In our last few +1s (here, here, and here), we’ve been chatting about Harriet Tubman and her Heroic courage.
After writing that last +1, I did a set of burpees then looked up at my wall of Heroes on the OTHER wall in my office-studio that has Heroic portraits.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is on the upper left. Then Abraham Lincoln.
Of course, both of those Heroes were contemporaries of Harriet Tubman.
And, both, of course, were ardent abolitionists.
I’ll be thinking of Harriet every time I go to Ralph and Abe for wisdom.
Now…
Today I want to go back to A.A. Long and his wisdom on Epictetus.
Let’s get straight to work.
As we discussed in our last +1, Epictetus was a slave.
And… His name wasn’t even a real name. In ancient Greek, the word Epictetus meant “acquired.”
With that in mind, Professor Long tells us: “The chief constraint on personal freedom in ancient Greece and Rome was what Epictetus knew first hand, the social practice and indignity of slavery. It was slavery, the condition of being literally owned and made to serve at another’s behest that gave ancient freedom its intensely positive value and emotional charge. Slaves’ bodily movements during their waking lives were strictly constrained by their masters’ wishes and by the menial functions they were required to perform.”
He continues by saying: “But slaves, like everyone else, had minds, and minds as well as bodies are subject to freedom and constraint. You can be externally free and internally a slave, controlled by psychological masters in the form of disabling desires and passions and cravings. Conversely, you could be outwardly obstructed or even in literal bondage but internally free from frustration and disharmony, so free in fact that you found yourself in charge of your own well-being, lacking little or nothing that you could not provide for yourself. The latter, in essence, is the freedom that Epictetus, the ancient Stoic philosopher, made the central theme of his teaching.”
As a former slave (whose name, I repeat, literally meant “acquired”!), Epictetus had a very powerful perspective on the notions of slavery vs. freedom.
Thankfully, it’s incredibly unlikely that any of us have personally experienced the literal, physical bondage of slavery.
Yet...
How many of us can truly declare ourselves free?
The reality of our own struggles with true freedom is one of the reasons why Epictetus’ wisdom still strikes so close to home.
Wisdom like this: “If someone in the street were entrusted with your body, you would be furious. Yet you entrust your mind to anyone around who happens to insult you, and allow it to be troubled and confused. Aren’t you ashamed of that?”
Now, it’s nearly impossible for me to read that passage about freedom and not think of Viktor Frankl. As we’ve discussed in different contexts (most recently in our Note on Massimo Pigliucci’s great book How to Be a Stoic), Frankl was deeply inspired by Stoic wisdom.
When he found himself in a concentration camp, he put his Stoic training to use and developed his ideas on Logotherapy. One of the central tenets of his philosophy was on freedom.
He tells us: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
And, of course, he also tells us: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Right after Frankl comes to mind, James Stockdale shows up. He, too, lost his physical freedom when he was a prisoner of war. But, as the commanding officer in a prison camp, he REFUSED to give up his ultimate freedom—to show up as the best version of himself.
His primary philosophical guide?
Epictetus.
In Courage Under Fire he tells us: “‘What is the fruit of your doctrines?’ someone once asked Epictetus. ‘Tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom,’ he answered.”
So...
Want freedom?
Very important note…
Don’t wait for the (inevitable!!) emergencies and/or huge challenges life will throw at us.
Practice with the little stuff.
Notice just how often you give away your freedom.
And reclaim it.
TODAY.
Unlock this Heroic +1 (and over 1,000 more)!
Create your account to get more wisdom in less time. Personal development made simple so you can flourish in energy, work, and love. Today.
