How To Be Free: The Big Ideas
How To Be Free: The Big Ideas
PhilosophersNotes
TM
Encheiridion
Wisdom daggers ready at hand. “How to be free? Is it a question or an exclamation, a political manifesto or a
longing to go native, an aspiration for autonomy or the route to emancipation from
Rule #1
Stay in your business. bondage? This book presents an ancient Greek philosopher’s take on freedom—
Want to Win at Life? freedom construed as living in agreement with nature, owning and ruling oneself,
Know the price. Pay it. becoming a world citizen, desiring always and only what you are assured of
Your Powers getting—and much more. Epictetus (AD 55-135), our author and guide to the Stoic
Study them. And use them. life, was born a slave (his Greek name means ‘acquired’), and entered service
as a slave in the household of Epaphroditus, a power broker in Nero’s Rome,
and himself a freedman. By the time Epictetus publicly delivered his thoughts
on freedom, he had enjoyed many years of manumission, but the experience of
slavery left its mark on his philosophy through and through. The first lesson of the
Encheiridion, his handbook guide to Stoicism, insists that everything that is truly
our own doing is naturally free, unimpeded, and unconstrained.
Freedom, according to this notion, is neither legal status nor opportunity to move
around at liberty. It is the mental orientation of persons who are impervious
to frustration or disappointment because their wants and decisions depend on
themselves and involve nothing that they cannot deliver to themselves.”
A.A. Long is professor emeritus of classics and affiliated professor of philosophy at the University
of California, Berkeley.
“If wisdom is the true
criterion of freedom, the He is also one of the world’s most respected scholars of Stoicism.
principal burden of slavery As per the inside flap, in this beautiful little (hand)book, he provides “splendid new translations
shifts from the outer to the and the original Greek on facing pages, a compelling introduction that sets Epictetus in context
inner, from the physical to and describes the importance of Stoic freedom today, and an invaluable glossary of key words
the mental, and philosophy and concepts. The result is an unmatched introduction to this powerful method of managing
not manumission becomes emotions and handling life’s situations, from the most ordinary to the most demanding.”
the source of liberty.”
There’s something magical about seeing the original Greek on the left page—which, Long tells
~ A.A. Long us, is the same colloquial Greek also used in the New Testament. And, Long’s introduction to
Epictetus and his role in Stoicism is fantastic as well.
If you’re a fan of Stoicism, I think you’ll love this book as much as I do. (Get a copy here.)
Of course, it’s packed with practical wisdom on how to be free and I’m excited to share some of
my favorites we can apply to our lives TODAY, so let’s jump straight in!
FREEDOM
“The chief constraint on personal freedom in ancient Greece and Rome was what Epictetus
knew first hand, the social practice and indignity of slavery. It was slavery, the condition of being
As a former slave (whose name literally meant “acquired”!), Epictetus had a very powerful
perspective on the notions of slavery vs. freedom.
Thankfully, it’s incredibly unlikely that any of us have personally experienced the literal, physical
bondage of slavery.
Yet...
The reality of our own struggles with true freedom is one of the reasons why Epictetus’ wisdom
still strikes so close to home.
Wisdom like this: “If someone in the street were entrusted with your body, you would be
furious. Yet you entrust your mind to anyone around who happens to insult you, and allow it
to be troubled and confused. Aren’t you ashamed of that?”
Now, it’s nearly impossible for me to read that passage about freedom and not think of Viktor
Frankl. As we’ve discussed in different contexts (most recently in our Note on Massimo
Pigliucci’s great book How to Be a Stoic), Frankl was deeply inspired by Stoic wisdom.
When he found himself in a concentration camp, he put his Stoic training to use and developed
his ideas on Logotherapy. One of the central tenets of his philosophy was on freedom.
He tells us: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human
freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
And, of course, he also tells us: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is
our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Right after Frankl comes to mind, James Stockdale shows up. He, too, lost his physical freedom
when he was a prisoner of war. But, as the commanding officer in a prison camp, he REFUSED
to give up his ultimate freedom—to show up as the best version of himself.
In Courage Under Fire he tells us: “‘What is the fruit of your doctrines?’ someone once asked
“If someone in the street
Epictetus. ‘Tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom,’ he answered.”
were entrusted with your
body, you would be furious. So...
Yet you entrust your mind to Want freedom?
anyone around who happens
PRACTICE YOUR PHILOSOPHY.
to insult you, and allow it
to be troubled and confused. Very important note: Don’t wait for the (inevitable!!) emergencies and/or huge challenges life
Aren’t you ashamed of that?” will throw at us. Practice with the little stuff. Notice just how often you give away your freedom.
And reclaim it.
~ Epictetus
TODAY.
TARGET: PROGRESS
“Epictetus can come across as heavy-handed and severe. But his purpose, as a teacher, was
to show his students how to make progress towards the Stoic goal and not just settle for
being ordinary. He was well aware that acting consistently on the system of values I have
outlined would be a counsel of perfection and even beyond himself. His focus is not on heroic
achievement but approximating to it, trying it out on situations that typically trouble people and
undermine their performance in every day life.”
PROGRESS.
It’s such an important idea that Long even has it in the Glossary of key Stoic terms we can find in
the back of the book. (I actually started with this section.) Let’s flip to page 161 for the definition.
PROGRESS - Technical term (Greek prokopē) for persons who have committed
themselves to Stoicism as their philosophy of life and who make every effort to improve
their performance.
Fun fact: I Googled “prokope” so I could find a version of it with the line on top of the “e.” I
found it interesting that the first few results were from Bible study web sites. (As we discussed in
the intro, Epictetus’ books were written in the same colloquial Greek as the New Testament.)
Which makes me want to modify the usage of the word PROGRESS to generalize it beyond just
Stoicism (and Christianity) so it’s more in line with our Optimize approach. How about...
PROGRESS - From the Greek prokopē for persons who have committed themselves to
their chosen philosophy of life and who make every effort to improve their performance.
So...
P.S. On that front, John Wooden comes to mind. He tells us: “Perfection is what you are
striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an
impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.”
A.A. Long provides us with a fresh translation of Epictetus’s Enchiridion (along with some
passages from his longer Discourses).
As we’ve discussed, Epictetus never wrote anything. We have one of his best students, Arrian, to
thank for capturing his teacher’s words.
And, I just love this origin story regarding the name of the book—and the fact that Long thought
it was important enough to merit a comment in his brief introduction.
Encheiridion. <- Want to practice your philosophy as a WARRIOR rather than a mere librarian?
Well, then, let’s have our wisdom READY AT HAND. Like a dagger—defending ourselves from
the danger of poor thinking and acting.
When?
TODAY.
RULE #1
“Some things in the world are up to us, while others are not. Up to us are our faculties of
judgment, motivation, desire, and aversion—in short, everything that is our own doing. Not up
to us are our body and property, our reputations, and our official positions—in short, everything
that is not our own doing. Moreover, the things up to us are naturally free, unimpeded, and
unconstrained, while the things not up to us are powerless, servile, impeded, and not our own.
Keep this in mind then: if you think things naturally servile are free and that things not our own
“If you are told that are ours, you will be frustrated, pained, and troubled, and you will find fault with gods and men.
someone is talking badly But if you think you own only what is yours, and that you do not own what is not yours, as you
about you, don’t defend really don’t, no one will ever put pressure on you, no one will impede you, you will not reproach
yourself against the story anyone, you will not blame anyone, you will not do a single thing reluctantly, and no one will
know my other faults, or he Those are the first lines of our Master’s Enchiridion—THE most important wisdom to have
would have mentioned them “ready at hand” if we want to win the ultimate game of life and high five our inner soul.
as well.’”
We could say it’s Rule #1 of Stoicism.
~ Epictetus
We’ve gotta know that some things are within our control and other things are not. If we can
remember this rule and put it into practice—EXCLUSIVELY focusing on that which is within our
control, we’ll win the game—and experience freedom and tranquility.
Byron Katie echoes this wisdom in her Work. In Loving What Is, she tells us: “I can find only
three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours and God’s. Much of our stress comes from
mentally living out of our business.’”
When you have thought about this, go and compete if you still want to. But if you don’t think
first, you will be acting like children who play at wrestling for a while, then at being gladiators,
then trumpeters, and then stage performers. That’s what you are like too, now an athlete, next
a gladiator, then an orator, now a philosopher but nothing in your self as a whole. You are like
a monkey mimicking whatever you see, as one thing after another takes your fancy. You haven’t
pursued anything with due consideration or after thorough review; you mess about and don’t put
your heart into things.”
We referenced George Leonard’s wisdom earlier. This passage reminds me of him again.
In his book Mastery, Leonard talks about something very similar. He tells us: “We all aspire to
mastery, but the path is always long and sometimes rocky, and it promises no quick pay off. So
we look for other paths, each of which attracts a different person.”
The “other paths”? Well, he tells us that we can be a dabbler (going from thing to thing to thing)
or an obsessive (going way too perfectionistic-ly hard and burning ourselves out) or a hacker
(being content to perform a mediocre level).
The MASTER knows the price she’ll need to pay, decides to pay it, and then gets to gritty work.
WOOP comes to mind as well. When we get clear on what we want and have the discipline to
rub that ideal vision up against reality before we get going, we can make an honest appraisal of
whether or not we’re willing to pay the price. If not, all good. Just set a new, more realistic target.
Back to Epictetus. He tells us: “Think about all this and then see whether you want to exchange
it for calm, freedom, and tranquility. If not, don’t go near philosophy; don’t be like children
playing first a philosopher, and after that a tax collector, then an orator, and then an imperial
Whereas the rest of the passages were fresh translations of Epictetus’s Encheiridion, that
passage is from his longer-form Discourses. (Check out our Notes for more.)
Want to be free? Let’s study the powers we have. And use them!!!
T O D A Y !!!
Brian Johnson,
Philosopher in Residence
Brian Johnson loves helping people optimize their lives so they can actualize
their potential as he studies, embodies and teaches the fundamentals of optimal
living—integrating ancient wisdom + modern science + practical tools. Learn
more and optimize your life at optimize.me.