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MED. 5.36Discipline of assent
George Long · 1862EN · Long

TERMDo not be carried along inconsiderately by the appearance of things, but give help to all TERMaccording to thy ability and their fitness; and if they should have sustained loss in matters which are indifferent, do not imagine this to be a damage. For it is a bad habit. But as the old man, when he went away, asked back his foster-child's top, remembering that it was a top, so do thou in this case also. When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast thou forgotten, man, what these things are? — Yes; but they are objects of great concern to these people — wilt thou too then be made a fool for these things?

Original · ancient Greek

Μὴ ὁλοσχερῶς τῇ φαντασίᾳ συναρπάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ βοηθεῖν μὲν κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κατ’ ἀξίαν, κἂν εἰς τὰ μέσα ἐλαττῶνται, μὴ μέντοι βλάβην αὐτὸ φαντάζεσθαι· κακὸν γὰρ ἔθος. ἀλλ’ ὡς ὁ γέρων ἀπελθὼν τὸν τοῦ θρεπτοῦ ῥόμβον ἀπῄτει, μεμνημένος ὅτι ῥόμβος, οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὧδε. ἐπεί τοι γίνῃ καλῶν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμβόλων. ἄνθρωπε, ἐπελάθου τί ταῦτα ἦν;—ναί· ἀλλὰ τούτοις περισπούδαστα.—διὰ τοῦτ’ οὖν καὶ σὺ μωρὸς γένῃ;

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Place in the book. The penultimate passage of Book V — on the discipline of assent in dealing with externals. Do not yield to the impression; help others by their worth, but do not count the loss of an indifferent as harm. The principal discipline is assent, the secondary action.

Not to be seized by the impression. TERM"Do not let the φαντασία carry you off wholesale" (ὁλοσχερῶς συναρπάζεσθαι) — an Epictetan opening: hold a pause between the impression and assent. Help others TERM"by your power and their worth" (κατ’ ἀξίαν), but if someone suffers a loss in "middle" things (τὰ μέσα — the indifferent), "do not imagine it a harm" (μὴ βλάβην φαντάζεσθαι): otherwise a "bad habit" (κακὸν ἔθος) sets in of counting an external loss an evil.

The image of the top. Even the old man, on leaving, asks back his foster-child's "top" (ῥόμβος, a spinning-top), "remembering that it is a top" — busying himself in earnest over a trifle, yet knowing its true worth. "So here too": people in the forum (ἔμβολα — the Rostra) are passionately busy about what are, at bottom, toys. The text here is corrupt; the sense, following Long: "have you forgotten what these things are?" — and do not be made a fool because "others set great store by them."

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is assent (not yielding to the φαντασία, not imagining a loss a harm); the secondary is action (help by worth). It continues in the coda 05-37 (happiness = one's own virtue). Parallels: Epictetus Ench. 1 (the work on the φαντασία); 05-34 (the good lies in a just disposition and action); cf. the indifference of external losses.

DisciplineDiscipline of assent
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished
Read·Book V
Discipline of assent

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

TERMDo not be carried along inconsiderately by the appearance of things, but give help to all TERMaccording to thy ability and their fitness; and if they should have sustained loss in matters which are indifferent, do not imagine this to be a damage. For it is a bad habit. But as the old man, when he went away, asked back his foster-child's top, remembering that it was a top, so do thou in this case also. When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast thou forgotten, man, what these things are? — Yes; but they are objects of great concern to these people — wilt thou too then be made a fool for these things?

Original · ancient Greek

Μὴ ὁλοσχερῶς τῇ φαντασίᾳ συναρπάζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ βοηθεῖν μὲν κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κατ’ ἀξίαν, κἂν εἰς τὰ μέσα ἐλαττῶνται, μὴ μέντοι βλάβην αὐτὸ φαντάζεσθαι· κακὸν γὰρ ἔθος. ἀλλ’ ὡς ὁ γέρων ἀπελθὼν τὸν τοῦ θρεπτοῦ ῥόμβον ἀπῄτει, μεμνημένος ὅτι ῥόμβος, οὕτως οὖν καὶ ὧδε. ἐπεί τοι γίνῃ καλῶν ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμβόλων. ἄνθρωπε, ἐπελάθου τί ταῦτα ἦν;—ναί· ἀλλὰ τούτοις περισπούδαστα.—διὰ τοῦτ’ οὖν καὶ σὺ μωρὸς γένῃ;

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related2
TERMφαντασίαimpression, presentationTERMἀξίαvalue, worth
Commentary

Place in the book. The penultimate passage of Book V — on the discipline of assent in dealing with externals. Do not yield to the impression; help others by their worth, but do not count the loss of an indifferent as harm. The principal discipline is assent, the secondary action.

Not to be seized by the impression. TERM"Do not let the φαντασία carry you off wholesale" (ὁλοσχερῶς συναρπάζεσθαι) — an Epictetan opening: hold a pause between the impression and assent. Help others TERM"by your power and their worth" (κατ’ ἀξίαν), but if someone suffers a loss in "middle" things (τὰ μέσα — the indifferent), "do not imagine it a harm" (μὴ βλάβην φαντάζεσθαι): otherwise a "bad habit" (κακὸν ἔθος) sets in of counting an external loss an evil.

The image of the top. Even the old man, on leaving, asks back his foster-child's "top" (ῥόμβος, a spinning-top), "remembering that it is a top" — busying himself in earnest over a trifle, yet knowing its true worth. "So here too": people in the forum (ἔμβολα — the Rostra) are passionately busy about what are, at bottom, toys. The text here is corrupt; the sense, following Long: "have you forgotten what these things are?" — and do not be made a fool because "others set great store by them."

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is assent (not yielding to the φαντασία, not imagining a loss a harm); the secondary is action (help by worth). It continues in the coda 05-37 (happiness = one's own virtue). Parallels: Epictetus Ench. 1 (the work on the φαντασία); 05-34 (the good lies in a just disposition and action); cf. the indifference of external losses.

DisciplineDiscipline of assent
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished