Plain
Epictetus — The Slave

You tell me what these signs mean for me — life or death, poverty or wealth? But I won't ask you whether these things are good for me or not. Why don't you stick to giving opinions about grammar? Why are you weighing in on things we're all confused about and arguing over? So what drives us to use fortune-tellers so much? Fear. We're scared of what might happen. That's why we flatter these diviners. "Please, master, will I inherit my father's property?" "Let's see — let's make a sacrifice." "Yes, master, whatever fortune decides." When the diviner says, "You will get the inheritance," we thank him like he's the one giving it to us. The result? They play us for fools.

Discourses, How We Ought to Use Divination 116 of 388
Freedom & Control Calm Your Mind
Epictetus — The Slave Original

Do you tell me, man, what is the thing which is signified for me: is it life or death, poverty or wealth? But whether these things are for my interest or whether they are not, I do not intend to ask you. Why don't you give your opinion on matters of grammar, and why do you give it here about things on which we are all in error and disputing with one another? What then leads us to frequent use of divination? Cowardice, the dread of what will happen. This is the reason why we flatter the diviners. Pray, master, shall I succeed to the property of my father? Let us see: let us sacrifice on the occasion. Yes, master, as fortune chooses. When he has said, You shall succeed to the inheritance, we thank him as if we received the inheritance from him. The consequence is that they play upon us.

Discourses, How We Ought to Use Divination 116 of 388
Epictetus — The Slave

Many of us skip important duties because we care too much about fortune-telling. But what can a fortune-teller really see? Death, danger, sickness — things like that. So let's say I need to face danger for a friend. Let's say it's my duty to die for him. What do I need a fortune-teller for then? I already have a fortune-teller inside me. It tells me what's good and what's evil. It shows me the signs of both. So why do I need to examine animal guts or watch birds fly? Why do I listen when the fortune-teller says, "This is good for you"? Does he really know what's good for me? Does he know what good actually is? Sure, he learned to read animal guts. But did he also learn to read the signs of good and evil? If he knows those signs, then he also knows the signs of what's beautiful and ugly, just and unjust.

Discourses, How We Ought to Use Divination 115 of 388
Knowing Yourself Doing The Right Thing
Epictetus — The Slave Original

Through an unreasonable regard to divination many of us omit many duties. For what more can the diviner see than death or danger or disease, or generally things of that kind? If then I must expose myself to danger for a friend, and if it is my duty even to die for him, what need have I then for divination? Have I not within me a diviner who has told me the nature of good and of evil, and has explained to me the signs (or marks) of both? What need have I then to consult the viscera of victims or the flight of birds, and why do I submit when he says, It is for your interest? For does he know what is for my interest, does he know what is good; and as he has learned the signs of the viscera, has he also learned the signs of good and evil? For if he knows the signs of these, he knows the signs both of the beautiful and of the ugly, and of the just and of the unjust.

Discourses, How We Ought to Use Divination 115 of 388
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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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