September 16, 2026

Nothing Can Touch Your Will

Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will, unless the will itself chooses. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will. And add this reflection on the occasion of everything that happens; for you will find it an impediment to something else, but not to yourself.

Epictetus was born a slave and, according to tradition, was permanently lamed by a cruel master before later winning his freedom and teaching Stoic philosophy openly at Nicopolis after being banished from Rome. In this passage from the Enchiridion, he draws a sharp line between the body's limitations and the freedom of the will, showing that a disease or a lame leg only obstructs the body or the leg, never the deeper faculty of choice, unless we let it. He extends this insight to every event in life, arguing that circumstances may hinder something external, but they cannot touch the self that judges and chooses. For the Stoics, only virtue, the right use of that will, counts as good in itself, while health, wealth, and reputation remain merely preferred but never decisive for living well. Practicing this principle means training yourself, at each hindrance, to ask not what has been taken away but what freedom of choice still remains.

A principle of Stoicism: Virtue Is the Only Good →