Epictetus

This article is about GritCult's view of Epictetus. For a general overview, see Epictetus on Wikipedia.

Epictetus
“"Devote the rest of your life to making progress." - Epictetus” (31 August 2025)
In the archive
Portal	The Philosophers
Posts	24
Retweets	205
Likes	1,944
First post	10 January 2018
Latest post	31 August 2025
Posts by year
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Related
Socrates Aristotle C.S. Lewis Camus Emerson

Epictetus appears in 24 posts, more than half of them from 2018. GritCult uses the former slave's teaching for two things: choosing companions who raise one up, and mastering one's own reactions. A plain 2025 card asking for a lifetime of progress became by far his most-shared Epictetus post.

Views

Company was an early and lasting theme. In January 2018 he combined Epictetus with modern science to argue that 'we either become like the people we associate with, or they become like us', and that it is best to step away from people not concerned with living a wise, good and flourishing life ^[1]. He quoted the Enchiridion's advice to avoid fraternising with non-philosophers ^[2], then translated it for the timeline, 'avoid fraternising with NPCs', adding at once that it was 'an inside joke ofcourse' and that 'NPCs are still human' ^[3]. Later quote cards repeat the rule in a gentler key, advising company only with people who bring out one's best.

The second strand is the Stoic division between what is and is not in one's power. 'ANY PERSON CAPABLE OF ANGERING YOU BECOMES YOUR MASTER' ^[4] is one of his best-received statements of it, and he quoted the line that people are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them in 2018 and again in 2023 ^[5]. The same logic is applied to desire, with freedom secured 'by the removal of desire' ^[6], and to death, where the aim is to escape not death but the fear of it. Pride gets the treatment too: one cannot begin to learn what one thinks one already knows.

His biggest Epictetus moment is also his simplest. In August 2025 he posted 'Devote the rest of your life to making progress.' ^[7] with an image and no comment, and it outdrew all his other Epictetus posts combined. It fits how he reads the Stoics in general, as a programme of steady self-improvement rather than resignation. Even the cosmopolitanism Epictetus borrowed from Socrates, answering 'citizen of the world' when asked where one is from, was taken in 2018 as practical advice: 'a case of realigning your frame of reference' ^[8].

Recurring themes

• choosing companions who raise one up
• the NPC as non-philosopher
• mastery of one's own reactions
• freedom through less desire
• a lifetime of progress

Notable post

The most retweeted GritCult post on the subject, with 129 retweets:

Selected posts

All 24 posts in the archive about Epictetus, ranked by retweets. Select a column heading to sort.

Date	Retweets	Likes	Post	Media	Source
31 August 2025	129	1,581	"Devote the rest of your life to making progress." - Epictetus		View
11 January 2018	11	18	Epictetus and modern science tells us we either become like the people we associate with, or they become like us. It's best to disassociate with people who are not concerned with living a wise, good, and flourishing life.		View
5 February 2023	10	68	"HE IS A WISE MAN WHO DOES NOT GRIEVE FOR THE THINGS WHICH HE HAS NOT, BUT REJOICES FOR THOSE WHICH HE HAS." - EPICTETUS		View
13 January 2023	10	49	I CANNOT ESCAPE DEATH, BUT AT LEAST I CAN ESCAPE THE FEAR OF IT.— EPICTETUS		View
27 June 2021	8	32	THE KEY IS TO KEEP COMPANY ONLY WITH PEOPLE WHO UPLIFT YOU, WHOSE PRESENCE CALLS FORTH YOUR BEST. - EPICTETUS		View
11 February 2021	6	62	"ANY PERSON CAPABLE OF ANGERING YOU BECOMES YOUR MASTER. THEY CAN ANGER YOU ONLY WHEN YOU PERMIT YOURSELF TO BE DISTURBED BY THEM." - EPICTETUS		View
9 February 2018	6	19	“Avoid fraternizing with non-philosophers. If you must, though, be careful not to sink to their level; because, you know, if a companion is dirty, his friends cannot help but get a little dirty too, no matter how clean they started out.” (Enchiridion 33.6)		View
16 October 2020	4	26	“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” ― Epictetus		View
19 September 2021	4	15	THE KEY IS TO KEEP COMPANY ONLY WITH PEOPLE WHO UPLIFT YOU, WHOSE PRESENCE CALLS FORTH YOUR BEST. - EPICTETUS		View
26 October 2018	4	8	the forever barbarians but as the descendents of the khans quickly realised their empire was under the attack of other barbarians “Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire.” ― Epictetus - discourses		View
11 March 2023	3	18	"PEOPLE ARE NOT DISTURBED BY THINGS, BUT BY THE VIEW THEY TAKE OF THEM." - EPICTETUS		View
10 September 2018	3	5	hypermodern/metamodern update on Epictetus : avoid fraternising with NPCs an inside joke ofcourse NPCs are still human		View
24 February 2022	2	15	“YOU ARE A LITTLE SOUL CARRYING ABOUT A CORPSE, AS EPICTETUS USED TO SAY ” ― MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS		View
24 June 2018	2	4	stoic thought The Stoic motto “live according to nature” - epictetus are we social animals? - levels of hierarchy of (preferred indifferents)/(goods by relation) principle of oikeiôsis/cosmopolitanism. Hierocles : his ideas of a series of contracting circles of concern:		View
18 April 2023	1	13	“YOU ARE A LITTLE SOUL CARRYING ABOUT A CORPSE, AS EPICTETUS USED TO SAY ” ― MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS		View
10 January 2018	1	1	There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. Epictetus		View
15 May 2018	1	0	The Stoic philosopher (and former slave) Epictetus opined that ‘men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them’.		View
24 March 2020	0	4	“Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire.” ― Epictetus - discourses		View
17 April 2018	0	3	The problem with pride is that it blunts the instrument we need most—our mind. Our ability to learn, to adapt, to be flexible, to build relationships, all of this is dulled by pride. Epictetus “It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”		View
9 February 2018	0	2	“Do as Socrates did, never replying to the question of where he was from with, ‘I am Athenian,’ or ‘I am from Corinth,’ but always, I am a citizen of the world" (Epictetus, Discourses I, 9.1) in terms of a subjective world view, it is a case of realigning your frame of reference		View
11 May 2018	0	1	@FlokiandRagnar Theres like a few texts that are included in those. Epictetus. Marcus. Seneca and more Then im not sure. Im still going thru some stuff but itd be other greek philosophy or old arabic stuff		View
17 April 2018	0	0	Epictetus, who was born a slave and crippled at a young age, wrote: “Where is the good? In the will...If anyone is unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone.”		View
1 May 2018	0	0	Avoid fraternizing with non-philosophers. - Epictetus or NPCs		View
24 May 2018	0	0	@seunn99 idk from young but he did work for him seneca (or epictetus im not sure) writes about working for a tyrant, says one must do ones duty to best ability		View

History

GritCult first posted about Epictetus on 10 January 2018, and most recently on 31 August 2025. Across the archive the subject comes up 24 times, most often in 2018 (13 posts).

See also

The Philosophers portal

References

1. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (11 January 2018). we either become like the people we associate with, or they become like us. X.
2. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (9 February 2018). Avoid fraternizing with non-philosophers. X.
3. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (10 September 2018). avoid fraternising with NPCs ... an inside joke ofcourse ... NPCs are still human. X.
4. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (11 February 2021). ANY PERSON CAPABLE OF ANGERING YOU BECOMES YOUR MASTER. X.
5. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (11 March 2023). PEOPLE ARE NOT DISTURBED BY THINGS, BUT BY THE VIEW THEY TAKE OF THEM. X.
6. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (24 March 2020). Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire. X.
7. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (31 August 2025). Devote the rest of your life to making progress. X.
8. ^GRITCULT [@GRITCULT] (9 February 2018). I am a citizen of the world ... it is a case of realigning your frame of reference. X.

External links

• Posts about Epictetus by GRITCULT on X
• Epictetus on Wikipedia