EPICTETUS. DISCOURSES. Book iv. §3. ¶5.
Wednesday
February 22
THIS, again, is folly and insolence to say: "I
am impassive and undisturbed. Be it known
to you, mortals, that while you are fluctuating and
bustling about for things of no value, I alone am
free from all perturbation." — Are you then so far
from being contented with having no pain yourself,
that you must needs make proclamation:
"Come hither, all you who have the gout, or
the headache, or a fever, or are lame, or blind,
and see me free from every distemper." This
is vain and shocking, unless you could show,
like Aesculapius, by what method of cure they
may presently become as free from distempers
as yourself, and bring your own health as a proof
of it.
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The lessons of Stoicism are, in truth, not lessons merely for the self. If we are only interested in healing ourselves, then we have missed the point of Stoicism. Yes, we must each seek to find our own inner peace, but we are all part of a community, and as Stoics, we must share what has been of benefit to us, to strengthen the community, and in turn all the world.
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