Enchiridion

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. Thirty chapters 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.

The Stoic Cheat Sheet

In this first volume of the Stoic Handbook cheat sheets, you can read the essential wisdom of the first 5 chapters from Epictetus’ manual, as well as listen to companion audio reflections.

The Stoic Handbook by Jon BrooksJon Brooks

Stoic Cheat Sheet: Volume 2

In this second volume of the Stoic Handbook cheat sheets, you can read the essential wisdom of chapters 5-10 of Epictetus’ manual, and listen to companion audio reflections.

The Stoic Handbook by Jon BrooksJon Brooks

The 53 Chapters

1. The Dichotomy of Control
2. Aversion and Desire
3. Attachment to Possessions
4. How to Manage Your Expectations and Plan Your Day
5. No Event is Disturbing or "Bad"
6. It Is Foolish To Feel Pride Over External Things
7. The Dangers of Becoming Too Attached to Life
8. Welcome Events Just As They Are
9. Illness Is Only a Problem For the Body
10. Every Challenge is a Gift
11. Nothing Can Be "Lost", Only "Returned"
12. How to Turn Stress Into Tranquility
13. Do Not Wish to Appear Wise
14. Impossible Desires Cause Disappointment
15. How to Gain the Powers of a Stoic God
16. How Stoics Sympathise with Others
17. Life is a Movie, Just Play Your Role
18. All Bad Luck is Good Luck
19. Never Experience Defeat Again
20. Only Our Beliefs Can Harm Us
21. Keep Death In Mind
22. Stay on the Stoic Path
23. Approval Seeking
24. Never Sacrifice Integrity for Wealth
25. The Stoic Antidote to Envy
26. "See Yourself as a Friend": Managing Distress
27. Nature Is Not Evil, It Just "Is"
28. Would You Sell Your Mind to Strangers?
29. Count the full cost before you commit (coming)
30. Social Roles in Relationships
31. Piety: wanting things to happen as they do (coming)
32. Divination: you already know what to do (coming)
33. Rules for Living: Epictetus' Code of Conduct
34. Pleasure: weigh the joy against the regret (coming)
35. Once you decide, own it openly (coming)
36. The banquet logic of sharing (coming)
37. Never take a role beyond your powers (coming)
38. Guard your ruling faculty like your footing (coming)
39. The body is the measure: the shoe and the foot (coming)
40. Valued for character, not appearance (coming)
41. Don't make the body your project (coming)
42. The insulter acts on what seems right to them (coming)
43. Everything has two handles (coming)
44. "Richer" never meant "better" (coming)
45. Judge actions slowly (coming)
46. Don't preach it, digest it (coming)
47. Train hard, boast never (coming)
48. The marks of real progress (coming)
49. Reading Chrysippus is not the point (coming)
50. Treat your principles like laws (coming)
51. How long will you wait to demand the best of yourself? (coming)
52. First, live the doctrines (coming)
53. 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.

Browse Topics

1. Anxiety
2. Social Invincibility
3. Resilience Training
4. Enchiridion

All posts by date

• How to Tame a Craving (Epictetus Style): The Ultimate Practical Guide
• On Dealing with Future Uncertainty
• Trust The Cosmic Perspective
• Use The Mental Contrasting Method to End Dabbling and Achieve Mastery
• Nature Is Not Evil, It Just "Is"
• "See Yourself as a Friend" Technique for Managing Distress
• The Stoic Antidote to Envy
• Never Sacrifice Integrity for Wealth
• Stay on the Stoic Path
• Keep Death In Mind
• Never Experience Defeat Again
• All Bad Luck is Good Luck
• Life is a Movie, Just Play Your Role
• How Stoics Sympathise with Others
• How to Gain the Powers of a Stoic God
• Impossible Desires Cause Disappointment
• Do Not Wish to Appear Wise
• How to Turn Stress Into Tranquility
• Nothing Can Be "Lost"—Only "Returned"
• Every Challenge is a Gift
• Illness Is Only a Problem For the Body
• Welcome Events Just As They Are
• The Dangers of Becoming Too Attached to Life
• It Is Foolish To Feel Pride Over External Things
• No Event is Disturbing or "Bad"
• How to Manage Your Expectations and Plan Your Day
• Attachment to Possessions
• Aversion and Desire
• The Dichotomy of Control