Epictetus · 125 · Higginson translation, 1865

The Enchiridion

Name: The Enchiridion
Author: Epictetus

The Enchiridion (“handbook”) is a student’s digest of the Stoic teacher Epictetus’s lectures — control what’s yours, let go of what isn’t, said in one or two sentences per point. The Note-Taker reading companion in IO reader turns each maxim into a Key Idea and Why It Matters, well suited to a text this compressed.

Read the opening in Reels

PART I · PARAGRAPH

There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in one word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in one word, whatever are not properly our own affairs.

There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power.

Now the things within our power are by nature free, unrestricted, unhindered; but those beyond our power are weak, dependent, restricted, alien. Remember, then, that if you attribute freedom to things by nature dependent and take what belongs to others for your own, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you take for your own only that which is your own and view what belongs to others just as it really is, then no one will ever compel you, no one will restrict you; you will find fault with no one, you will accuse no one, you will do nothing against your will; no one will hurt you, you will not have an enemy, nor will you suffer any harm.

The Enchiridion · Epictetus · tr. Thomas Wentworth Higginson

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Produces a structured study note: Key Idea, Detail, Key Quote, Why It Matters.

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The facts

Length	about 11,100 words · 870 sentences
In sentence cards	about 58 minutes
Difficulty	gentle
First line	There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power.
Themes	I–X · XI–XX · XXI–XXX · XXXI–XL · XLI–LIII

Is The Enchiridion hard to read?

No — it's a short manual of maxims, one of the shortest texts in this batch. In sentence cards it's about 58 minutes.

Which translation is this?

Thomas Wentworth Higginson's 1865 translation, in the public domain.

How long is The Enchiridion?

About 11,100 words in 53 short chapters; roughly 870 sentences.

Read The Enchiridion in IO reader

Colophon

Text: Higginson translation, 1865, from Project Gutenberg (pg:45109). Cover: Standard Ebooks CC0 cover, epictetus/short-works/george-long — art only, a different translation from the card text. Reviewed 2026-09-04.