tus, and he
was a person who appeared to be inclined to Cynicism, what kind of
person a Cynic ought to be, and what was the notion ([Greek:
prolaepsis]) of the thing, we will inquire, said Epictetus, at leisure;
but I have so much to say to you that he who without God attempts so
great a matter, is hateful to God, and has no other purpose than to act
indecently in public.

In the first place, in the things which relate to yourself, you must not
be in any respect like what you do now; you must not blame God or man;
you must take away desire altogether, you must transfer avoidance
([Greek: echchlisis]) only to the things which are within the power of
the will; you must not feel anger nor resentment or envy nor pity; a
girl must not appear handsome to you, nor must you love a little
reputation, nor be pleased with a boy or a cake. For you ought to know
that the rest of men throw walls around them and houses and darkness
when they do any such things, and they have many means of concealment. A
man shuts the door, he sets somebody before the chamber; if a person
comes, say that he is out, he is not at leisure. But the Cynic instead
of all these things must use modesty as his protection; if he does not,
he will be indecent in his nakedness and under the open sky. This is his
house, his door; this is the slave before his bedchamber; this is his
darkness. For he ought not to wish to hide anything that he does; and if
he does, he is gone, he has lost the character of a Cynic, of a man who
lives under the open sky, of a free man; he has begun to fear some
external thing, he has begun to have need of concealment, nor can he get
concealment when he chooses. For where shall he hide himself and how?
And if by chance this public instructor shall be detected, this
paedagogue, what kind of things will he be compelled to suffer? when then
a man fears these things, is it possible for him to be bold with his
whole soul to superintend men? It cannot be: it is impossible.

In the first place then you must make your ruling faculty pure, and this
mode of life also. Now (you should say), to me the matter to work on is
my understanding, as wood is to the carpenter, as hides to the
shoemaker; and my business is the right use of appearances. But the body
is nothing to me: the parts of it are nothing to me. Death? Let it come
when it chooses, either death of the whole or of a part. Fly, you say.
And whither; can any man eject me out of the world? H