I find this way of thinking interesting yet also otherworldly - it smacks too much of asceticism and christian slave morality.

If you focus your life in the center, the hub, then when the wheel turns, as it must, you will be moved, to be sure, but you won’t be thrown over the place. These were all written by Epictetus’s student Arrian, as Epictetus never wrote anything down himself.It is easy to see how Stoicism could inspire Christian monks, though, since they could simply become ascetics in the believe that in suffering and even dying on purpose they approached Jesus Christ in his sufferings (the 'Imitatio Christi') - but this option is not open to the ethics of Seneca, Epictetus and Aurelius, making their ethics kind of unreasonable. That also brings me to another part of Epictetus' philosophy that I love--that we should treat moral deficiency and ignorance the way we treat physical disability. The virtuous philosopher that is led by their principles knows that nothing or no one external to themselves can truly harm them; no one has that power. Looking back, reading the Enchiridion first before reading the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius would have helped me take even more out of the Meditations which ,alone, is a solid 6/5 stars and will make my future reads of it really nice.

Epicureanism claim only individual pleasures should be sought, yet Epicurus himself busied himself with teaching and writing many books to inform others - why bother? And as opposed to many of the then current ethics (like Aristotelean, Skeptic and Epicurean ethics), and in line with Socratic conceptions of virtue as knowledge, the Stoic ethics consists in practice, not theory. If you go bankrupt and end up a beggar, accept this new role and play your part in the grand design. We can only do this by having “correct judgments about externals,” as externals are the only things outside of our control (I. I was reminded of the recently-read novel Stoner, which concerns a man with definite Stoic tendencies but much more concern for his family roles than any wider civic responsibility.He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Pamukkale, Turkey), and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in north-western Greece for the rest of his life. Well, since most of you are blind, I suppose there has to be someone who fills this role, and will praise God on others’ behalf. His conception of a human being itself requires the individual being defined in relation to the city, and then to the “universal city” (the kingdom of god). I still agree with a lot of what Epictetus says, but my ironic lapse helped me see that it's not enough to read him, but rather to put these methods into practice and preparation, even when, our lives seem at peace.

Supported by various podcasts and further readings, I have been trying to apply Epictetus’ teachings ever since.Surrounded as we are by such people – so confused, so ignorant of what they’re saying and of whatever faults they may or may not have, where those faults came from and how to get rid of them – I think we too should make a habit of asking ourselves: Could it be that I’m one of them too? His thoughts survive (mainly in the form written down by one of his students) because the Church found this Theistic philosopher acceptable, but he is now somewhat ignored. Epictetus was one of the few authors to escape the Christian censorship and it is eminent why: the virtue models and ethics he constructs are reminiscent of official church doctrine.