Plain
Epictetus — The Slave

When an administrator came to visit Epictetus, the man was an Epicurean philosopher. Epictetus said to him: "We non-philosophers should ask you philosophers the same question that strangers ask locals when they visit a new city. We ask: 'What's the best thing here?' Then we go looking for it, just like tourists do when they explore a city. Everyone agrees that humans deal with three things: the soul, the body, and external things. So it's your job as philosophers to tell us which one is best."

Discourses, To the Administrator of the Free Cities Who Was an Epicurean 219 of 388
What Matters Most Human Nature
Epictetus — The Slave Original

When the administrator came to visit him, and the man was an Epicurean, Epictetus said, It is proper for us who are not philosophers to inquire of you who are philosophers, as those who come to a strange city inquire of the citizens and those who are acquainted with it, what is the best thing in the world, in order that we also after inquiry may go in quest of that which is best and look at it, as strangers do with the things in cities. For that there are three things which relate to man—soul, body, and things external, scarcely any man denies. It remains for you philosophers to answer what is the best.

Discourses, To the Administrator of the Free Cities Who Was an Epicurean 219 of 388
Epictetus — The Slave

It's not easy to encourage weak young men. It's like trying to grab soft cheese with a hook. But those who have good character by nature — even if you try to pull them away from what's right — they stick to reason even more firmly.

Discourses, Miscellaneous 218 of 388
Human Nature Knowing Yourself
Epictetus — The Slave Original

It is not easy to exhort weak young men; for neither is it easy to hold (soft) cheese with a hook. But those who have a good natural disposition, even if you try to turn them aside, cling still more to reason.

Discourses, Miscellaneous 218 of 388
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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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