I had read the Meditations, but I was unfamiliar with this. Sadly, we have nothing directly from a Stoic philosopher, just the comments and notes of others. Stoicism, at least as I hear about it from the Roman sources, sometimes seems like cowboy etiquette ("Don't scream out when they cut for the bullet"), and there is considerable advice here about such topics as whether it would be better to be castrated or killed when the emperor demands it. In fact, I don't think any real answer is given, it is just implied that that you might as well be killed with only an aside that you might opt for castration if it doesn't mean that much to you. Stoicism, sometimes seems like distorted Epicureanism, as if Epicurus had booted out a sad and "stoic" member of the commune and this is what he came up with. So Epicurus was concerned with whether desires were natural and necessary (e.g. your friends), or natural but unnecessary (e.g. your slaves) or unnatural and unnecessary (e.g. high political office), while Epictetus was concerned with whether a thing was within our power or not within our power. It is as if Epicureans were looking for the best way to live one's life with an assumption that they had the means to do as they pleased, while Stoics were looking for the best way to live one's life with the assumption that you would just have to make do. ( )

don't desire or dislike anything not in your control, only your feelings are in your control--Western Buddhism

If you like the tedium of a stoic, you'll enjoy this book. How sad. ( )

Written during the first century A.D., Arrianus wrote the words of Epictetus in the style in which they were delivered in speech. To provide a synoposis of the explanation given in this book (from the Modern Library), Stoicism was founded by Zeno in taking from Plato the value of self-sufficiency. If the universe is self-sufficient, dualism would not be possible and so monism must be. And that implies that everything is good and natural. Ironically, the efficient workings of the self-sufficient machine of the universe inspired belief in "god" (fate, whatever). The general belief that everyone should do what they are meant to do resulted in the Stoics being heard in public life. While the Epicureans sought to withdraw, the Stoic philosophy became an underlying part of later political and social philosophy. The writing itself struck me as similar in places to the timeless motivational messages of personal will. There were also strong corollaries to the Bible, particularly the phrase, "Seek, and you shall find" and parables of seeds and the vine. ( )