EPICTETUS. DISCOURSES. Book iii. §2. ¶3.
Wednesday
January 16
IN short, then, remember this, that whatever
external to your own choice you esteem, you
destroy that choice. And not only power is
external to it, but the being out of power too;
not only business, but leisure too. — "Then, must
I live in this tumult now?" — What do you call
a tumult? — "A multitude of people." — And where
is the hardship? Suppose it is the Olympic
games. Think it a public assembly. There, too,
some bawl out one thing, some do another; some
push the rest. The baths are crowded. Yet
who of us is not pleased with these assemblies,
and doth not grieve to leave them? Do not be
hard to please, and squeamish at what happens.
"Vinegar is disagreeable (says one), for it is sour.
Honey is disagreeable (says a second), for it
disorders my constitution. I do not like vegetables,
says a third. Thus, too (say others), I
do not like retirement;
it is a desert: I do not
like a crowd;
it is a tumult." — Why, if things are
so disposed that you are to live alone, or with
few, call this condition a repose, and make use
of it as you ought.
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If we can be content within ourselves we can find happiness in any situation. To be present in the moment and squeeze the juice of joy out of any situation... this is to be mindful and living in the moment. I hope to be able to do this more and more as I grow in my Stoic practice.
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