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.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 8-21

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 8-21

Bonus:

#17

Summary: Focus on what is under your control. (These are gonna get repetitive.)

Commentary: 

8. Don't wish to have a great day, wish to have the day you're going to have. (I had a teacher that liked to say this. I think it's silly.)

9. Only let things limit you in the ways they actually do, not by discouraging you.

10. Before you face a problem, think about what you need to use to overcome it.

11. You don't "lose" things, you "give them back." (This is like my uncle who wouldn't let us say characters died in video games. They just lost their turn.)

12. Better to have peace of mind/a clean conscious than to worry about physical things.

13. Get comfortable looking like an idiot sometimes. Admit you don't know things.

14. Nothing is perfect/eternal. Focus on only things you can control. Your desires are your master.

15. Wait your turn, take things politely, decline what you don't want.

16. Number 5, but for other people. Be sympathetic, but not empathetic.

17. All the world's a stage. (Also, play your own part, not someone else's)

18. Don't believe in bad luck.

19. If you control the outcome, you can never lose.

20. Number 5, but for when people are mean to you. 

21. Memento mori.

In general, a little repetitive, but mostly good advise.

The Enchiridion by Epictetus translated by William Abbot Oldfather (1928) 1-7

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

Bonus: 

Not the same translation

Summary: Worry only about what you can control.

Commentary: I'm slightly concerned that I've now put myself in two "sand" style works at the same time. I'm going to try to get through The Enchiridion simply because it's a lot shorter than Some Fruits of Solitude (about 15 pages vs 46, and ~50 topics instead of ~100). If need be, I'll relegate it to the next sand and move on to The New Atlantis, since Meditations and Bacon's essays are both also mostly short bits.

In the end, I went with Oldfather's translation. I bounced around reading different sections and decided I liked it best. I make no claim to its scholarly qualities, but it seems not excessively paraphrased and is pleasant enough to read. Since the whole thing is short, I can always go read another "better" translation better if need be.

I'll do the same summary style here as I did for Some Fruits...

1. You only have true control over your own mind. Knowing what you do and don't control is important. Focus on what you can control, and you'll have no problems. Focus too much on things out of your control and you may not get them and be disappointed. Everything outside yourself is just an impression, and not something you should worry about controlling.

2. Don't get mad at things that are out of your control. (Kind of a repeat of the second half of one)

3. Remember the impermanence of the things you care about.

4. When you go to do something, keep in mind both what you want and the other things that might go along with it. Remember that you may be jostled or disturbed, and this is okay.

5. This is probably the most famous stoic-ism, so let's pull the whole thing:

It is not the things themselves that disturb men, but their judgements about these things. For example, death is nothing dreadful, or else Socrates too would have thought so, but the judgement that death is dreadful, this is the dreadful thing. When, therefore, we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never blame anyone but ourselves, that means, our own judgements. It is the part of an uneducated person to blame others where he himself fares ill; to blame himself is the part of one whose education has begun; to blame neither another nor his own self is the part of one whose education is already complete.

You're upset by your reaction to things, not the things themselves.

6. Be proud only of your own work, not of good fortune that comes to you.

7. Focus on the important things, and be ready to give everything else up.

Right now, I think it walks the line between, "don't sweat the small stuff" and organized depression, "if nothing matters, I can't get upset". I'll see which way it falls. 

Some Fruits of Solitude Part 11: Apparel (73-78)

 Some Fruits of Solitude

Bonus: 

Look at her forehead!

Summary: Don't waste your money on fancy clothes. Give to the poor. Don't be a JEZEBEL'S FOREHEAD!

Commentary: 

73. Excessive clothes are a waste. The rich have enough clothes for everyone.

74. Pick clothes for yourself, not others. Simple and modest is best.

75. If they're clean and warm, that's good enough. Spending more than that is money that could go to the poor.

76. It's better to be beautiful on the inside.

77. The more modest the clothes, the more beautiful on the inside.

78. It's a shame inner beauty is rare and JEZEBEL'S FOREHEAD is common. Lust is an impediment to virtue.

Jezebel's Forehead is what we should call being slutty now. All in all, this is a fairly solid list.

Topic List: Ignorance, Education, Luxury, Inconsideration, Disappointment And Resignation, Murmurs, Censoriousness, Bounds of Charity, Frugality or Bounty, Discipline, Industry, Temperance