EpictetusDawnstone

Epictetus · Discourses 46.2

Such is the condition of things around us: cold and heat, bad roads, voyages, winds, and various circumstances destroy one man, banish another, throw one into service.
Epictetus, Discourses and Selected Writings (Discourses 46.2)

What this means

Epictetus simply lists the indifferent machinery of the world: weather, roads, winds, accidents. It destroys one person and merely inconveniences another, with no regard for what anyone deserves. Naming this plainly is how he keeps you from reading the world's randomness as a personal verdict.

On fate, change, control.

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Discourses and Selected Writings

Epictetus · trans. Robert Dobbin · Penguin Classics

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