Discourses · Chapter
That We Ought Not to Be Disturbed by Any News explained
Epictetus advises that we should not be disturbed by any news, because the content of such reports is never about what is within our power—our will, opinions, and desires.
What happens
Epictetus advises that we should not be disturbed by any news, because the content of such reports is never about what is within our power—our will, opinions, and desires. External events, such as death, slander, or judicial condemnation, are not our own evils; only our responses and actions are. Using Socrates as an example, he emphasizes that we must focus on fulfilling our own duties with firmness and modesty, leaving the outcomes and the faults of others to themselves.
Themes in this chapter
Dichotomy of Control
The entire chapter is built on the principle that news concerns only what is not within our power; we must focus solely on our own will and responses.
Rationality and Self-Examination
Epictetus urges the reader to examine what truly belongs to them and to guard only against their own errors, not external judgments.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“When anything shall be reported to you which is of a nature to disturb, have this principle in readiness: that the news is about nothing which is within the power of your will.”
Whenever you hear disturbing news, immediately remind yourself that it concerns only things outside your control.
Core Stoic precept: external events cannot touch the will.
“But the judge declares that you have committed an act of impiety. And did not the judges make the same declaration against Socrates? Does it concern you that the judge has made this declaration? No.”
If a judge condemns you, remember that Socrates was also condemned—such a verdict does not affect your true self.
Socrates' example shows that external condemnation is irrelevant to one's moral character.
“It is your own evil to make a bad defense: be on your guard against this only. But to be condemned or not to be condemned, as that is the act of another person, so it is the evil of another person.”
Your only concern is to defend yourself well; the verdict belongs to the judge and is his concern, not yours.
Reinforces the dichotomy of control: focus on your own actions, not outcomes.