February 4

A human being is free only when he is in truth. And truth is revealed by reason.

1

Recall that a distinguishing property of a rational being is a free submission to his fate, and not a shameful struggle with it, which is characteristic of animals.

— Marcus Aurelius

2

If a human being did not know that eyes could see and had never opened them, he would be very pitiful. Likewise, a human being is even more pitiful if he does not understand that reason has been given him in order to calmly bear misfortune. If a human being lives rationally, then it is easy for him to bear misfortune, because reason tells him that misfortunes pass and oftentimes turn into some good. And meanwhile, instead of facing misfortune directly, people try to turn away from it. Would it not be better to rejoice about the fact that God gave us the power to not feel sad about the things that happen to us outside of our control, and to thank God for subordinating our soul to the only thing that is within our power—to our reason? After all, he did not subordinate our soul to our parents, nor our bothers, nor wealth, nor our body, nor death. He subordinated it to the only thing that depends on us—to our reason.

— After Epictetus

3

Throw some nuts and cookies onto a street, and at once children will come running and begin picking them up, fighting each other over them. Adults, on the other hand, would not start fighting over this. And even children would not begin picking up empty shells.

For a rational human being, wealth, status and fame are either children’s treats or empty shells. Let children pick them up, let them fight over them, let them kiss the hands of the rich and the rulers and their minions—for a rational human being, all these things are shells. If some nut happens to fall into the hands of a rational human being, then there is no reason not to eat it. But to bend down in order to pick it up, to fight over it, to push someone off his feet or to fall yourself—such trifles are not worth it.

— Epictetus

We are unfree and subordinate to our passions and to other people to the extent that we stray away from the demands of reason. True freedom is attainable only through reason.