Epictetus's Wisdom: Focus on What You Can Change
Korean title: 에픽테토스의 지혜, 바꿀 수 있는 것에 집중하라
This summary is available in English. The reader opens in English, and you can switch to Korean, Japanese, Chinese, or French at any time.
Summary preview
PART 1 Distinguish What You Can Change from What You Cannot
Separate what you can change from what you cannot
To set your life straight, you must first divide the affairs of the world in two. One kind depends on you: what to accept and how to act. The other is the outer conditions and outcomes that do not depend entirely on your will. A person who wants to launch a ship can prepare the vessel and the cargo and wait for the right time to sail. But he cannot decide which wind will blow. This is why you must distinguish between what you can do and what the world decides.
When trouble comes, ask first: is this something I can change, or not? What am I to judge, choose, and do now, and what depends on other people and circumstances so that I cannot decide it? If you entrust your happiness to things you cannot decide, such as reputation or other people's reactions, you are dragged along when they shake. Conversely, if you can govern your own judgment and choices in any situation, changes from outside cannot drag you wherever they please. The freedom I speak of begins with never losing your own choice in any situation.
On an exam, preparing and answering are your part, but you cannot decide the result. In a relationship, you can speak honestly and keep your promises, but you cannot change the other person's heart.
Contents
- PART 1 Distinguish What You Can Change from What You Cannot
- PART 2 Protect Yourself First, Even in Shaking Circumstances
- PART 3 Fulfill Your Responsibility in Your Relationships with People
- PART 4 Examine Your Thinking and Put What You Learn into Practice at Once