The Encheiridion
The Manual of Epictetus
- Attributed to
- Epictetus
- Translated by
- George Long
- Chapters
- 52
- This translation
- 1877
Free of copyright worldwide. The translator died in 1879, and this translation was published in 1877. Even under the longest copyright term in the world — the author's life plus 100 years, which applies in Mexico — the text has been free since 1980. Source scan
Every chapter is free to read in Taoist Diary, with no account and no ads. Listening — the narrated chapters and the daily audio — is the subscription, at $1.99 a month.
How it opens
Of things some are in our power, and others are not. In our power are opinion (hupolaepsis), movement towards a thing (hormae), desire, aversion (echchlisis), turning from a thing; and in a word, whatever are our acts. Not in our power are the body, property, reputation, offices (magisterial power), and in a word, whatever are not our own acts.
The Encheiridion · Chapter 1 · translated by George Long
Before you start
- Is The Encheiridion free to read?
- Yes — all 52 chapters, with no account and no ads. George Long's translation is out of copyright worldwide, so there is nothing to buy in order to read it. The paid part of Taoist Diary is listening: the narrated chapters and the daily audio, at $1.99 a month.
- Which translation is this?
- George Long's, published in 1877. It is not modernised, paraphrased or trimmed — the sentences are his. The scan it was taken from is linked above, so any line here can be checked against it.
- How long is it?
- 52 chapters, listed in full below — Chapter 1 through Chapter 52. Most are short enough to read in a sitting, which is how the app serves them: one at a time, one a day.
Read closely: what we've written about The Encheiridion
The 52 chapters
- 1Chapter 1
- 2Chapter 2
- 3Chapter 3
- 4Chapter 4
- 5Chapter 5
- 6Chapter 6
- 7Chapter 7
- 8Chapter 8
- 9Chapter 9
- 10Chapter 10
- 11Chapter 11
- 12Chapter 12
- 13Chapter 13
- 14Chapter 14
- 15Chapter 15
- 16Chapter 16
- 17Chapter 17
- 18Chapter 18
- 19Chapter 19
- 20Chapter 20
- 21Chapter 21
- 22Chapter 22
- 23Chapter 23
- 24Chapter 24
- 25Chapter 25
- 26Chapter 26
- 27Chapter 27
- 28Chapter 28
- 29Chapter 29
- 30Chapter 30
- 31Chapter 31
- 32Chapter 32
- 33Chapter 33
- 34Chapter 34
- 35Chapter 35
- 36Chapter 36
- 37Chapter 37
- 38Chapter 38
- 39Chapter 39
- 40Chapter 40
- 41Chapter 41
- 42Chapter 42
- 43Chapter 43
- 44Chapter 44
- 45Chapter 45
- 46Chapter 46
- 47Chapter 47
- 48Chapter 48
- 49Chapter 49
- 50Chapter 50
- 51Chapter 51
- 52Chapter 52