(no subject)
"The Master said, 'Do not worry because you have no official position. Worry about your qualifications. Do not worry because no one appreciates your abilities. Seek to be worthy of appreciation.' " (Book IV, Number 14)
"The Master said, 'When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.' " (Book IV, Number 17)
These were the quotes from the Analects that I immediately thought of while reading Epictetus. It's not exact, but it's pretty close -- you can't control what material things you have, and you can't control what other people think of you. So you should pay attention to that one thing you do have control over, which is being a good person. Their differences arise in their descriptions of what it means to be good -- either godly (in the Stoic case) or meritorious (in the Confucian).
Really, I just think Epictetus is a hilarious writer for calling his interlocutors idiots all the time. I think the Stoics make a stronger case for ignoring what my translation calls "externals", whereas the Confucian ideal of right conduct is closer to what I think of as the good to which I should apply myself instead.
"The Master said, 'When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.' " (Book IV, Number 17)
These were the quotes from the Analects that I immediately thought of while reading Epictetus. It's not exact, but it's pretty close -- you can't control what material things you have, and you can't control what other people think of you. So you should pay attention to that one thing you do have control over, which is being a good person. Their differences arise in their descriptions of what it means to be good -- either godly (in the Stoic case) or meritorious (in the Confucian).
Really, I just think Epictetus is a hilarious writer for calling his interlocutors idiots all the time. I think the Stoics make a stronger case for ignoring what my translation calls "externals", whereas the Confucian ideal of right conduct is closer to what I think of as the good to which I should apply myself instead.