Enchiridion: Key Lessons 

Epictetus, a slave philosopher with a humble life rooted in Stoic principles with virtues as a guide, embodied his teachings as a practical way of life, instead of theoretical thoughts. Herodes Atticus, one of the teachers of Marcus Aurelius, regarded him as “the greatest of the Stoics.” Enchiridion, or The Handbook, a remarkable text of Stoic philosophy from the slave philosopher has many important life lessons over generations. This book was originally written for those who seek to become philosophers, which to Epictetus, someone practices a way of life, rather than simply talking about philosophical theories. 

The book starts with the statement, “some things are in our control and others not,” which is a great explanation of the Stoic perspective. He regards things in our control as nature free, unrestrained and unhindered, and continues, saying that things not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others. According to the philosopher, opinions, pursuits, desires, aversions are the things in our control, meaning we are only in control of our own actions, and we can’t control the others’ actions or external factors in life. If something happens and if it doesn’t concern anything in our control, we should say that it is nothing to us. Because whatever we feel or whatever we do, it will not change anything, it will just be a waste of effort. We are bound to the things in our control, and we have control over what we feel and how we respond to the things not in our control, which again, means that we can just say they are nothing to us.  

After this valuable point of view, Epictetus suggests to us to not demand that things happen as we wish but wish that they happen as they do happen. If we give lots of time and energy to the thought of something that we hope to happen, we can get easily disappointed. Instead, we should work on the things in our control and “do” instead of “expect”. We don’t have full control over the outcome. However, we have control over the process. And he supports the idea with the statement “It is enough if everyone fully performs his own proper business.” After touching on the importance of minding our own business and doing it in the best manner we can do, he talks about distractions, but again, it is a book written for people who seek to be philosophers. He tells us to be for the most part silent or speak merely when it is necessary. There will be many occasions where we enter conversations, however, they should not be about common, vulgar subjects like magazine news or blaming, praising, comparing people. He suggests us to bring the conversation to proper subjects when we can, but if we happen to be taken among strangers, we should be silent. On top of that, he also advises us to avoid swearing altogether if possible. Epictetus also thinks that we shouldn’t own things that we don’t need, as they are meaningless and don’t serve any purpose. They are just burdens for us to carry, and waste time with the problems they bring. He advises us to provide things relating to the body no further than mere use and reject everything relating to show and delicacy.  

On top of all those wise lessons, he reminds us to stay humble and low with virtues. Saying “Don’t talk how persons ought to eat but eat as you ought. Be silent. For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested.” We should work on ourselves, and only on ourselves. We should behave first, and be a good example, instead of throwing random lectures on virtues around. If we abide by moral rules we have deliberately proposed to ourselves like laws, and as if we would be guilty by violating any of them, that would be more than enough, as actions speak louder than words.