Chapter XX
by Epictetus • Book 20
This chapter helps you pause before reacting to provocation by recognizing that your own perspective creates the hurt. It empowers you to master your inner state and maintain emotional peace when faced with insults.
“Remember that it is not he who gives abuse or blows, who affronts, but the view we take of these things as insulting.”
Related Remedies for Anger
See allHIS FIRST BOOK
This chapter helps you neutralize bitterness and frustration toward difficult people by directing your attention toward gratitude and the virtues of mentors and companions. By recognizing that we are born to work together rather than clash in opposition, you can protect your inner peace and respond to daily offenses with equanimity.
THE SIXTH BOOK
This chapter helps you regain inner composure when the slights, hostility, and frustrating behaviors of others threaten to disrupt your peace. It encourages you to step back from reactionary bitterness, reminding you that your greatest strength lies in refusing to mirror the harm done to you.