He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
-- Epictetus
About the Quote
With as many things as we have-- and for some people, it's an astounding amount of things-- many of us still complain about those things we lack. Like a whitelist, the list of things we have is shorter than the list of things we lack, yet many of us tend to focus on what we lack. That's just how human beings are wired.
What makes more sense is for us to focus on those things we have and possess: things such as life, health, attention, security, shelter-- the basics. We may have more of some and less of others, but we have what we have. Other things can be on our whitelist of things we have, and that's OK. Whatever we have, it is those things in which we should find happiness and joy.
Some Information about Epictetus
The Greek philosopher we know as Epictetus was born likely at Hierapolis, Phrygia (now Pamukkale, Turkey) in 55 A.D. He died in Nicopolis, Epirus, Greece circa 135 A.D.
His original name is unknown (even if he himself is not Unknown). The name Latinized "Epictetus" is based on the Greek word epiktētos, which means "acquired."
While a slave as a young man, he found ways to attend lectures by Musonius Rufus, a philosopher of the Stoic school. Later Epictetus became a freedman, but he spent the rest of his life lame and in ill health. After he was expelled from Rome by Emperor Domitian with other Stoic philosophers who opposed his tyranny, Epictetus spent the rest of his life in Nicopolis.
As far as it canbe determined, Epictetus himself wrote nothing. What we know as the teachings of Epictetus were actually transmitted by a pupil named Arrian. This body of knowledge took the form of two works:
- Discourses, a multi-book work of which four books still exist; and
Encheiridion, or Manual, a condensed version of main doctrines emphasised by Epictetus.
-- Source
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