Desire and Misery
Epictetus (P 507a)

"[H]e who fails to get what he desires is miserable, and so is he who gets what he is averse to."

"So then, if you are averse only to things contrary to nature that are up to you, you will not get anything to which you are averse; but if you are averse to sickness or death or poverty [which are things not up to you], [then] you will be miserable."

"So take your aversion away from everything that is not up to you ..."

"But for the time being, destroy desire altogether, for if you desire something not up to you, necessarily you will be unfortunate ..."


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Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 1 December 2002