Every part of his body, from head to toe, was the utensil of his master; every action he undertook only with his master’s approval. For some this state of being is nothing new, but for white left-wingers in the UK and US, I suspect it’s largely novel and shocking. Suffering is thought very little of here; it's not even given a consolation in any sort of afterlife.

He seems to penetrate your inner soul with his gaze, and sees your utter inability to practice stoicism. I must depart into exile; so can anyone prevent me from setting off with a smile, cheerfully and serenely? That seems accurate enough, but Epictetus takes it a step further with his definition of reason: a collection of individual impressions (I.Indeed, unlike Seneca, who was a fan of Epicurus, Epictetus repeatedly denounces Epicureans without seeming to understand their doctrine. After gaining his freedom he moved to Nicopolis on the Adriatic coast of Greece and opened a school of philosophy there. In conversation, exercise, discourse – do you remember that it is God you are feeding, God you are exercising?

You carry the living God inside you and are blind to the fact that you desecrate him with your dirty words and dirty thoughts – none of which you would dare repeat if there were even a mere statue of a god near by. More concerning, however, is how Epictetus completely rejects the concept of bodily autonomy by keeping what affects our body outside our realm of choice. Although each philosopher in the long Stoic tradition undoubtedly has his own peculiar insights to offer and his own unique perspective on the common doctrines, I hereby decide to quit my quest into it. That is my job, which I will keep to as long as I am permitted; and I invite any and all of you to join me.Railing against the chaos of the universe is no more helpful than condemning the capriciousness of God or gods.