purpose was to return to thy country; to relieve thy
kinsmen's fears for thee; thyself to discharge the duties of a citizen;
to marry a wife, to beget offspring, and to fill the appointed round of
office. Thou didst not come to choose out what places are most pleasant;
but rather to return to that wherein thou wast born and where wert
appointed to ba a citizen."

III

Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men.

IV

But I have one whom I must please, to whom I must be subject, whom I
must obey:--God, and those who come next to Him. He hath entrusted me
with myself: He hath made my will subject to myself alone and given me
rules for the right use thereof.

V

Rufus used to say, If you have leisure to praise me, what I say is
naught. In truth he spoke in such wise, that each of us who sat there,
though that some one had accused him to Rufus:--so surely did he lay his
finger on the very deeds we did: so surely display the faults of each
before his very eyes.

VI

But what saith God?--"Had it been possible, Epictetus, I would have made
both that body of thine and thy possessions free and unimpeded, but as
it is, be not deceived:--it is not thine own; it is but finely tempered
clay. Since then this I could not do, I have given thee a portion of
Myself, in the power of desiring and declining and of pursuing and
avoiding, and is a word the power of dealing with the things of sense.
And if thou neglect not this, but place all that thou hast therein, thou
shalt never be let or hindered; thou shalt never lament; thou shalt
not blame or flatter any. What then? Seemth this to thee a little
thing?"--God forbid!--"Be content then therewith!"

And so I pray the Gods.

VII

What saith Antisthenes? Hast thou never heard?--

It is a kingly thing, O Cyrus, to do well and to be evil spoken of.

VIII

"Aye, but to debase myself thus were unworthy of me."

"That," said Epictetus, "is for you to consider, not for me. You know
yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will
sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This was why,
when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows,
taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'But why
do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the
question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions,
and to reckon up the value of