![]() ![]() ![]() Life is ephemeral and people we deeply care about maybe snatched from us suddenly and without warning. Then, you won’t be so distraught if they are taken from you. In case of particular things that delight you, or benefit you, or to which you have grown attached, remind yourself of what they are that everything is mortal. Remind yourself of the impermanence of things. But if truly is nothing more to be done about the given situation, then we should no longer “concern” ourselves with it, we should stop trying to do something about the situation precisely because it is outside of our control.Ģ. The idea isn’t that we shouldn’t care about what is happening to us. “None of our concern” bit is often misunderstood. Epictetus exhorts us to practice what is arguably the most fundamental of his doctrines: to constantly examine our “impressions” (that is our initial reactions to events, people, and what we are being told), by stepping back to make room for rational deliberation, avoiding rash emotional reactions, and asking whether whatever is being thrown at us is under our control (in which we should act on it) or isn’t (in which case we should regard it as not of our concern). These twelve exercises were extracted from Epictetus’ Enchiridion (The Handbook):ġ. (source : How to be a Stoic, Massimo Pigliucci, 2017, Basic Books, pp. ![]()
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