On this page
The Enchiridion is Epictetus' pocket manual for living well: 53 short chapters compiled by his student Arrian, covering everything from handling insults to facing death. It is the most practical book the ancient world produced, and the reason this site is called The Stoic Handbook.
My goal here is simple: rebuild every chapter as a modern, practical guide, with real examples instead of abstractions, so it reads the way Epictetus might teach it today. More than half are done. The rest are on the way. Read them in order, or jump straight to the one your week needs.
Cheat Sheets
Even though I break down each chapter of the Enchiridion, I've also created quick reference guides you can use to help with the learning process. These guides contain links to the full articles and audio lessons.
Jon Brooks
Jon Brooks
The 53 Chapters
- The Dichotomy of Control
- Aversion and Desire
- Attachment to Possessions
- How to Manage Your Expectations and Plan Your Day
- No Event is Disturbing or "Bad"
- It Is Foolish To Feel Pride Over External Things
- The Dangers of Becoming Too Attached to Life
- Welcome Events Just As They Are
- Illness Is Only a Problem For the Body
- Every Challenge is a Gift
- Nothing Can Be "Lost", Only "Returned"
- How to Turn Stress Into Tranquility
- Do Not Wish to Appear Wise
- Impossible Desires Cause Disappointment
- How to Gain the Powers of a Stoic God
- How Stoics Sympathise with Others
- Life is a Movie, Just Play Your Role
- All Bad Luck is Good Luck
- Never Experience Defeat Again
- Only Our Beliefs Can Harm Us
- Keep Death In Mind
- Stay on the Stoic Path
- Approval Seeking
- Never Sacrifice Integrity for Wealth
- The Stoic Antidote to Envy
- "See Yourself as a Friend": Managing Distress
- Nature Is Not Evil, It Just "Is"
- Would You Sell Your Mind to Strangers?
- Count the full cost before you commit (coming)
- Social Roles in Relationships
- Piety: wanting things to happen as they do (coming)
- Divination: you already know what to do (coming)
- Rules for Living: Epictetus' Code of Conduct
- Pleasure: weigh the joy against the regret (coming)
- Once you decide, own it openly (coming)
- The banquet logic of sharing (coming)
- Never take a role beyond your powers (coming)
- Guard your ruling faculty like your footing (coming)
- The body is the measure: the shoe and the foot (coming)
- Valued for character, not appearance (coming)
- Don't make the body your project (coming)
- The insulter acts on what seems right to them (coming)
- Everything has two handles (coming)
- "Richer" never meant "better" (coming)
- Judge actions slowly (coming)
- Don't preach it, digest it (coming)
- Train hard, boast never (coming)
- The marks of real progress (coming)
- Reading Chrysippus is not the point (coming)
- Treat your principles like laws (coming)
- How long will you wait to demand the best of yourself? (coming)
- First, live the doctrines (coming)
- The four quotes Epictetus lived by (coming)
Supporting Guides
Pieces that grew out of the Enchiridion but stand on their own:
- How to Tame a Craving (Epictetus Style)
- On Dealing with Future Uncertainty
- Use The Mental Contrasting Method to End Dabbling
- Trust The Cosmic Perspective
Put It Into Practice
Reading the manual is the easy half. If you want to actually train this, the free 7-day Stoic challenge gives you one practice a day for a week, drawn from the same chapters above. It is the fastest way to close the gap between knowing the ideas and living them.