The White Viper Book

Gold does not always glitter, and not all of these "Golden Sayings" of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus may appeal equally to the reader of today. Yet as the Golden Sayings unfold, they provide a compelling and persuasive opportunity for thoughtful readers to question the way in which they are living their lives.

Epictetus, a Greek by heritage, had been enslaved during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero; later, having gained his freedom, he had to leave Rome when a later emperor, Domitian, arbitrarily banned all philosophers from the city. Accordingly, he knew a good bit about the proverbial slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and he was interested in the question of how one endures the misfortunes that befall us all.

It is worth noting that these Golden Sayings of Epictetus are not appearing in a form that was originally set forth by the philosopher himself. Indeed, the major works from Epictetus' own life are his Discourses and his Enchiridion or Manual. The Golden Sayings were collected from these original documents by one Hastings Crossley, and thus represent a kind of quick distillation of Epictetus' ideas. Crossley provides us with a quick, time-saving way of exploring the ideas of this important philosopher.

And indeed, much of what was written by a Greco-Roman philosopher born into slavery in the 1st century A.D. applies only too well to a modern American world where people allow themselves to be ensnared by materialism, technology, and an increasing willingness to demonize and dehumanize some designated "other." I liked, for example, the way in which Epictetus writes at one point that "You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices." These words resonated only too clearly during the January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021 time period, when the then-president of the United States of America clearly operated from a working premise that every person has his or her price. Stoicism, as Epictetus sets it forth, proceeds from the very different premise that a human being does not have to have a price.

Epictetus invites readers to reflect that we are mortal, and that we know that we will suffer in this life. That being said, each of us has the choice to accept with dignity those reversals in fortune that we cannot control or change. Acceptance is central to Stoic doctrine: "True instruction is this - to wish that each thing should come to pass as it does." The true Stoic, in Epictetus' reading of life, should "Have this thought ever present with thee - when thou losest any outward thing, what thou gainest in its stead; and if this be the more precious, say not, 'I have suffered loss.'"

Characteristic in that regard is Epictetus' statement about responding to the theft of a favorite possession: "The reason why I lost my lamp was that the thief was superior to me in vigilance. He paid, however, this price for the lamp - that in exchange for it, he consented to become a thief: in exchange for it, to become faithless." The victim of the theft can choose to respond with dignity to this misfortune; the thief has already lowered himself, by allowing himself to act without dignity.

It should be no surprise that Epictetus, like so many Roman and Greco-Roman philosophers of Rome's imperial era, looks back to Socrates as a model to be followed, writing that "If what philosophers say of the kinship of God and Man be true, what remains for men to do but as Socrates did - never, when asked one's country, to answer, 'I am an Athenian or a Corinthian,' but 'I am a citizen of the world.'" Epictetus also sounds very Socratic when he writes that "The beginning of philosophy is to know the condition of one's own mind."

With many of the classical philosophers - Plato and Aristotle both stand out in this regard - there is a suggestion that virtuous behavior is something that one can develop or implement, as a conscious habit of mind. Epictetus, too, follows in that tradition, writing that "You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man's own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life."

Along with all of the abstract philosophy, there is a fundamentally practical quality to Epictetus' Golden Sayings, as when the philosopher addresses his reader, saying, "Wouldst thou have men speak well of thee? Speak well of them. And when thou hast learned to speak well of them, try to do good unto them, and thus thou wilt reap in return their speaking well of thee." In the same vein, Epictetus is at his most ironic when he writes that "If you are told that such a one speaks ill of you, make no defence against what was said, but answer, 'He surely knew not my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these only!'"

Epictetus, with his philosophy of accepting whatever fate God should choose to deal out to us, writes that "When we are invited to a banquet, we take what is set before us; and were one to call upon his host to set fish upon the table, or sweet things, he would be deemed absurd. Yet in a word, we ask the Gods for what they do not give; and that, although they have given us so many things!"

I understand the attraction of Epictetus' "no-whining" philosophy, with his call to his readers to avoid "moaning and wailing over what comes to pass". At the same time, however, I can't help noting that, even if one is strong enough to accept the suffering in one's own life uncomplainingly, I for one am not strong enough to witness the suffering of others without questioning why it has to happen. I've known too many good people who have suffered in a manner that seems fundamentally unjust, and have lamented my inability to help them. The cosmic unfairness of it all is an affliction, and none of Epictetus' soothing words do a thing to comfort me in that regard.

At the same time, I must acknowledge that there is a definite attraction to Epictetus' philosophy of dignity and restraint - especially in this time when so many people appear ready to throw away every semblance of dignity or restraint, if they think it will make them a celebrity or get them on TV. Epictetus offers us another way of looking at life, one that compels our attention and makes us want to live our lives in a way that will earn the respect of our contemporaries.