Cover: Cover of the Project Gutenberg edition (eBook #45109) · Public domain · source
Enchiridion
The Handbook
Epictetus · c. 50–c. 135
It opens with the sentence on which all Stoicism turns: some things are up to us and some are not. In fifty-odd short sections, a philosopher who began life enslaved explains how to live calmly by attending only to what is within our power — our judgements, intentions and responses.
- First published
- c. 125 CE
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Reading time
- About 45 minutes
- Translation
- George Long
Reading time: 11,119 words in Project Gutenberg text #45109 (Higginson translation), read at 238 words per minute.
Compiled by Arrian from Epictetus's teaching. George Long's translation (1877) and Thomas Wentworth Higginson's are both public domain.
- the dichotomy of control
- judgement
- freedom
- Stoicism
Where to read it
- Read free — Standard Ebooks (Long)Public domain text, carefully proofread and produced. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Read free — Project Gutenberg (Higginson)Public domain in the USA; check your local law outside it. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
- Read free — WikisourcePublic domain transcription. · checked 11 Oct 2026(opens in a new tab)
Copyright
- Kenya
- Public domain (both translators d. before 1912)
- United States
- Public domain
NOESIS hosts no book files. Links lead to the sources named.
Questions for discussion
Make two lists for this week: what is up to you, and what is not. What surprised you?
Epictetus was born enslaved. Does that change how you hear his teaching on freedom?
Is it possible to care deeply about an outcome you do not control? What does he say?
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