The Enchiridion (and Discourses)

Chapter-by-chapter summary

The Enchiridion has 53 very short chapters, so they are grouped here into six parts. It is non-fiction advice, so nothing below spoils a plot. The Discourses, the longer record of the same teaching, explain the reasoning behind many of these rules.

Chapters 1–8: What is up to you

Chapter 1 sets out the whole philosophy. Some things depend on us: our opinions, impulses, wishes and aversions. Others do not: our body, property, reputation and office. Mix them up and you will feel blocked, angry and anxious; sort them correctly and no one can truly force or harm you. Chapters 2 to 4 turn this into practice. Aim your wants only at what you control, and before any activity, remind yourself of its real nature, whether that is a cup you like or an outing to the baths. Chapter 5 gives the key diagnosis: it is our judgments about events, not the events themselves, that disturb us. Chapters 6 to 8 add that you should not take pride in what is not yours, and should wish events to happen as they do happen. Why it matters: peace of mind depends on how you see things, not on getting your way.

Chapters 9–20: Setbacks, roles and insults

Illness hampers the body, not your will, and a limp slows the leg, not your choices (chapters 9 and 10). Whatever happens, ask what ability you have to meet it. Chapter 11 says never to say “I have lost it”, only “I have given it back”. Chapters 12 to 14 argue that calm comes from putting your own conduct in order, not from trying to manage other people. Chapter 15 uses a dinner table: take what is passed to you politely, and wait for what has not yet arrived. Chapter 17 gives the famous actor image: you do not choose your part, but playing it well is your job. Chapter 20 says an insult hurts only when you judge it to be harm. Why it matters: it moves the power over your feelings back to you.

Chapters 21–32: Other people, honour and duty

These chapters ask how to live among others. Keep death and exile before your eyes, says chapter 21, so that ordinary troubles never feel unbearable. Chapters 24 and 25 deal with watching someone else get the honour, invitation or attention you did not. The person who got it paid a price, such as flattery or time, and you chose not to. Chapter 29 tells you to think through the whole task before you start, as an athlete knows how hard training will be. Chapter 30 says duties come from relationships: a parent, a sibling or a neighbour each calls for fitting behaviour, whatever the other person does. Chapters 31 and 32 cover religious practice and divination: do your own part and accept the result. Why it matters: another person's success takes nothing away from your character.

Chapters 33–42: Rules for daily conduct

Chapter 33 is the longest and reads like a list of house rules: set a pattern for your character, speak little, avoid gossip, do not laugh too easily, and keep your head at parties. Chapter 34 deals with pleasure: when one tempts you, pause and compare how you will feel during it with how you will feel afterwards. Chapter 39 uses a foot and a shoe: the body sets the measure of what you need to own, and going past it has no limit. Chapter 41 warns against spending too much time on the body, such as exercise, food and drink. Chapter 42 asks you to see wrongdoers as mistaken rather than wicked, because they act on what looks right to them. Why it matters: character is built by ordinary habits.

Chapters 43–49: Judgment and humility

Chapter 43 says every situation has two handles, one by which you can carry it and one by which you cannot. If a brother wrongs you, pick up the handle “he is my brother” rather than “he is unfair”. Chapter 44 points out a faulty comparison: “I am richer, so I am better” mixes up your wealth with yourself. Chapter 45 asks you to judge only after you know why someone acted. Chapter 46 advises you not to call yourself a philosopher but to let your actions show it. Chapter 48 contrasts the untrained person, who expects help or harm from outside, with the learner, who looks to himself. Chapter 49 warns that being able to explain a famous Stoic book is not the same as living by it. Why it matters: wisdom is shown in conduct, not talk.

Chapters 50–53: Start now

Chapter 50 says to treat the rules you have chosen as laws. Chapter 51 asks how long you plan to wait before expecting the best of yourself. Socrates became who he was by following reason alone, and even if you are not yet Socrates, you can live as someone who wants to be. Chapter 52 names the parts of philosophy: first, applying principles in real life, such as not lying; then showing why they are true; then checking the arguments that support them. The first, putting principles into practice, matters most. The final chapter closes with a few short quotations, including a prayer from the Stoic Cleanthes to follow fate willingly and the words of Socrates that his accusers can kill him but cannot truly harm him. Why it matters: it ends the book on acceptance and on guarding your own character.

Key people and terms

• Epictetus. Born around 50 CE in Hierapolis in Phrygia, he was enslaved in Rome, later freed, and taught philosophy. In the 90s CE Emperor Domitian expelled philosophers from Rome, and Epictetus opened a school in Nicopolis, Greece, where he taught until his death around 135 CE.
• Arrian. A Greek student who attended Epictetus's classes in Nicopolis and wrote down what he heard. He produced the Discourses, of which four of eight books survive, and the Enchiridion, a short extract of the essentials. Later he became a Roman official and historian.
• Epaphroditus. Epictetus's owner in Rome, a former slave who rose to serve the emperor Nero as a secretary. According to tradition, his household is where Epictetus came into contact with the Stoic teacher Musonius Rufus.
• Musonius Rufus. A Roman Stoic teacher whose lectures Epictetus attended. He taught that philosophy is a way of living, not only a subject to discuss, a view that runs through the whole Enchiridion.
• Socrates. Epictetus's model of the philosopher. Chapter 51 urges the reader to live like him, and the final chapter quotes his calm claim that accusers can kill him but not harm him.
• Chrysippus. A leading early Stoic who wrote a vast number of works on logic. Chapter 49 warns that being able to explain his writings is not the same as living by Stoic ideas.
• Cleanthes. An early head of the Stoic school. His prayer to Zeus and Destiny, asking to be led wherever fate leads and to follow without hesitation, is quoted near the end of the book.
• Prohairesis. Greek for the power of choice, often translated as will, moral purpose or reasoned choice. It is the one thing Epictetus says is wholly ours, and it is what he wants you to protect above all else.
• Impressions. The first appearance of an event in the mind, such as “this is an insult”. Epictetus says you can test an impression before you agree with it. Training that pause is the core exercise of the book.
• The dichotomy of control. A modern name, not Epictetus's own, for the split in chapter 1 between what is up to us and what is not. Much of the handbook shows how to apply it to illness, insults, money and grief.
• Duties. The fitting actions that come from roles such as parent, citizen or friend. Stoic calm does not mean coldness: you still act well toward others while accepting what you cannot decide.

Fifteen ideas to remember

1. Sort every worry by asking whether it is up to you (chapter 1).
2. Direct your wants only at what you can control (chapter 2).
3. Remember the real nature of the things you enjoy (chapter 3).
4. Before a task, picture its likely annoyances (chapter 4).
5. Judgments, not events, trouble us (chapter 5).
6. Do not take pride in what is not yours (chapter 6).
7. Wish events to happen as they happen (chapter 8).
8. Illness blocks the body, not the will (chapter 9).
9. Say “returned”, not “lost” (chapter 11).
10. Play the part you were given, and play it well (chapter 17).
11. An insult wounds only if you judge it harmful (chapter 20).
12. Do not resent honours others receive (chapter 25).
13. Think about the whole task before you begin (chapter 29).
14. Treat wrongdoers as mistaken, not wicked (chapter 42).
15. Carry each situation by the handle you can hold (chapter 43).

Writing about this book

This is a good book for a philosophy class, an ethics essay or a personal reflection. Instead of retelling it, choose one idea and test it. Three questions can start you off. First, take a recent frustration and sort it into the part you controlled and the part you did not. What changes? Second, where do you disagree with Epictetus? Is it fair to say an insult hurts only when we judge it harmful, especially for people facing real injustice? Third, how does it change your reading to know that a man who had been enslaved gave this advice?

A strong essay or presentation picks one chapter, such as 5, 17 or 43, explains it in plain words, and then tests it against a real situation from your own life or from history. For depth, compare it with another thinker: Marcus Aurelius, who read Epictetus; Buddhist ideas about attachment; or modern cognitive therapy, which also holds that thoughts shape feelings. Say what you think the book gets right and where it might ask too much. Avoid listing all 53 chapters; depth on one idea beats a tour of everything.