“These things don’t go together. You must be a unified human being, either good or bad. You must diligently work either on your own reasoning or on things out of your control—take great care with the inside and not what’s outside, which is to say, stand with the philosopher, or else with the mob!”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.15.13
Focus on your self-awareness in order to avoid external disintegration. We have a choice to stand with the philosopher or to become whatever others need from us, but we cannot be both Jekyll and Hyde forever.
