Philosophy
The Enchiridion
CevvelaPhilosophy
The Enchiridion
Epiktetos · İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları · 125 BCE
8
Cevvela Score
8.3 (4.201 oy)
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Summary
The most practical, harshest and barest handbook of Stoic philosophy, in which Epictetus — born a slave and later freed — explains that the secret of happiness and freedom lies in distinguishing between “the things we can control” and “the things we cannot.”
Quotes from Cevvela
“People are disturbed not by events, but by the views they take of them.”
“Worrying about what you cannot control is making yourself a slave.”
“If someone makes you angry, know that they have become the master of your mind.”
“A person is truly free only when they take hold of their own will.”
“Whoever seeks their worth in other people’s opinions has lost their own worth.”
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Reader Score: 8.3 / 10(4.201 votes)
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It is a slap delivered by a man who rose from slavery to wisdom to the modern person who is a slave to everything they own. Epictetus sells no consolation; he says plainly, “Stop complaining.” Cevvela’s principle that “integrity is not a preference but a matter of character” turns into action here. What people outside do to you, what they say, or the state of the market is not under your control. The only thing under your control is how you respond to them. You feel ashamed when you notice how much energy you spend on things you cannot control, while remaining blind to the weaknesses in your own mind. Whoever cannot govern their own mind bows to the world.