The Enchiridion Section Two

The Enchiridion By Epictetus

Translated by Elizabeth Carter

Section Two

 Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the avoiding that to which you are averse. However, he who fails to obtain the object of his desire is disappointed, and he who incurs the object of his aversion wretched. If, then, you confine your aversion to those objects only which are contrary to the natural use of your faculties, which you  have in your own control, you will never incur anything to which you are averse. But if you are averse to sickness, or death, or poverty, you will be wretched.

One of the secrets to happiness is to want what you have, and not want what you don’t have.  Aesop had a fable with a similar moral to the story.

The Dog and the Shadow

A Dog, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.

In both, we are reminded that wanting what we already have is best.  The more reasonable your expectations, the more likely they are to be met.  If you expect the unlikely or impossible, then you are assured to be disappointed most of the time.

  

Remove aversion, then, from all things that are not in our control, and transfer it to things contrary to the nature of what is in our control. But, for the present, totally suppress desire: for, if you desire any of the things which are not in your own control, you must necessarily be disappointed; and of those which are, and which it would be laudable to desire, nothing is yet in your possession. Use only the appropriate actions of pursuit and avoidance; and even these lightly, and with gentleness and reservation.

In the 21^st Century, covetousness and greed are pretty much encouraged.  Advertising and pop culture DEPEND upon it.  We have to make a conscious effort to break our conditioning to want more more MORE.  Stoicism is not exactly an economic stimulus program, but it will have the bonus of reducing your impulse shopping.

Epictetus says to suppress desire.  I have worked with addicts in recovery, and it’s very easy to SAY to suppress a desire, much harder to do it.  Don’t worry, Epictetus has some advice on how to do that.


RETURN TO OUR MAIN DIRECTORY