Epictetus Discoures 1.24: How to Face Difficulties

The Discourses of Epictetus were recorded by his student Arrian during teaching sessions at Nicopolis in the early second century. Chapter 1.24 is the courage chapter. All four virtues have appeared throughout Book 1 but courage receives its clearest and most practical treatment here: not as a feeling but as the instrument for engaging with difficulty correctly. View the full Book 1 commentary.

What Epictetus Is Arguing in Discourses 1.24

How do we deal with difficulties? Epictetus begins his answer with the clearest statement in all of Book 1 about what difficulties actually are, before moving through the wrestling metaphor, the spy mission, Diogenes as the model scout, and the Stoic open door. Each section adds a different dimension to the same practical question.

Difficulties Are What Show Character

Not a statement about suffering, but a statement about revelation. Difficulty is the condition under which what you actually are becomes visible to yourself and to everyone else. Easy circumstances conceal character as much as they express it. The smooth surface of an untroubled life tells you almost nothing about the person living it. Yet, the obstacle does and becomes the way.

God the Wrestling Master

The wrestling master does not send his athlete against an opponent they can easily overcome. That would produce neither skill nor strength. The rough young man is the right opponent: difficult enough to require full effort, manageable enough not to destroy. Epictetus is asking us to reframe the difficult situation not as something that has gone wrong but as something that has been calibrated specifically for us. The difficulty is the training, and we are the athlete.

The Olympic Victor

In Stoicism, the Olympic victor becomes the Sage. Epictetus’s contemporaries needed no translation: the Games were the most prestigious competition in the ancient world and everyone knew that those who stood on the podium had trained beyond what others were willing to endure. The paradox he is pointing at is well thought through: by treating the obstacle as a training partner rather than an enemy, it stops being an obstacle. No man in his opinion has a more advantageous difficulty than the one in front of you, if only you use it as the athlete uses the rough young man. Why is there a need for virtue if there is no application for it? Difficulty is the application. Courage, specifically, is the virtue that faces difficulty without distorting what it is.

The Spy Sent to Rome

We are heading into unknown territory: Rome, or whatever the difficult situation in front of us represents. The spy’s mission is to go in, observe accurately, and return with a truthful report. The cowardly spy cannot do this. They see a shadow and report an army. They hear a noise and declare a catastrophe. Fear replaces observation and the report is useless. Worse than useless: it misinforms everyone who relies on it.

The Coward’s Report

The coward spy’s report is recognisable: death is terrible, poverty is terrible, reputation is at risk, everything is against us. Epictetus dismisses this report not because difficulty is pleasant but because the report is inaccurate. It has conflated the external event with the judgment about the event. Death is not evil: it is not dishonourable. Defamation is not dangerous: it is empty noise. The spy has let fear shape the intelligence instead of reason.

Diogenes: The Good Scout

Diogenes of Sinope was the most celebrated of the Cynic philosophers. Cynicism was founded by Antisthenes, a student of Socrates, and Diogenes was Antisthenes’s student. He became famous for living with radical simplicity, mocking social pretension with sharp wit, and demonstrating in his own life that the good does not depend on wealth, reputation, or comfort. While he reportedly lived in a large pithos, owned almost nothing, and told Alexander the Great that the only thing he wanted from the most powerful man in the world was for him to step out of his sunlight.

He is Epictetus’s model spy: the one who went in before us and brought back an accurate report. Naked is better than a purple-bordered robe. The bare ground is the softest bed. These are not instructions to sleep on the floor. They are the conclusions of a mind that has correctly identified where the good lies and therefore cannot be disturbed by the loss of anything external. The coward spy and the good spy are looking at the same world. What differs is the lens.

Go Back and Examine

The initial impression of a difficulty is almost never accurate. Fear arrives before reason. The first report from the internal spy is almost always the coward’s version: exaggerated, catastrophising, letting the shadow stand in for the army. Epictetus instructs us to go back: to return to the situation with reason rather than fear and examine what is actually there. This is the first and greatest task of the philosopher from chapter 1.20 applied to difficulty specifically. Do not admit the first impression. Test it.

Remember What Is Your Own

The value we place on things that others can take gives them power over us. What belongs to us is our character and our faculty of choice. The rest is on loan. When we understand that everything external can be handed over without handing over what matters, the threat of loss loses its grip. The body can be taken, but the soul cannot. The good life can be lived in any circumstances because the good life is about the state of the governing faculty, and that is the one thing no difficulty can reach without our assent.

Remember That the Door Is Open

The Stoic open door is one of the most important arguments in the entire tradition. The person who knows the door is open is never a prisoner. No situation is a trap if there is always a way out. Epictetus does not advocate reckless exit, but he insists that the person who chooses to remain in a difficult situation is making a choice. They are here because they have not yet decided to leave. That transforms the experience of difficulty entirely: you are not stuck, you are choosing to stay. And if you are staying, do it without complaint, because the moaning is the proof that you have forgotten the door.

The Exercise: The Spy’s Report

Disciplines: Assent · Desire   |   Timing: When facing a difficulty that is generating fear · 20–25 minutes (two parts)

Take one difficulty you are currently facing that is generating fear, worry, or resentment.

Part one: write the coward’s report. List everything your internal spy has been saying about this difficulty. Death is terrible. This is going to ruin everything. The enemy is at hand. Do not edit or soften it. Write down what fear is actually telling you, as plainly as possible.

Part two: examine each item as Diogenes would. For each entry in the coward’s report, ask three questions. Is this actually evil or just uncomfortable? Is what is threatened actually yours, or something you were lending yourself temporarily? Or is the shadow an army?

Then ask the door question: are you choosing to stay in this situation? If yes, is the moaning still appropriate, or is it the proof that you have not yet remembered where the good actually lies?

This exercise is one of 30 drawn from the Discourses. See the full 30 Epictetus exercises from Discourses Book 1.

← Discourses 1.23: Against Epicurus | → Discourses 1.25: What We Should Worry About

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Epictetus Discourses 1.24 about?

Discourses 1.24 is about how to face difficulties. Epictetus argues that difficulties are training grounds rather than obstacles, using the metaphors of the wrestling master, the Olympic victor, and the spy sent to Rome. He introduces Diogenes of Sinope as the model scout who reports accurately: death is not evil, defamation is empty noise. The chapter closes with the Stoic open door argument: remember that the door is always open, and if you choose to stay, stop moaning.

What does Epictetus mean by “difficulties are the things that show what men are”?

Difficulty is the condition under which a character becomes visible. Easy circumstances conceal as much as they reveal. The obstacle shows what a person is actually made of: whether they have developed the virtues, whether they know what is truly theirs, whether they can examine the impression accurately or whether they let fear shape the report. Epictetus is not saying difficulty is good. He is saying it is revelatory and therefore, the most important training ground available.

What is the spy metaphor in Discourses 1.24?

The spy metaphor compares facing difficulty to being sent on a reconnaissance mission. The cowardly spy sees a shadow and reports an army: “Death is terrible, poverty is terrible, the enemy is upon us.” Epictetus dismisses this as an inaccurate report. Diogenes of Sinope was the good spy who went before us and brought back an accurate report: death is not evil because it is not dishonourable, defamation is empty noise. The question is, which kind of spy are you when you face difficulty?

What does “remember that the door is open” mean in Stoicism?

The open door is one of the most important arguments in Stoic philosophy. It means there is always a way out of any situation, up to and including life itself. The Stoics do not advocate reckless exit but they insist that the person who knows the door is open is never a prisoner. If you are choosing to remain in a difficult situation, you are there by choice, not by compulsion. This transforms the experience: you are not stuck, you are staying. And if you are staying while moaning, you have forgotten that you could leave.

What is the Stoic exercise from Discourses 1.24?

The exercise is the Spy’s Report. Take one current difficulty, generating fear or resentment. Write down every item in the coward’s version of the report: what your internal spy has been saying is terrible. Then examine each item as Diogenes would: is this actually evil or just uncomfortable? Is what is threatened actually yours? Then ask the door question: if you are choosing to stay in this situation, is the moaning still appropriate or is it proof that you have forgotten where the good actually lies?

Want to Apply This to Your Own Life?

Reading the Discourses is the beginning, not the end. If you want to work through what Epictetus is asking of you and apply it to what you are actually dealing with right now, I offer one-on-one Stoic coaching. Start with a free consultation. Listen to The Via Stoica Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Browse the Epictetus quotes collection for more passages from the Discourses.

About the Author

Benny Voncken is the founder of Via Stoica, a platform dedicated to making Stoic philosophy practical for modern life. He is a writer, podcast host, and Stoic thinking partner with almost a decade of daily Stoic practice. He creates articles, workshops, and reflections that bring ancient wisdom into everyday use.