Enchiridion 14: Work What Is In Your Power

-
"If you wish your children and your wife and your friends to live forever, you are foolish for you wish things to be in your power which are not so; and what belongs to others to be your own. So likewise, if you wish your servant to be without fault, you are foolish for you wish vice not to be vice, but something else. But if you wish not to be disappointed in your desires, that is in your own power. Exercise therefore, what is in your power. A man's master is he who is able to confer or remove whatever that man seeks or shuns. Whoever then would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must necessarily be a slave." (Epictetus, Enchiridion 14)

I gotta Fortune Cookie written by a Chinese Stoic the other day. How fortunate! It's a goofy pic, so don't read into it too much.

My Fortune Cookie (a little Stoic humor tucked away in there) reminds us that that we only control what is in our power, so we are able to explore today's thought: dwelling on that which is beyond our control as if it were under our control is foolishness and this kind of thinking leads to to disappointment.

As a verb, "wish" is to, "feel or express a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attainable; want something that cannot or probably will not happen."

So if you wish (in effect, "pray") for something that is beyond your control, outside your power, "you are foolish." If wise King Solomon were speaking, he would say the act was futile, vain, empty. Void. 

What you have within your control is the ability to not be disappointed; that is, work what is in your power. Master your desires. 

Did you notice Epictetus' intriguing note about one who is κύριος (lord, master)? The master is one who gives and takes, so the one who is free wishes for nothing he can't give himself. He is no slave to his desires. He is as happy has he sets his mind to be.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smooth-flowing Life

-
Image
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel
Read more

A Reflection in Plato’s “Republic” Book 2

-
Image
Early in Book 2 of Plato’s “Republic,” the discussion turns into the story of a man named Gyges who finds a ring that makes him invisible. Using the powers of the ring, he reports to the court of his king, seduces the queen “and with her help conspired against the king and slew him, and took the kingdom.” What would happen if there were two rings, one worn by an unjust man and the other by a just man? The story attempts to make the case that a just man will act unjustly if given the opportunity to think he is doing right, if only by himself. But what if he doesn’t? What if there was no ring, and what if there was a perfectly unjust man and a perfectly just man and both had everything they needed in life? The unjust man must cover his steps in order to be distinguished and succeed. In the eyes of others, he appears to be just. But what about the just man, who appears to be unjust?    “They will tell you that the just man who is thought unjust will be scourged, racked, bound-will have hi
Read more