A couple weeks ago I wrote about the great second century Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius.
This week we turn to the man who most influenced Marcus, Epictetus, the most important of all Stoic philosophers.
Epictetus was a fount of wisdom. Here are but two nuggets.
“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
One could base an entire life based around those two teachings alone.
But the Epictetus pearl that caught my eye a few days ago was this:
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
First, let’s examine the truth of that statement. Experience teaches us that it is, indeed, true.
The pursuit of possessions invariably leads to inner emptiness, especially if one is successful in those pursuits.
