“ If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in control of things which you cannot, you wish for things that belong to others to be your own. ”
Epictetus, Enchiridion (125). copy citation
| Author | Epictetus |
|---|---|
| Source | Enchiridion |
| Topic | wife living |
| Date | 125 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Elizabeth Carter |
| Weblink | http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html |
Context
“For, it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things. But while you are careful about the one, you must of necessity neglect the other.
14. If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in control of things which you cannot, you wish for things that belong to others to be your own. So likewise, if you wish your servant to be without fault, you are a fool; for you wish vice not to be vice," but something else. But, if you wish to have your desires undisappointed, this is in your own control.”
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