19. Enter Only Contests You Can Win

You can be unbeatable if you only enter contests you can win. Epictetus says that is not a dodge. It is the one field that counts.

You can be unbeatable, if you only enter contests you can win.

When you see someone raised high in honors, or power, or great respect on any account, take care not to be carried off by the sight. Do not say he is happy.

If the heart of what is good lies in the things in our own power, there is no room in you for envy or rivalry.

For your part, do not wish to be a general, a senator, or a consul.

Wish to be free.

The only road to that is to look past the things that are not in our power.

What this means. Pick your contests. The one contest you can always win is the contest for a good inner life.