Epictetus, a former slave turned leading philosopher of Stoicism, did not write books. His student, Arrian, transcribed his lectures into a manual known as The Enchiridion (Greek for "that which is held in the hand"). The PDF you see today is usually the 20th-century translation by Sharon Lebell, who transformed the dense, ancient text into a lyrical, accessible guide for the modern reader.

"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control." — Epictetus (The Art of Living.pdf)

Epictetus posits that everything in life falls into one of two categories: