Plain
Epictetus — The Slave

Sit down now and explain Epicurus's ideas using proper methods. You might even explain his philosophy better than Epicurus himself did. So why do you call yourself a Stoic? Why do you lie to people? Why do you pretend to be Jewish when you're Greek? Don't you see how we label people as Jewish, Syrian, or Egyptian? When we see someone wavering between two sides, we say, 'This person isn't really Jewish — they're just acting like one.' But when someone truly takes on the mindset of someone steeped in Jewish teaching and joins that group, then they actually are Jewish, and we call them Jewish.

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Knowing Yourself Doing The Right Thing
Epictetus — The Slave Original

Sit down now and explain according to the rules of art the opinions of Epicurus, and perhaps you will explain his opinions in a more useful manner than Epicurus himself. Why then do you call yourself a Stoic? Why do you deceive the many? Why do you act the part of a Jew, when you are a Greek? Do you not see how (why) each is called a Jew, or a Syrian, or an Egyptian? and when we see a man inclining to two sides, we are accustomed to say, This man is not a Jew, but he acts as one. But when he has assumed the affects of one who has been imbued with Jewish doctrine and has adopted that sect, then he is in fact and he is named a Jew.

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Epictetus — The Slave

It's one thing to store bread and wine in a warehouse. It's another thing to eat them. What you eat gets digested. It spreads through your body and becomes muscle, flesh, bones, blood, healthy color, and healthy breath. Whatever you store away, you can grab and show off whenever you want. But you get no real benefit from it except looking like you own it. How is explaining these teachings any different from explaining the teachings of people who disagree with you?

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Knowing Yourself What Matters Most
Epictetus — The Slave Original

For it is one thing to lay up bread and wine as in a storehouse, and another thing to eat. That which has been eaten, is digested, distributed, and is become sinews, flesh, bones, blood, healthy color, healthy breath. Whatever is stored up, when you choose you can readily take and show it; but you have no other advantage from it except so far as to appear to possess it. For what is the difference between explaining these doctrines and those of men who have different opinions?

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Ancient philosophy, in plain English.

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