Book: How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life by Epictetus. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

A good book. It seems like a summary of the whole enchiridion. After reading Seneca, I decided to try Epictetus. These books are usually very dense and require some time to think about, so I decided to not go with the long form of the enchiridion. I do not regret it; it was a good reading/listening.

Here are my notes for this book:

Epictetus was born a slave but died a free man You are enslaved when you set your mind to any impediment or if you attach your well-being on things that depend on others Accidents happen, and you have no control over them. A friend may die or you may not be accepted for a job, etc. You have control over how you react to the situation, improve your self-control and patience, etc. At humans, we can try to understand things that happened and what possibly caused them, but there’s no reason to complain Epictetus insists that we confront our impressions, especially the ones that disturb us When you desire or are averse to something, you treat it as a big deal. Epictetus recommends to avoid desire and accept what comes If you desire things that are not up to you to get, you may be miserable for not getting it It’s not things themselves that upset people, but their opinions about things Instead of blaming someone else when you fail or blaming yourself, blame nobody. You you want to accomplish something, don’t be afraid of being foolish and don’t try to be an expert. If people think you are somebody, distrust yourself. If you want to be truly free, wish for nothing, especially for the things that are not up to you If you’re looking for external approval when you do something, you lost your way. Be the one you want for yourself and people will see you as such Do you want to do something? Then analyze the project from start to finish, not just the outcome. If you’re going to be an athlete, think about the training, strict diet, etc. You should remove the good or bad label of things that are not up to us, otherwise, you will be blaming the gods for the outcome If you think it’s worth doing something, don’t be afraid of people seeing you doing it. If what you’re doing it wrong, just don’t do it. If it is right, why to be concerned about what people will say? Don’t say you’re a philosopher or discuss your philosophical point, just act like one Nobody can take my Principles from me