When you set about any action, remind yourself
of what nature the action is. If you are going to
bathe, represent to yourself the incidents usual in the
bath, - some persons pouring out, others pushing in,
others scolding, others pilfering. And thus you will
more safely go about this action, if you say to yourself, " I will now go to bathe, and keep my own will
[p. 2218]
in harmony with nature." And so with regard to
every other action. For thus, if any impediment
arises in bathing, you will be able to say, "It was not
only to bathe that I desired, but to keep my will in
harmony with nature; and I shall not keep it thus,
if I am out of humor at things that happen."
This text is part of:
The Works of Epictetus: His Discourses, in Four Books, the Enchiridion, and Fragments. Epictetus. Thomas Wentworth Higginson. translator. New York. Thomas Nelson and Sons. 1890.
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