Epictetus
Archetype: Ascetic of Acceptance
c. 50 to 135 · Rome and Nicopolis, Greece
“It is not things that disturb us, but our opinions about them.”
Do you think like Epictetus? Answer 44 to 132 statements and find out who, among 130 thinkers, has the way of thinking closest to yours.
Who was Epictetus
Epictetus was born a slave in Phrygia and taken to Rome, where he studied philosophy and later won his freedom. Expelled from Rome, he founded a school in Nicopolis. He wrote nothing, but his student Arrian recorded his teachings, which focus on the difference between what is and is not up to us.
Core ideas
- Some things are up to us and others are not, and wisdom is knowing how to tell them apart
- It is not events that disturb us, but the judgments we make about them
- True freedom is inner, and no master can take it away
The tradition: Stoic
A Stoic seeks serenity by living according to reason and accepting fate. Epictetus is the most direct and practical Stoic, focused on controlling our own judgments.
In the same tradition: Seneca, Marcus Aurelius
Learn more: Wikipedia
Books by Epictetus
Three ways in. Start with the first.
Where Epictetus stands on the 11 axes
Each axis runs from the first pole (−1) to the second (+1). These are the positions the test compares with your answers.
