# Epigraph explained — The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

> Chapter companion for The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne.

## What happens

The epigraph presents a Greek maxim from Epictetus, stating that it is not events themselves that disturb people, but their judgments about those events.

## Themes in this chapter

### Knowledge and Philosophy

The epigraph introduces a Stoic philosophical principle about perception and judgment, setting a thematic foundation for the novel's exploration of how characters interpret events.

## Key lines

> Ταράσσει τοὺς Ἀνθρώπους οὐ τὰ Πράγματα, Ἀλλὰ τὰ περὶ τῶν Πραγμάτων Δόγματα.

It is not events that disturb people, but their opinions about those events.

_This is a direct quotation from Epictetus's Enchiridion, Chapter 5, emphasizing the Stoic distinction between objective events and subjective judgments._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters/epigraph
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tristram_shandy_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tristram_shandy_se/chapters