Epictetus - Discourses Pt. 3: On Being Sprung From God

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2:34Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoic Podcast. On Sundays, we take a deeper dive into these ancient topics with excerpts from the Stoic texts, audiobooks that we like here or recommend here at Daily Stoic and other long form wisdom that you can chew on on this relaxing weekend. We hope this helps shape your understanding of this philosophy and most importantly, that you're able to apply it to your actual life. Thank you for listening.

3:17Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another weekend episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, bringing you an excerpt from Epictetus today. This is read to you by Michael Reed, who does a lot of the really cool YouTube voiceovers you might have heard. This is Epictetus drawing from the Discourses, book three, something Epictetus can always teach us. I love just thinking, man, Rusticus gave Marcus Aurelius a copy of these lectures, and that's what so shaped and formed this guy's life, and so shaped and formed his philosophy, his understanding of Stoicism. And I'll bring you that episode from Epictetus's Discourses.

3:56Now we carry a copy of this here at the bookstore. I like the Penguin Classics translation best myself. And like I said, this was read by Michael Reed.

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6:04mean or lowly thoughts about ourselves. If the emperor adopts you, no one will be able to put up with your pretension. But knowing that you are the son of God, shouldn't your pride be that much greater? In fact, though, we react quite differently. Two elements are combined in our creation, the body, which we have in common with the beasts, and reason and good judgment, which we share with the gods. Most of us tend toward the former connection, miserable and mortal though it is, whereas only a few favor this holy and blessed alliance. Since everyone will necessarily treat things in accordance with their beliefs about them, those few who think that they are born for fidelity, respect and confidence in their use of impressions entertain no mean or ignoble thoughts about themselves, while the majority does the opposite.

7:05What am I? A wretched mortal, a feeble piece of flesh. Feeble indeed, but you have something better than flesh. So why turn away from this and cling to that? Because of this connection, some of us sink to the level of wolves, faithless, vicious, and treacherous. Others turn into lions, wild, savage, and uncivilized. But most of us become like foxes, the sorriest of the lot. For what else is a spiteful, malicious man except a fox, or something even lower and less dignified? See that you don't turn out like one of those unfortunates.

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