Why read Discourses and Selected Writings?

Book cover of Discourses and Selected Writings

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The Discourses/Fragments/Enchiridion

'I must die. But must I die bawling?'

Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Discourses and Selected Writings as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Neel Burton

Author

Epictetus was a slave who won his freedom and started his own successful school of philosophy before retiring into obscurity. Among his many students was the historian Arrian, who wrote up his spoken lectures “word for word” as the Discourses. The Discourses are down to earth, succinct, and forthright, as, for example, when Epictetus says, “And who exactly are these people that you want to be admired by? Aren’t they the same people you are in the habit of calling crazy? And is this your life ambition then—to win the approval of lunatics?” The Discourses were much loved by…

From Neel's list on Stoicism from a psychiatrist and philosopher.