If you have an earnest desire towards philosophy,
prepare yourself from the very first to have the multitude laugh and sneer, and say, "He is returned to
us a philosopher all at once;" and "Whence this
supercilious look? " Now, for your part, do not have
a supercilious look indeed; but keep steadily to those
[p. 2225]
things which appear best to you, as one appointed by
God to this particular station. For remember that,
if you are persistent, those very persons who at first
ridiculed will afterwards admire you. But if you
are conquered by them, you will incur a double
ridicule.
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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