How Stoic Is The Quote “Endure And Renounce” In Reality?

how a lot of would-be-Stoics get this one wrong and screw things up for themselves

Perhaps one of the most popular one-liners many would-be Stoics are attracted to is “Endure and Renounce”. This gets attributed to Epictetus, and indeed he might well have said it. The original Greek of these two imperatives are anekhou and apekhou. An older translation of these terms by Oldfather reads “Bear and Forbear”.

This all sounds quite good, and not a few people take this formula as a sort of motto or mantra summing up what they assume to be a Stoic attitude. To their mind, this expresses the inner strength Stoic philosophy and practice promises. You’ll find this phrase incorporated into and circulated in so-called “quotes” online, with zero actual citation of the text from which it derives. You’ll also find it these days emblazoned on all sorts of supposedly “Stoic” merchandise up for sale. People even tattoo it on their body, and then proudly post pictures of their ink-scription online in Stoic groups.

If you put in the work to try to track it down, however, you’ll search in vain for this exact phrase in the two canonical works of Epictetus, written by his student Arrian, namely the Discourses and the Enchiridion, because those “two words” actually derive from one of the “Fragments”, that is testimonials about what Epictetus said found in the works of other authors.

In this specific case, that phrase is the very end of a longer passage in Aulus Gellius’ Latin work, Attic Nights. Gellius reports what the skeptic philosopher Favorinus (who reportedly wrote a dialogue titled “Against Epictetus”) claimed Epictetus was in the habit of saying. That’s where this phrase comes from.

Given that background, one might consider this Aulus-says-that-Favorinus-says-that-Epictetus-said transmission of “endure and renounce” a bit less credible than what we get directly from Arrian. Considering the credence people uncritically assign this formula as an aid to developing and displaying Stoic inner strength, I’m more interested in determining whether it is really prudent of would-be Stoics to emphasize that catch-phrase in isolation, or whether that’s foolishly asking for trouble

If we read the fragment in full, two passages provide well-needed context. One of these explains what this “endure and renounce” is actually about. Epictetus supposedly maintained that two vices were especially serious (gravissima). One of these is “intolerantia”, lack or failure of endurance. This happens when we don’t endure or bear wrongs (injuriae) that we should. The other is “incontinentia”, lack or failure of self-control. And that happens when we don’t hold ourselves back from matters (res) or pleasures (voluptates) that we ought to

So, the point isn’t just to “endure” or put up with any and all things that we might find difficult, anxiety-provoking, irritating, or even insulting. It is instead that we should bear those things we ought to.

Likewise, we’re not supposed to simply renounce everything or even most things. We don’t even have to reject all pleasures. Again, we ought to renounce, or more literally and in less dramatic language, “hold ourselves back from” those matters and pleasures that we ought to.

How does one determine this “should” or “ought to”? This is a prime example of how people get “Stoicism” wrong. They rely upon quotes or, as Seneca calls them “precepts” or “maxims”, they’ve memorized or written down somewhere, without contextualizing them in the complex matrix that is real, genuine Stoicism. When you reduce Stoicism to sound-bites or life-hacks, what you think you’re working with ceases being Stoicism, and you’re likely to make yourself worse in the process.

The would-be Stoic needs to cultivate the virtues, in particular prudence or practical wisdom. So, there’s absolutely nothing specifically Stoic about just “enduring” or “renouncing”.

Here’s where the second passage from Fragment 10 provides us with an important warning. Epictetus reportedly claimed that the “greatest of philosophers declared that the writings and teachings of philosophy, when poured into a false and degenerate person… turn, change, and are spoiled (verti, mutari, corrumpi)”.

Quite a few people treat passages from philosophical texts or thinkers — which rightly understood and applied can greatly improve one’s life — either superstitiously like talismans that will somehow transform and protect them, or foolishly as standalone rules that apply universally without one needing to exercise prudence. And then they’re surprised that things still go badly for them.

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This piece first appeared in the October 2023 issue of the online magazine The Stoic. If this piece has you now interested in Stoicism, and you would like to know what to read next, this set of recommendations might be helpful for you.

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Gregory Sadler is the president of ReasonIO, a speaker, writer, and producer of popular YouTube videos on philosophy. He is co-host of the radio show Wisdom for Life, and producer of the Sadler’s Lectures podcast. You can request short personalized videos at his Cameo page. If you’d like to take online classes with him, check out the Study With Sadler Academy.