Day 5 · Q1: Self-Knowledge · January 5, 2026
Pause. Breathe. Begin.
I . L E C T I O
Epictetus
Discourses, Book I, Ch. 1
“Some things are within our power, while others are not. Within our power are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and whatever is of our own doing.”
C O N T E X T
Epictetus was born a slave. He understood powerlessness not as philosophy but as lived experience. This opening to his Discourses is perhaps the most practical sentence ever written.
I I . M E D I T A T I O
“What are you currently trying to control that is not within your power?”
I I I . S C R I P T I O
Write one sentence listing one thing within your power and one thing that is not.
I V . C O N N E X I O
Epictetus offers a practical test for Marcus Aurelius's inner citadel. How does the dichotomy of control serve as its foundation?
This practice exists because of readers like you.
Sustain it →Tomorrow's passage, delivered at dawn.