Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford World's Classics)

The first and most necessary area of study in philosophy is the one that deals with the application of principles, such as, ‘Don’t lie.’ The second deals with demonstrations, for instance, ‘How is it that we oughtn’t to lie?’ The third confirms and analyses the other two, for instance, ‘How is this a demonstration?’ For what is a demonstration, wha

above all, don’t talk about people, either to praise or criticize them, or to compare them.

you likewise shouldn’t show off your principles to laymen, but rather show them the actions that result from those principles when they’ve been properly digested.

The signs of one who is making progress are that he criticizes no one, praises no one, blames or accuses no one, and never speaks of himself as being anyone of importance, or as one who has any knowledge. And if he is praised, he laughs within at the person who is praising him, and if anyone finds fault with him, he makes no defence. He goes about

The condition and character of a layman is this: that he never expects that benefit or harm will come to him from himself, but only from externals. The condition and character of a philosopher is this: that he expects all benefit and harm to come to him from himself.

He has rid himself of every desire,* and has transferred his aversion to those things alone that are contrary to nature among the things that are within our own power.

You’re no longer a youth; you’re a full-grown man. If you’re now negligent and idle, and are constantly making one delay after another, and setting one day and then another as the date after which you’ll devote proper attention to yourself, then you’ll fail to appreciate that you’re making no progress, but will continue to be a layman your whole li

When you’ve become adapted to a simple way of life in bodily matters, don’t pride yourself on that, and likewise, if you drink nothing but water, don’t proclaim at every opportunity that you drink nothing but water. And if at any time you want to train yourself to endure hardship, do it for your own sake and not for others;

Never call yourself a philosopher, and don’t talk among laymen for the most part about philosophical principles, but act in accordance with those principles. At a banquet, for example, don’t talk about how one ought to eat, but eat as one ought.