Page:Encheiridion of Epictetus - Rolleston 1881.pdf/90

54 VEN as the beacon-fires at harbours by a few dry sticks light up a great blaze and work a sufficient help to ships that are wandering on the sea, so a man who shines in a tempest-tossed State may be content with little for himself while he serves the citizens in much.

HEY are mere fops,' said Epictetus, 'who think much of themselves for things that do not depend upon ourselves. I am better than you, says one, for I have large properties while you are dying of hunger. Another says, I am of consular rank; another, I am a Procurator; another, I have curled hair. But a horse does not say to another horse, I am better than you because I have much forage, and barley, and golden bits, and shining trappings, but because I am swifter. Surely every creature is better or worse through his own virtue or his own fault! And has a man alone then no virtue of his own, or must we look away to our locks, and our robes, and our ancestors?'

EEK not to lay upon others what you avoid suffering yourself. You seek to avoid slavery, see