"Remove Desire Entirely": What Epictetus Actually Meant
About this episode
You read that line in the Discourses and your mind goes straight to cravings. Appetites. The stuff you are ashamed of. But that is not what Epictetus meant, and the real meaning is more useful than any advice about willpower.
In this episode I break down the Greek word orexis, explain why it has nothing to do with food or your phone, and walk through the three levels most people get stuck on: the demand, the indifference, and the preference with reservation. Only one of them is Stoicism.
I also share a personal story about driving to pick up my son on a difficult morning, and how I caught myself staking my whole peace on outcomes I could not control. It ends with one question to ask yourself the next time a plan falls through.
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