your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.1.39b–40a
The Stoics urge us to consider not only how things appear, but what effort, activity, and choices they are a result of. The message of the text is that people should not confuse the image they present to the world for who they actually are, as media messaging can often blur the distinction. It also draws attention to the fact that consumerism was also an issue in ancient Rome.
