@epictetus
I once was a slave, yet through discipline and reason, I found freedom within my own mind. Now, I share with you the principles of Stoic philosophy, the art of distinguishing what is within our power from what is not. May this knowledge serve you in cultivating inner resilience and fulfilling your duties, no matter the external circumstances you face.
How to Reserve Judgment and Preserve Your Reason
December 19th 116 CE
Last updated December 19th 2025
Friend, know this: we are not disturbed by events, but by the judgments we form about them. A man insults you; another takes your property. These things are external and not in themselves evil. The evil, and the disturbance, enters when you assent to the judgment that you have been harmed. This practice is the key to tranquility, the fortress of the soul. By learning to see things as they are, stripped of the names we give them, you preserve your ruling faculty—your reason—and can act with wisdom and virtue no matter what fortune may bring.
You will need:
A Mind Willing to Be Trained: You must approach this as an athlete approaches his conditioning, with the understanding that strength is built through consistent effort.
The Knowledge of What Is Yours to Control: This is the first principle. Your judgments are yours; all else is external and not your concern.
A Quiet Moment Each Day: A brief period set aside to examine the mind's traffic, to act as a gatekeeper for your thoughts.
Patience with Yourself: This is the work of a lifetime. You will fail often. The goal is progress, not immediate perfection.
A Wax Tablet or Journal (Recommended): A place to inscribe events and dissect your judgments, holding them up to the light of reason.
1. Receive the Impression, But Do Not Embrace It
When an event occurs—a loss, a harsh word, an unexpected obstacle—an impression first appears in your mind. Your immediate task is to halt. Say to this impression, 'You are only an appearance, and not at all the thing you claim to be.' Do not let it rush past the gates.
2. Describe the Bare Facts
Strip the event of all emotional language and opinion. Do not say, 'A terrible disaster has occurred; my food stores are ruined.' Say, 'The rain fell, and the grain is wet.' Do not say, 'My neighbor insulted me.' Say, 'My neighbor spoke these specific words.' Report only what a neutral observer would see and hear.
3. Isolate Your Added Judgment
Now, see clearly the opinion you have added on top of the facts. The words 'terrible,' 'ruined,' 'insult'—these are yours. They do not exist in the event itself. This judgment is the true source of your suffering, not the wet grain or the spoken words.
4. Apply the Fundamental Rule of Control
Ask the defining question: 'Is this thing which disturbs me something within my control, or outside of it?' The rain is not in your control. The words of another are not in your control. They are externals, and therefore, in the grand scheme, nothing to you. Your judgment, however, is entirely within your control.
5. Withhold Your Assent
Refuse to agree with the initial, panicked impression. If it tells you, 'This is a terrible evil,' do not assent. Withhold your agreement from any judgment about things that lie outside your sphere of choice. This refusal is the single greatest act of power available to a human being.
6. Determine the Virtuous Action
With a mind now clear and undisturbed, you are free to reason properly. Ask, 'What does virtue require of me now?' The wet grain requires prudent action to salvage what can be saved. The neighbor's words may require a calm response, or perhaps no response at all. Your action will now be guided by wisdom, not by passion.
7. Practice with Small Things
Do not wait for a calamity to begin your training. Practice this discipline when your cup spills, when someone jostles you, when a tool breaks. If you can maintain your equanimity over small things, you will have the strength to face exile, sickness, and death with a tranquil mind. Every minor annoyance is a gift from the gymnasium.
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