Closing out The Enchiridion

The long and short of The Enchiridion is that it's a (translation) of a summary of someone else's lectures. On the whole, it's mostly good advice, but it's all filtered however much and doesn't necessarily have a lot of depth. The main question, in terms of rating/inclusion, is if there's a better short/historic Stoic intro. Meditations is coming up and could fill a similar niche. I'm going to give it a very tentative 3/5. Good enough to include, but not mind blowing, and we'll see where it goes from there. I'll close out with my favorite section:

This is the position and character of a layman: He never looks for either help or harm from himself, but only from externals. This is the position and character of the philosopher: He looks for all his help or harm from himself.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928)

 The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 42-

Bonus: 

The exact words of the text.

Summary: Actions speak louder than words.

Commentary: 

42: Don't get mad if people speak badly about you.

43: "Everything has two handles"

44: Being richer or better in one area than someone doesn't make you better overall.

45: Don't assume people are bad at something just because they do it differently.

46: Don't show off your philosophical-ness, but live life well.

47: Become a good person for yourself, not to show off for others.

48: The difference between a layman and an improver is that the layman looks outside, while the improver doesn't judge others and controls himself.

49: It's okay to get help to understand something. What's important is living by the principles you learn from it.

50. What people say about you is not under your control. Living by your principles is.

51. Stop waiting and start doing. (Kind of flipping from the other day.)

52. Doing is more important than reasoning.

53. 

Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny,

To that goal long ago to me assigned.

I’ll follow and not falter; if my will

Prove weak and craven, still I’ll follow on.

“Whoso has rightly with necessity complied,

We count him wise, and skilled in things divine.”

“Well, O Crito, if so it is pleasing to the gods, so let it be.”

“Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they cannot hurt me.”

This day seems more clustered than some of the others. Almost all about the importance of having and living up to principles.

MADE IT! 

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 34-41

 The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 34-41 

Bonus: 

Epictetus on relationships

Summary: Girls are only good for sex, and don't let them forget it.

Commentary: 

34. Sleep on it.

35. If doing something is right, do it openly. If it's wrong, don't do it at all.

36. Don't be greedy.

37. Don't pretend to be something you're not. You'll fail at it, and also waste time you could've been doing something you're good at.

38. Be as careful about moral harm as physical.

39. Take care of your body and don't buy excessive ornamentations.

40. Make sure 14 year women know that they're only good for being sexy, but modest and discrete. 

41. Focus on your mind more than your body.

Obviously, 40 is the one to pull here:

Immediately after they are fourteen, women are called “ladies” by men. And so when they see that they have nothing else but only to be the bed-fellows of men, they begin to beautify themselves, and put all their hopes in that. It is worth while for us to take pains, therefore, to make them understand that they are honoured for nothing else but only for appearing modest and self-respecting.

    My summary is marginally hyperbolic, but I think mostly accurate. I've seen some interpretations saying that it's trying to say that men calling women ladies makes them think they're only good for sex, have to act that way, etc., but I think that's trying to shoe horn a more modern view into it, due to the third sentence. It's not, "it's worth while for us to help them be more complete people" or "it's a shame they're only respected for being sexy." Instead, it reads more as making sure they don't get all uppity and think they're good for other things.

Honestly, seems kind of out of place. I could see, "Don't be distracted by Jezebel Foreheads" or whatever. Still nasty, but on theme. This just feels like a kind of random digression. Maybe Epictetus had a larger point (possibly one of the earlier meanings, or just women are bad at Stoicism?) and this is just what Errian took from the lecture? Disadvantages of reading the translation of the notes of the lecture instead of the original.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) #33

 The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) #33

Bonus: 

Pretty good speech, Denzel.

Summary: Ben Franklin is an American Epictetus

Commentary: 

33. This one is a large, and not entirely related, collection.

1. Decide what kind of person you want to be and stick to it.

2. Don't talk too much. (Almost any is too much.)

3. "Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; great minds discuss ideas."

4. Don't laugh too much/loud.

5. Don't take oaths.

6. Don't go to basic entertainment. If you do, make sure it doesn't rub off on you.

7. Be thrifty in ALL things. (Food, drink, possessions, slaves, clothes.)

8. Don't be a whore, but also don't boast about not being a whore.

9. When someone gossips about you be pithy instead of offended.

10. Don't be obnoxious at public shows. Don't give them any reasons to grease the poles.

11. If you go to a reading, be respectable.

12. Don't be a fanboy when you meet important people, but always do your duty when you need to work with them.

13. Don't be boastful.

14. Don't be a clown or swear. Scold (or at least frown at) people who do.

This is a weird one. First off, the length. It's something like 10% of the entire Enchiridion. It's sort of themed together about how to present yourself in public, but even then it's a mix of both dos and do nots in no particular order.

I can't find any confirmation that says Ben Franklin read the Enchiridion, but the influence seems pretty obvious. The virtues closely mirror several of the points.

Temperance: 7

Silence: Most of them

Resolution: 5

Frugality: 7

Industry: Several of them, especially 7

Sincerity: Several of them, especially 14

Moderation: 7

Cleanliness: 6

Tranquility: 9

Chasity: 7

Really, 7 is kind of a stand in for the whole thing.

As far as advice goes, two things stand out to me here. First, there's a lot of dismissal of base/common entertainment. I think there's line here. On the one hand, I wouldn't want to go to a dog fight or something. But, I don't think I'm a worse person if I take 15 minutes to read a crappy comic book or whatever some days. Intentionality in media consumption is a big part of this project. I want to read better stuff (that's why I shifted this blog back to T5FSOB instead of rambling about DooM so much) and I do think that that helps me be a better person. I try, when I get stuck refeshing reddit for the 12th time or watching my 5th crappy Youtube video in a row, to go and read a bit of Fruits of Solitude or something instead. But I don't think you only need to consume the top 10% or whatever of all media. DooM probably won't make me a better person, but I do think that sometimes you just need to have some fun. I can play it when I'm tired and just want to plop down on the couch for a while. If I tried to play Chess or some other "serious" game I'd just suck at it and have to try not to get frustrated. A good opportunity to practice stoicism, but hardly helpful. Don't wallow in the slop, but a little media junk food is okay from time to time. I think most media, if you look at it the right way, still has something to teach us. It might be teaching you what to avoid (don't write like Stephanie Meyer or whatever) but there's still an opportunity for introspection and learning there.

The other is that, apparently vulgarity is so bad it's the one thing you're allowed to criticize/make a nasty face at. I see some translations that render it as "vicious talk" which I think makes a little more sense. If someone makes a gross joke, you don't need to get bent out of shape about it. If someone is threatening/slandering someone, you should probably call them out.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 30-32

 The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 30-32

Bonus: 

The best scene of all time.

Summary: When the coin is in mid air you'll know what you want.

Commentary: 

30: If a relationship isn't rewarding, do what you need to do and don't stress over it.

31. You don't know what the gods think is good or bad. We show what we worship by what we value.

32. When you go to divination, remember that you know what is right and wrong. 

My battery is about to die, so short one today.

1. I fucking love the pillar scene.

2. The coin in mid air thing isn't exactly what 32 is saying. It's more, "don't go to get divination to try to get out of what you know you should do," but I think the idea of recognizing what we want when we ask a question is more applicable much of the time.

It reminds me of an article I read once about people figuring out the solution to a problem as they were writing out a post to ask other people about it. Sometimes you just need a slightly different perspective. This is how tarot cards work, in my opinion. The Magician or whatever doesn't magically jump out (though I always do read jumpers) but it's mostly just a way to get you to look at something from a slightly outside perspective.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928): 29

 The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928): 29

Bonus: 

Kind of the opposite of this.

Summary: You sure you wanna do that?

Commentary: 

29: Think about what you'll need to do to achieve your goals. Only take them up if you're willing to do your work, otherwise you're just wasting your time playing.

I'm just going to drop the whole thing in here, because I think it's one of the more interesting ones and worth talking about a little bit.

In each separate thing that you do, consider the matters which come first and those which follow after, and only then approach the thing itself. Otherwise, at the start you will come to it enthusiastically, because you have never reflected upon any of the subsequent steps, but later on, when some difficulties appear, you will give up disgracefully. Do you wish to win an Olympic victory? So do I, by the gods! for it is a fine thing. But consider the matters which come before that, and those which follow after, and only when you have done that, put your hand to the task. You have to submit to discipline, follow a strict diet, give up sweet cakes, train under compulsion, at a fixed hour, in heat or in cold; you must not drink cold water, nor wine just whenever you feel like it; you must have turned yourself over to your trainer precisely as you would to a physician. Then when the contest comes on, you have to “dig in” beside your opponent, and sometimes dislocate your wrist, sprain your ankle, swallow quantities of sand, sometimes take a scourging, and along with all that get beaten. After you have considered all these points, go on into the games, if you still wish to do so; otherwise, you will be turning back like children. Sometimes they play wrestlers, again gladiators, again they blow trumpets, and then act a play. So you too are now an athlete, now a gladiator, then a rhetorician, then a philosopher, yet with your whole soul nothing; but like an ape you imitate whatever you see, and one thing after another strikes your fancy. For you have never gone out after anything with circumspection, nor after you had examined it all over, but you act at haphazard and half-heartedly.

In the same way, when some people have seen a philosopher and have heard someone speaking like Euphrates (though, indeed, who can speak like him?), they wish to be philosophers themselves. Man, consider first the nature of the business, and then learn your own natural ability, if you are able to bear it. Do you wish to be a contender in the pentathlon, or a wrestler? Look to your arms, your thighs, see what your loins are like. For one man has a natural talent for one thing, another for another. Do you suppose that you can eat in the same fashion, drink in the same fashion, give way to impulse and to irritation, just as you do now? You must keep vigils, work hard, abandon your own people, be despised by a paltry slave, be laughed to scorn by those who meet you, in everything get the worst of it, in honour, in office, in court, in every paltry affair. Look these drawbacks over carefully, if you are willing at the price of these things to secure tranquillity, freedom and calm. Otherwise, do not approach philosophy; don’t act like a child—now a philosopher, later on a tax-gatherer, then a rhetorician, then a procurator of Caesar. These things do not go together. You must be one person, either good or bad; you must labour to improve either your own governing principle or externals; you must work hard either on the inner man, or on things outside; that is, play either the rôle of a philosopher or else that of a layman.

So, I see two big things here:

1. Think about what you will actually have to do to achieve your goals. Epictetus's example is winning the Olympics. You'd have to train hard, give up junk food, etc.

Obviously, this is reasonable advice. You can't expect to run a marathon or whatever if you can't even jog to the end of the block, and you probably won't do that if you're downing a 40 and a case of Twinkies a day.

But what I think is more interesting is the contrast with the advice I often see today. What I usually see is "JUST GO DO THE THING! STOP OVERTHINKING! DON'T SPEND A YEAR PREPPING! DO IT!"

The answer is broadly somewhere in the middle (you have to actually try the thing, but you do need to devote effort) but it's just interesting to see something close to the opposite of the "normal" advice.

2. The comparison to kids playing at things.

On the one hand, fair. Kids do rotate through things they want to be pretty quickly. On the other, I think, even as an adult, "playing" and trying stuff has value. How are you supposed to know if you want to try a second career if you never try it? To say nothing of a hobby or whatever. Nothing wrong with an adult trying 5 or 10 things before settling on dedicating themselves to becoming a great chili cooker or whatever.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 22-28

 The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 22-28

Bonus: 

I hate this movie, and this wasn't even the clip I wanted.

Summary: Be true to yourself, then worry about everything else.

Commentary: 

22: If you're going to study philosophy, remember your principles. Also, people will make fun of you.

23. Be a philosopher for yourself, not for other people.

24. Take care of yourself and your business, and be honest. This is better than trying to make a big show of gaining honors.

25. If you want people to ask you to do things, make sure you give them what they want. If you don't want to give them that, don't feel bad about not being invited.

26. Think about how you'd feel if something happened to you before telling others how to respond to it.

27. The universe does not exist for evil.

28. You don't let people you dislike control your body. Don't let them control your mind/feelings either.

Some of these were a lot longer today. Mostly good advice.