Epictetus on Love and Loss: The Stoic Strategy for Surviving Heartbreak
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Epictetus on Love and Loss: The Stoic Strategy for Surviving Heartbreak
How can you wish to reach old age and yet, at the same time, not to see any of those whom you love come to die?
Epictetus • Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford World's Classics)
such is human nature, we cannot bear to be deprived of the good, and cannot bear to fall into what is bad.
Epictetus • Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford World's Classics)
Eastern philosophers have long known that impermanence is the only constant. Given the transient nature of life, given its ceaseless flux, there is more than a hint of arrogance in the assumption that we can make our relationships permanent, and that security can actually be fixed.
Esther Perel • Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence
Why love what you will lose? There is nothing else to love.
Louise Glück
Never say of anything, 'I lost it,' but say, 'I gave it back.' Has your child died? It was given back. Has your wife died? She was given back. Has your estate been taken from you? Was not this also given back? But you say, 'He who took it from me is wicked.' What does it matter to you through whom the Giver asked it back? As long as He gives it you
... See moreEpictetus • The Manual For Living
“Keep this thought at the ready at daybreak, and through the day and night—there is only one path to happiness, and that is in giving up all outside of your sphere of choice, regarding nothing else as your possession, surrendering all else to God and Fortune.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.4.39