Be the same person in public as in private. Speak only what is useful and beneficial. In conversation, avoid idle chatter about horse races, athletes… - Epictetus
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Be the same person in public as in private. Speak only what is useful and beneficial. In conversation, avoid idle chatter about horse races, athletes, celebrities, food, and drink. Refuse to participate in gossip — tearing down, inflating, and judging other people. Among friends, shift the conversation to worthy topics; among strangers, stay silent.
Epictetus (c. 55 – c. 135 AD), born a slave, was a Greek Stoic philosopher. His words were recorded by his student Arrian in the Discourses and Enchiridion written in the early 2nd-century.
Biography information from
Wikiquote·
Portrait adapted from
Wikimedia Commons, Theodoor Galle (Public domain / CC0)
Also Known As
Native Name:
ΕΠΙΚΤΗΤΟΣ
Alternative Names:
Epictetus of Hierapolis
•
Epiktetos
If you wish to be free, do not desire anything that depends on another, lest you make them your master.
When we are guests at a dinner party, we content ourselves with the food on offer; if anyone were to tell the host to put out fish or cake, he would seem rude. In real life, however, we ask the gods for what they do not give, and this though they have provided us with plenty.
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