Epictetus

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( 55 – 135 AD )

"If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer: He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone."

"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will."




"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."

Epictetus

Epictetus was a belongs to the group of Greek philosophers who followed what we now call Stoicism. He was a born into slavery to wealthy Roman Emperor Nero. Under his master he was able to pursue his early passion of philosophy, and study stoic teachings whenever he had some time left after fulfilling his daily duties. He became more and more educated and with the death of his Emperor, finally obtained his freedom. Epictetus went on to found his own philosophical school.

Stoicism is a very fascinating and practical direction of philosophy . In essence, it teaches calm and acceptance. Acceptance - of external events that we can not influence. Calmness - in the dealing with hardships and consequences of these events. By preparing our mind, meditating and managing expectations we can prepare ourselves for what is to come, and and be content with what we cannot change. However, we are are responsible for our own actions, and we can practice the mastery of thoughtfulness of one own actions and state of mind. Truly, the Stoics have blessed us with beautiful teachings and the mere reading of some of their works, is a source of calm and peacefulness.

We owe the knowledge of Epictetus teachings to the pupil Arrian, who wrote down the words of his master and published them later. He lived a long and fulfilled life, with only few posessions, quite in the spirit of his teachings.

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