Reddit Reddit reviews Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford Worlds Classics)

We found 12 Reddit comments about Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford Worlds Classics). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford Worlds Classics)
Oxford University Press USA
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12 Reddit comments about Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford Worlds Classics):

u/runeaway · 20 pointsr/Stoicism

> I feel like I don't stand for anything, I don't have an identity I feel confident in.

That requires a lot of self-reflection, thinking about what you value and how/if you act according to those values.

> the person I was in high school seems alien to me now.

In a few years, you're probably going to feel the same way about the you right now.

> in the age of social media it feels like everyone's eyes are on me

Most people are too concerned with what other people think about them to spend much time thinking about you.

> I can't control what they think of me

It's good that you realize that.

> but I can't help but feel like most see me as a goofy, disinterested nice guy

Maybe they do, maybe they don't. There's no way for you to know what other people think about you. Even if they say they think you're goofy, there's no way to know if they're telling the truth. If you choose to believe everyone else thinks you're goofy, you can do that, but it's a choice you've decided to make. Your time is better spent trying to be the sort of person you want to be than on worrying about what other people think of you.

> When I push away those fears I instead become an asshole and don't think before I speak.

That's another choice you make. No one forces you to speak without thinking. No one forces you to act like an asshole. If you want to be a kind, virtuous person, that's in your control.

> I've read Meditation and checked out the sidebar on the topics but I'm having trouble implementing the ideas into my daily life

We generally advise that new people do not start with Meditations, as it wasn't intended as an entry point to Stoicism. It's the working journal of an advanced student, and Marcus assumes the reader is already familiar with all of the concepts.

Here's a short list of recommended places to start:

  • Stoicism and the Art of Happiness by Donald Robertson is a practical introduction on what Stoicism is and how to implement it in your life.


  • Epictetus - Discourses, Fragments, Handbook translated by Robin Hard is a book containing the lectures of the Stoic teacher Epictetus. Marcus Aurelius studied Epictetus specifically and quotes him several times in Meditations.

  • Seneca's Dialogues and Essays, especially the essays "On The Shortness of Life" and "On the Happy Life" and Letters from a Stoic contain Seneca's useful writings on a number of topics and is another popular place to begin learning about Stoicism.
u/LeoVitali · 6 pointsr/Stoicism

Remember what it's up to you and what it's not. Consider that you are not your body, your possessions or your fame. You are what nature has gifted you: Your Reason. This is the only thing that makes you different from a lion with a broken leg that cannot hunt more and may die of starvation.

My cousin was a pro football player, and he had 3 broken meniscus surgeries in 2 years, that forced him to ultimately leave the sport. Now he has become a really outstanding indoor cycling reference in my country. By the way, in the past, he was really trying so hard to be a great football player, but from my point of view, he has been always pretty mediocre at that sport and with a really poor fit body. Now he is extremely fit, and I see him flourishing, motivating a lot of people to do their fitness routines.

That injury changed his life to better and not because of the injury: Just because of his decisions after the injury.

But it could have also changed his life to worse, and whatever that could have happened was not under his control.

The best part is that you own your own prohairesis (your will, your power of decision). Anyone cares if you decide to be depressive with what the Universe has offered you, or if you decide to channel your effort to new paradigms.

This is not a self-help guide. Until you can't recognize what it's up to you and what's not, you won't be able to start making a change in your life in genera. This is not a single advice to make you feel better (or worse). It's a radical alert to start re-thinking how is your friendship and relationship with the Cosmos. It's hard, and this is why Stoicism designed a set of exercise to muscle up your mind:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/faq#wiki_what_are_some_stoic_practices_and_exercises.3F

And please, make yourself a favor, and read Epictetus Discourses
https://www.amazon.com/Discourses-Fragments-Handbook-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199595186

u/duffstoic · 5 pointsr/Stoicism

For Epictetus, may I recommend the Robin Hard translation. It's by far the best IMO.

u/pleasedtomichu · 3 pointsr/Stoicism

They're both great for their clarity, conciseness, and more modern use of language. I personally think Robin Hard's version flows a bit better, but they're pretty much interchangeable, and for some passages I prefer the Hays translation.

Edit: Robin Hard also has a great translation of Epictetus' Discourses, Fragments, and Handbook (Enchiridion).

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/selfimprovement

Virginia Satir is one of my favorites, I also find the Stoics helpful, but they tend to take a very different approach.

u/hmzabshr · 2 pointsr/Stoicism

I personally recommend this edition of Epictetus's writings as it includes the Enchiridion (manual) as well as his Discourses in a very smooth and recent translation. While I can't claim that Epictetus is the single definitive comprehensive source of Stoicism, his writings are certainly canonical.

u/OnlyVirtueIsGood · 1 pointr/Stoicism

The Handbook is basically a summary of the Discourses.

I have read https://www.amazon.com/Discourses-Fragments-Handbook-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199595186, which contains everything by Epictetus (Arrian actually). It's good.

In my opinion it doesn't make much sense to read the Handbook before the Discourses. There are things which may be misunderstood without reading the whole discourse.

u/rockyrook · 1 pointr/Stoicism

I’m not 100% confident in my response as I’m trying to recall from memory ... I don’t have my books with me now.

The Enchiridion is just the handbook and really good summary of his Discourses. It is a book on its own. It is included in the Penguin classics addition of Discourses and selected writings: https://www.amazon.com/Discourses-Selected-Writings-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140449469/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=epictitus&qid=1551101547&s=gateway&sr=8-2

I will add too that if you are looking to buy this book, I would suggest you go with the Oxford World Classics edition. Penguin leaves out whole chapters in Discourses, while Oxford has all of them: https://www.amazon.com/Discourses-Fragments-Handbook-Oxford-Classics/dp/0199595186/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=epictitus&qid=1551101610&s=gateway&sr=8-4

u/Pithy_Lichen · 1 pointr/AskMen

Epictetus and Seneca are the two other big names in stoicism, although I'll cop to not having read either (or Marcus Aurelius - my reading list is seriously backed up).

u/GreenWizard2 · 1 pointr/Stoicism
  • Meditations: Either get the one by Gregory Hays or Robin Hard. I have both. Hays uses more modern English and is easier to understand, but he can be pretty liberal with his translation. Hard is a little more straight laced in his translation it seems but still uses pretty modern English. Also the Hard translation contains Letter from Marcus to his Rhetoric teacher Fronto which are cool to read. Other versions of Meditations do not have this in them afaik.
  • Epictetus, Enchiridion + Discourses: Epictetus's Discourses, Fragments, Handbook by Robin Hard. Best translation of Epictetus I have found ( I like more modern English). Lots of good footnotes in this one.
  • Seneca's Letters: Either Letters from a Stoic to get a taste of what Seneca is like, or go all the way in and get Letters on Ethics which contains all 124 letters to Lucillius. Hardcover book is awesome, high quality, great foot notes throughout.
  • Seneca's Moral Essays: There are a bunch of these, I haven't found a favorite translation yet. If you only read one, read On the Shortness of Life