A review by byrenical
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus

3.0

"Remind thyself that he whom thou lovest is mortal - that what thou lovest is not thine own; it is given thee for the present, not irrevocably nor for ever, but even as a fig or a bunch of grapes at the appointed season of the year."

There are some straight bangers in here, although tautological often, and too many calls to God for my liking. If you want to check out stoic philosophy I would just go straight for Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. He does naught but spit straight fire. Although the benefit of this is that you can download free and it's pretty short. Plus he likes to throw some shade philosophically:

"He that hath no musical instruction is a child in Music; he that hath no letters is a child in Learning; he that is untaught is a child in Life."

Although that made me laugh, he then goes on to tell me not to laugh as often. "Laughter should not be much, nor frequent, nor unrestrained." So points deducted for being a killjoy. One more quote that seems appropriate:

"Or what reason hast thou (tell me) for desiring to read? For if thou aim at nothing beyond the mere delight of it, or gaining some scrap of knowledge, thou art but a poor, spiritless knave. But if thou desirest to study to its proper end, what else is this than a life that flows on tranquil and serene? And if thy reading secures thee not serenity, what profits it?"