Discourses, To a Certain Rhetorician Who Was Going up to Rome on a Suit

Epictetus — The Slave

Then you'll say, "I met Epictetus like I'd meet a rock or a statue. I saw him and that's it." But a real meeting between people means learning each other's ideas and sharing your own. Learn what I think. Show me what you think. Then you can say you actually visited me. Let's challenge each other. If I have a bad idea, help me get rid of it. If you have one, let me see it. That's what it means to meet with a philosopher. But no — you think this is just a quick stop. While you're booking passage on a ship, you figure you might as well drop by and see Epictetus. "Let's see what he has to say." Then you leave and complain: "Epictetus was nothing special. He made grammar mistakes and talked like a barbarian." What else did you expect to judge him on?

Epictetus — The Slave Original

Then you will say, I met with Epictetus as I should meet with a stone or a statue: for you saw me and nothing more. But he meets with a man as a man, who learns his opinions, and in his turn shows his own. Learn my opinions: show me yours; and then say that you have visited me. Let us examine one another: if I have any bad opinion, take it away; if you have any, show it. This is the meaning of meeting with a philosopher. Not so (you say): but this is only a passing visit, and while we are hiring the vessel, we can also see Epictetus. Let us see what he says. Then you go away and say: Epictetus was nothing; he used solecisms and spoke in a barbarous way. For of what else do you come as judges?