All the Works of Epictetus · 73 of 100

Book III, Chapter 15

1.In every Affair consider what precedes and follows; and then undertake it. Otherwise you will begin with Spirit; but, not having thought of the Consequences, when some of them appear, you will shamefully desist. “I would conquer at the Olympic Games.” But consider what proceeds and follows, and then, if it be for your Advantage, engage in the Affair. You must conform to Rules; submit to a Diet; refrain from Dainties; exercise your Body, whether you chuse it or not, at a stated Hour, in Heat and Cold: you must drink no cold Water; nor, some-times, even Wine. In a word, you must give yourself up to your Master, as to a Physician. Then, in the Combat, you may be thrown into a Ditch, dislocate your Arm, turn your Ankle, swallow Abundance of Dust, be whipt; and, after all, lose the Victory. When you have reckoned up all this, if your Inclination still holds, set about the Combat. Otherwise, take notice, you will behave like Children, who sometimes play Wrestlers, sometimes Gladiators; sometimes blow a Trumpet, and sometimes act a Tragedy; when they happen to have seen and admired these Shows. Thus you too will be, at one Time, a Wrestler; at another, a Gladiator; now, a Philosopher; then, an Orator: but, with your whole Soul, nothing at all. Like an Ape, you mimick All you see; and one thing after another is sure to please you; but is out of Favour, as soon as it becomes familiar. For you have never entered upon any thing considerately, nor after having viewed the whole Matter on all Sides, or made any Scrutiny into it; but rashly, and with a cold Inclination. Thus some, when they have seen a Philosopher, and heard a Man speaking like Euphrates, (though, indeed, who can speak like him,) have a Mind to be Philosophers too. Consider first, Man, what the Matter is, and what your own Nature is able to bear. If you would be a Wrestler, consider your Shoulders, your Back, your Thighs: for different Persons are made for different Things. Do you think, that you can act as you do, and be a Philosopher? That you can eat, and drink, and be angry, and discontented, as you are now? You must watch; you must labour; you must get the better of certain Appetites: must quit your Acquaintance; be despised by your Servant; be laughed at by those you meet: come off worse than others, in every thing; in Magistracies; in Honours; in Courts of Judicature. When you have considered all these things round, approach, if you please: if, by parting with them, you have a mind to purchase Apathy, Freedom, and Tranquillity. If not, do not come hither: do not, like Children, be one while a Philosopher, then a Publican, then an Orator, and then one of Cæsar ‘ s Officers. These things are not consistent. You must be one Man, either good or bad. You must cultivate either your own ruling Faculty, or Externals; and apply yourself either to things within or without you; that is, be either a Philosopher, or one of the Vulgar.