Stoicism - College of Stoic Philosophers

EPICTETUS, OR STOICISM IN THE COTTAGE. 195the happiness of any moral agent; desire, regret,complaint, or pity are only forms of misplaced weaknessin regard to all the gifts and accidents offortune." Remember that in lifeyou ought to behave as ata banquet. Suppose that somethingis carried roundand isopposite to you. Stretch out your hand andtake a portion with decency. Suppose that itpassesby you. Do not detain it.Suppose that it is notyet come to you. Do not send your desire forwardto it,but wait till it is opposite to you. Do so withrespect to children, so with respect to a wife, so withrespect to magisterial offices, so with respect tcwealth, and you will be some time a worthy partnerof the banquets of the gods. But ifyou take noneof the things which are set before you, and evendespise them, then you will be not only a fellowbanqueterwith the gods, but also a partner withthem in power. For by acting thus Diogenes andHeracleitus and those like them were deservedlydivine, and were so called."^Another passage consistently extends this absenceof emotion to the losses or apparent misfortunes ofour fellows :—'' When you see a person weeping insorrow either when a child goes abroad or when he isdead, or when the man has lost his property, takecare that the appearance do not hurry you away withit as if he were suffering in external things. Butstraightway make a distinction in your mind, and beEnch., 15.O 2