So what should we tell people? Is the flesh the best thing? Did Maximus sail all the way to Cassiope in winter with his son just so the boy could enjoy physical pleasures? When the man said no and added that such a thing was beneath Maximus, Epictetus said: Then shouldn't we actively work on whatever is best? That's obviously the most important thing to do. So what do we have that's better than the flesh? The soul, he replied. And are the good things of the best part better than the good things of the worse part? The good things of the best part.
What shall we say to men? Is the flesh the best? and was it for this that Maximus sailed as far as Cassiope in winter (or bad weather) with his son, and accompanied him that he might be gratified in the flesh? When the man said that it was not, and added, Far be that from him. Is it not fit then, Epictetus said, to be actively employed about the best? It is certainly of all things the most fit. What then do we possess which is better than the flesh? The soul, he replied. And the good things of the best, are they better, or the good things of the worse? The good things of the best.