'About things that are within our power and those that are not.' Epictetus's Dis
courses have been the most widely read and influential of all writings of Stoic
philosophy, from antiquity onwards. They set out the core ethical principles of
Stoicism in a form designed to help people put them into practice and to use the
m as a basis for leading a good human life. Epictetus was a teacher, and a freed
slave, whose discourses have a vivid informality, animated by anecdotes and dia
logue.
Forceful, direct, and challenging, their central message is that the b
asis of happiness is up to us, and that we all have the capacity, through sustai
ned reflection and hard work, of achieving this goal. They still speak eloquentl
y to modern readers seeking meaning in their own lives. This is the only complet
e modern translation of the Discourses, together with the Handbook or manual of
key themes, and surviving fragments.
