, whichever you prefer to use. Remember that the Stoics used these words indistinctly, you can read more about it here: What is the Stoic God? And the rules of the world around us apply to all the same way. We might give others certain powers in the society we have built, but that doesn’t mean that they are anything more or less than us.
At least, that is what it’s supposed to be. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who believe they are superior to others. Some use money to justify these feelings, others use power or information. At the end of the day, it is we who yield our autonomy to them when we acknowledge that these things have a grip on us.
From authority to indifference: A crash course in Stoicism
If we accept that external authority does not define us, how should we face what life throws at us? Let’s look at the following conversation Epictetus has with God or nature. This short dialogue can be seen as a crash course in Stoicism.
“In your school, what did you call exile, and prison, and chains, and death, and dishonour?
Epictetus, The Discourses, Book 1, Chapter 30.2-4
I called them indifferent things.
What, then, do you call them now? Have they changed in any way?
No.
Have you changed, then?
No.
Tell me, then what things are indifferent?
Things outside the sphere of choice.
Tell me also what follows.
Things outside the sphere of choice are nothing to me.
A right choice and a right use of impressions.
What was the end?
To Follow you.”
Epictetus is directly speaking to God as he sees it. They go over the core concepts of Stoicism. He doesn’t make the distinction between preferred indifferents and non-preferred indifferents, to him they are all indifferent. What matters is what lies within the sphere of choice. In the end, we come back to what we’ve been talking about in the last few discourses, the impressions, and our choice. Discourse 1.27, 1.28, and 1.29.
Who Should We Follow?
The dialogue above ends with the question of what the end is of all of these lessons and preparation. Epictetus answers: “To follow you.” With which he refers to God, or the Logos, or Nature, again, whichever way you want to label it. It’s pure reason and logic that set all in motion. Since we are part of it, we must learn to accept and abide by her actions. That’s why the sphere of choice is all we have. We must learn to distinguish between the truth and falsehood of our impressions and make the right choice and action based on this information.
We do what is best for us and in that sense, we follow nature, if we do it in a virtuous way. This requires studying the theory, but more importantly, putting it into practice. If we do this the way the Stoic sage would, then we will find ourselves doing what is best for ourselves as an extension of the cosmos, doing what is best for herself.
You will be different
“Well, go in confidently, remembering all this: and you will see how it is for a young man who has studied what he ought to appear amongst men who have not.”
Epictetus, The Discourses, Book 1, Chapter 30.5
After your studies, when you go back into the world, you’ll notice that you will perceive things differently. The people around you will notice the difference, some will at least. But most are still too busy with their own lives to see what is going on around them. Stay consistent in your studies and practice, you’ve come this far and can see the path ahead of you.
If you are looking for some guidance in this process, book a free consultation with one of our coaches.
What are we doing it for?
Are we preparing ourselves for life’s difficulties to give our life meaning or to make it more peaceful? Is there some higher purpose for all of this? How can we know for sure? Even God acknowledges that we might ask these questions, at least in the dialogue with Epictetus he does:
“I for my part, by the gods, imagine you will have some such thoughts as there: ‘So many, such great preparations, why do we make them for nothing? Was this what power amounted to?”
Epictetus, The Discourses, Book 1, Chapter 30.6
Socrates understood that we all do what is best for ourselves. When we try to answer why we are doing all of this, we need to keep this in mind. The goal is to live the good life, one of peace and connection with the world around us. If we do this by applying virtue and living in accordance with Nature, then we can see how beautiful it all is.
In the present, we need to focus on what is at hand and what our duties are. Then we can see what life’s true difficulties we should prepare for are. They are not the circumstances that happen to us, but it is remaining upright and acting in line with virtue that is difficult. These are the difficulties we are preparing for, the moments when we are being tested as Stoics and human beings.
Reflect on this:
How do you respond when life doesn’t go your way? Could Stoic preparation help you approach it differently?
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