Epictetus Quote

Your Will Is Always Within Your Power

"Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control.
Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But are you not merely your legs? Your will is bigger than your legs.
Your will needn't be affected by an incident unless you let it. Remember this with everything that happens to you."

This passage from Epictetus' "The Art of Living" is one that I agree with on many different levels. First and foremost, it alludes to a degree of personal responsibility that I believe is largely absent from our culture: "For your own will is always within your control." Too often, people look for things to fall back on when they themselves fall, most notably the government or other administrations, such as university professors or police officers. The root of much of this can be traced if one chooses to do so. When people can't find a job, some blame the government instead of looking at themselves and asking how their actions may have contributed to their current situation. When a university student receives a bad grade, some immediately blame the professor and absolve themselves of any deficiency or otherwise expect some sort of academic compensation for outside mishaps.

The second part of the passage has to do with not letting events interfere with your desire to achieve what you have set out to. Sadly, many people are very caught up in the idea of an "I" and the concept of physicality. They believe that their body is what matters, when in reality one's mind is far more useful in achieving goals because it controls the body and the actions it carries out. Here, Epictetus is telling us to not let ordinary adverse circumstances hinder our desire to achieve what we feel will make our existence more meaningful.

The summation of the passage is in the last part; Epictetus tells us that an incident will only affect us if we let it. This is as true today as it was when this passage was written. People need to spend more time reflecting inward instead of searching the world around them for crutches or scapegoats. I also believe that the last part can be switched around to apply to positive incidents. If something good happens to you and you do nothing to foster the consequences, then you will not be affected by it. For example, if someone does something nice for you, to the degree that it has a significant impact on your existence and you fail to recognize the magnitude of such an action, then you will not be affected by it and that good deed will be lost in the wind. It is up to us as individuals to be responsible for handling incidents both positive and negative.