On the Wisdom of Epictetus

Discerning over the Wisdom of Epictetus, one of the major influences in the life of Marcus Aurelius.

"It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows."
-The concept of already "knowing without actually knowing" is what I would say is to Epictetus: Ignorance in itself.
When one perceives to have fully grasped and understood something new or foreign to their own experiences, one can only assume something, and that assumption is based more on a superficial understanding than anything intensive.
Our thoughts and opinions are what hold this prospect the most often, since we tend to make judgement on our external elements (people, objects, events, etc.) without really understanding their natural complexity and by what reason its manifestation was brought about.



"It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it."
-Perception of strength in body over strength in mind. It can be correlated to the "Paper Mache Model", which can be shaped and formed to be very appealing ascetically externally while remaining hollow and baring little of any substance internally.
Physical prowess and superiority is often seen as what makes a person "strong", but I would argue that Epictetus (as well of many of his contemporaries before and after him) would mark this as trivially unsound reasoning, since true "strength" would be attributed more to the person's own moral and ethical character.
Epictetus is quoted as referring to the body as a corpse, merely a vessel that harbors a "burdened soul"; and he writes of one's ability to truly living a fulfilled life (virtuous and just) being able to be accomplished only after we have disregarded the body as the main focus of our attempts to understand Nature in a much larger context.



"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."
-Many people find themselves overwhelmed and distraught over the events and scenarios that occur in their lives, and it is this personal disharmony that stems outward onto a much larger social scale that brings about some of the problems pertaining to society.
Through our examination of our emotional state, Epictetus made note of our ability to be less inclined to act impulsively and irrationally, which can lead people to "act in the form of an animal" and against their usual nature.
Like many of the other figures of Stoicism put forward, our external influences exist as they are, and that any fate that can befall one person can befall another person neutrally; the concept of an external experience as "good" or "bad" is based solely on our judgement of it to be so.
The individual who achieves general tranquility within Nature is one who takes all events and experiences as they are and all views obstacles as essential aspects of developing character and truly living a full life instead of hindrances.