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CLXIX: The Division of What is in Our Power and What is Not explained

Epictetus delineates the fundamental Stoic division: God has placed only the correct use of appearances within our power, which is the source of all virtue and happiness.

What happens

Epictetus delineates the fundamental Stoic division: God has placed only the correct use of appearances within our power, which is the source of all virtue and happiness. Everything else—including children, country, and body—is not in our power and must be willingly entrusted to the universe.

Themes in this chapter

  • Dichotomy of Control

    The central theme, explicitly defining what is in our power (use of appearances) and what is not (everything external), and prescribing the proper attitude towards each.

  • Acceptance of Nature and Fate

    Emphasized in the instruction to be of one mind with God and to willingly entrust all externals to the universe (cosmos).

Characters to notice

  • Epictetus

    The narrator and teacher, presenting the core doctrine of the dichotomy of control and our alignment with divine will.

  • The Gods

    Referenced as the divine force that established the fundamental division of what is and is not within human power.

Key passages

  • “God has put some of them in our power, and some he has not. In our own power he has placed... the use of appearances.”

    The only thing truly within our control is our judgment and reaction to impressions; all else is external.

    Foundational statement of the dichotomy.

  • “we also ought to be of one mind with God, and making this division of things... to entrust them to the Universe”

    We must accept God's order, focusing only on what we control and surrendering externals to the natural course of events.

    Prescribes the attitude of acceptance and surrender to providence.

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