When any one shows himself vain, on being able
to understand and interpret the works of Chrysippus,
say to yourself: "Unless Chrysippus had written
obscurely, this person would have had nothing to
be vain of. But what do I desire? To understand
Nature, and follow her. I ask, then, who interprets
her; and hearing that Chrysippus does, I have recourse to him. I do not understand his writings. I
seek, therefore, one to interpret them." So far there
is nothing to value myself upon. And when I find an
interpreter, what remains is to make use of his instructions. This alone is the valuable thing. But if
I admire merely the interpretation, what do I become
more than a grammarian, instead of a philosopher,
except, indeed, that instead of Homer I interpret
Chrysippus? When any one, therefore, desires me to
read Chrysippus to him, I rather blush, when I cannot exhibit actions that are harmonious and consonant
with his discourse.
The Works of Epictetus: His Discourses, in Four Books, the Enchiridion, and Fragments. Epictetus. Thomas Wentworth Higginson. translator. New York. Thomas Nelson and Sons. 1890.
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