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Read What Is Yours Free

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PART I

The Handbook (Enchiridion)

Encheiridion

The Enchiridion is Epictetus's handbook: fifty-two short passages that together form a complete guide to Stoic practice. Epictetus did not write it himself. His student Arrian took notes on his lectures and compiled them. The word means 'what you keep in your hand.' Fifty-two chapters.

  1. I.Some Things Are Up to Us
  2. II.Aim Desire and Aversion Correctly
  3. III.Name a Thing before You Love It
  4. IV.Picture How It Tends to Go
  5. V.Change What You Blame
  6. VI.Be Proud Only of What Is Yours
  7. VII.Hold Loosely
  8. VIII.Wish Things to Happen as They Do
  9. IX.The Body Can Be Blocked, Not the Choice
  10. X.You Already Have the Right Tool
  11. XI.Retrain the Tongue
  12. XII.Risk a Little Loss for a Great Gain
  13. XIII.Name the Trade You Are Making
  14. XIV.Turn Your Wish the Right Way
  15. XV.Life Is a Banquet
  16. XVI.Stay Clear Inside While Being Kind Outside
  17. XVII.Act Your Part Well
  18. XVIII.Turn Every Omen into Something Useful
  19. XIX.Enter Only Contests You Can Win
  20. XX.Insult Is a Decision You Made
  21. 21.Keep the End in View
  22. 22.Stand Still While They Mock You
  23. 23.Do Not Live to Please Others
  24. 24.Will I Be Nobody
  25. 25.What Did You Pay for Your Rank
  26. 26.Test Whether You Have Really Learned
  27. 27.Evil Is Not a Thing in the World
  28. 28.Guard the Mind as You Guard the Body
  29. 29.Count the Cost Before You Begin
  30. 30.Duties Fit the People in Your Life
  31. 31.Get Your Thinking about the Gods Right
  32. 32.How to Use an Oracle
  33. 33.How a Student Carries Himself in Public
  34. 34.Look at Both Sides of the Moment
  35. 35.Do the Right Thing in the Open
  36. 36.Remember the Person Hosting You
  37. 37.Do Not Reach Past What You Can Do Well
  38. 38.Guard What Is Most Worth Guarding
  39. 39.The Shoe Fits the Foot
  40. 40.A Person Is Valued for Character
  41. 41.Tend the Body Briefly
  42. 42.The Person Who Wrongs You Is Mistaken
  43. 43.Everything Has Two Handles
  44. 44.You Are Not the Things You Have
  45. 45.Get the Whole Picture First
  46. 46.Do Not Wear the Name, Do the Work
  47. 47.Simplicity Is Not a Boast
  48. 48.The Portrait of Real Progress
  49. 49.Live the Philosophy, Do Not Just Explain It
  50. 50.No More Later, Start Now
  51. 51.Most of Your Care Is in the Wrong Place
  52. 52.Three Prayers to Keep Close

PART II

Selected Discourses

The Discourses are longer teaching sessions, each focused on a single problem. Eight are gathered here: what belongs to you and what does not, courage and caution, the gap between knowing and doing, and more. These are the passages where Epictetus argues, pushes back, and challenges his students directly.

  1. I.On What Is Ours and What Is Not
  2. II.On Keeping Your Character in Any Situation
  3. III.On What Progress Actually Looks Like
  4. IV.On Contentment
  5. V.On Not Being Angry at People Who Do Wrong
  6. VI.On Courage and Caution
  7. VII.On Handling Difficulty
  8. VIII.On the Gap Between Knowing and Doing