Plain
Epictetus — The Slave

The people you rule are sheep. And why did you come here? Was your desire in any danger? Was your dislike of something? Was your pursuit of something? Was your avoidance of something? He replies, No. But my brother's wife was taken away. Wasn't it actually a great gain to be rid of an unfaithful wife? Will the Trojans look down on us then? What kind of people are the Trojans — wise or foolish? If they're wise, why are you fighting them? If they're fools, why do you care what they think?

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Freedom & Control What Matters Most
Epictetus — The Slave Original

and these who are governed by you are sheep. And why did you come hither? Was your desire in any danger? was your aversion ([Greek: echchlisis])? was your movement (pursuits)? was your avoidance of things? He replies, No; but the wife of my brother was carried off. Was it not then a great gain to be deprived of an adulterous wife? Shall we be despised then by the Trojans? What kind of people are the Trojans, wise or foolish? If they are wise, why do you fight with them? If they are fools, why do you care about them?

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Epictetus — The Slave

If death is bad, it doesn't matter whether people die all at once or one by one — it's still bad. But what actually happens when someone dies? The soul separates from the body. That's it. And if the Greeks are destroyed, does that lock the door on death? Can't you still die? Of course you can. So why are you crying and saying, 'Oh no, I'm a king with Zeus's scepter!' There's no such thing as an unhappy king any more than there's an unhappy god. So what are you really? You're a shepherd. You cry like shepherds do when a wolf takes one of their sheep.

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Death & Mortality Calm Your Mind
Epictetus — The Slave Original

For if death is an evil, whether men die altogether, or if they die singly, it is equally an evil. Is anything else then going to happen than the separation of the soul and the body? Nothing. And if the Hellenes perish, is the door closed, and is it not in your power to die? It is. Why then do you lament (and say), Oh, you are a king and have the sceptre of Zeus? An unhappy king does not exist more than an unhappy god. What then art thou? In truth a shepherd: for you weep as shepherds do, when a wolf has carried off one of their sheep:

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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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