Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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137 of 137 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful Philosophy for Living, January 13, 2001
Epictetus's "Enchiridion" ("The Manual") is a book about living as a stoic. This book was used as a manual for Roman Centurions and has influenced the lives of many ancient and modern people. It teaches you to deal with hardships and the dissappointments that one encounters in daily life. The stoic philosophy from the Enchiridion helped people like VADM James Stockdale deal with years of captivity in a North Vietnamese prison camp. Basically, the idea behind stoicism is that people can achieve virtue and excellence by concentrating their efforts on what they can control and being indifferent to what they cannot. Unlike Epicurianism, stoicism holds that people are supremely reasonable and that happiness is the result of virtue, honor and conformity to the way of the world. This philosophy was respected by early Christians, and emperors like Marcus Aurelius (The old king in the movie "Gladiator" and a stoic philosopher himself). The translation by George Long is second to none. This book is a valuble handbook for life in modern times and with only 43 pages, it is densely packed with simple ideas for being a better person. I have read it over a dozen times and each time I learn something else about myself and about life. It is a particularly valuble philosophy for members of the military because it explains how to gain control despite overwhelming odds and lack of personal authority. I would recommend this small book to every student of Greek Philosphy and anyone who desires to be a virtuous and successful person.
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56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finding the center, March 2, 1997
By A Customer
Nowadays people tend to think a "stoic" person is one who bears up under sorrow without complaining. While this is somewhat true, it is a blindered view of what a Stoic aspires to. Epictetus was a freed slave, apparently born sometime during the middle of the first century. He became the leading teacher of Stoicism and an immense [though indirect] influence upon the emperor Marcus Aurelius, the closest the world has ever come to having a "philosopher-king." The Enchiridion is a "digest," a sampling of the heart of Epictetus' teaching, which must not be thought of as Epictetus' own ideas, but rather as his embodiment and distillation of the "truths" of Stoicism as brought forward over several centuries to his day. His aim was to live a life, and to teach his students to live a life, of calm and peace and happiness, in which outward events, no matter how hideous, cannot disturb. In this, he was similar to the Buddha, teaching his students to rise toward nirvana. The basic principle of Stoic philosophy, as maintained by Epictetus, was simple: we, as human beings, control only our responses to what happens around us: we cannot control events; we cannot make others do what we wish; we cannot even control whether we get sick or not: we CAN control how we react toward events, and it is toward this that we should direct our efforts. The Enchiridion is a wonderful book, a soothing balm, a great place to begin: read it slowly; think about how its teachings can be applied to your daily situation; then strive to apply them. When you feel that you have a good grasp of the Enchiridion, THEN go on to the Discourses. Stoicism is not a matter of learning "doctrines" or "dogmas": it is a matter of bringing your spirit into line--a goal to strive toward, without ever truly reaching it. The Buddha believed that all life is suffering, and that we must learn how to transcend that suffering. Epictetus' view of the world is more positive: life contains both good and bad, but we must learn how to control our reactions to both. His teachings are a manual for the striver
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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear, brief introduction, August 4, 2005
Epictetus concerned himself with finding the satisfying life - not the happiest or richest, but the life filled with treasures that can never be taken away. His disciple, Arrian, collected his wisdom, and distilled it down into this booklet of aphorisms.
The essence is simple: "No man is free who is not master of himself." In part, that is because the self is all anyone can truly own. Everything else is under the control of others, of the state, or finally of the gods. Happiness based on what can be taken away is a flimsy sort of thing, and fighting the will of the gods is futile.
Still, this isn't about ascetic self-denial. There are pleasures to be had in the world. If there is wine, enjoy it, remembering that excess is hardly enjoyable. Enjoy the loves in your life, without becoming slave to them. He also recommends reticence in most matters, since so few are under one's control, and since foolishness is easier to speak than wisdom. These thoughts are as effective in today's life as they were two thousand years ago.
//wiredweird
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