Book · 108
Discourses
by Epictetus
A former slave lectures Roman students that their misery comes from their own judgments, not their circumstances, and Reddit still cites him to settle arguments.
What does Reddit think of Discourses?
Only two of Discourses' 206 recognized mentions come from outside r/Stoicism, and the ones inside it don't read like praise so much as case law. The highest-upvoted excerpts function as citations in an argument. A ↑642 thread reaches for Epictetus to explain why an insult requires your own consent to land, quoting Socrates and Frederick Douglass alongside him. A ↑238 comment uses him to draw a line between actual Stoic philosophy and what it calls 'modern day self help,' arguing character matters more than productivity. A ↑282 comment goes further: newcomers who treat the practice as a coping mechanism have 'got stoicism fundamentally wrong' from the first page. A ↑382 thread even warns against dragging uninterested people into it, treating the impulse to evangelize as its own kind of failure. Mentions spiked to 86 in 2022, more than any other year by a wide margin, then eased in every year since.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · The dichotomy of control
- · Opinion, not circumstance, as the root of suffering
- · Virtue and character over outcome
- · Philosophy as correction rather than comfort
- · Pushing back on productivity-flavored readings of Stoicism
Common praise
- + A ↑642 thread reaches for Epictetus specifically to argue that insults require your own consent to land, pairing him with Socrates and Frederick Douglass rather than leaning on him alone.
- + A ↑123 comment quotes Discourses 2.13 directly, the performer who's fine alone but anxious on stage, as the clearest explanation on offer for why anxiety tracks desire, not circumstance.
- + A ↑87 thread applies the control/non-control split to one specific workplace situation, as advice someone could act on that day, not abstract theory.
- + A ↑238 comment uses it to push back on productivity-flavored self-help versions of Stoicism, insisting character is the actual subject.
Common criticism
- − A ↑282 comment states plainly that new readers often 'got stoicism fundamentally wrong' starting here, mistaking the practice for a coping mechanism rather than the argument it actually makes.
- − A ↑382 thread flags a real misuse pattern: readers who take the philosophy and start dragging uninterested friends and family into it.
- − With 206 mentions concentrated almost entirely in r/Stoicism, there's no visible read on how the book lands outside a community already committed to the practice.
- − Sentiment across the scored excerpts doesn't run warm — it's the profile of a text people consult under duress, not one they reread for pleasure.
Who it's for
Bring this in once you're already arguing about what Stoicism actually requires, not before. The ↑642 and ↑238 threads both use it that way — as the text that settles a dispute, not light introductory reading. If you're the person in the ↑382 thread who loves philosophy and can't stop pushing it on people who don't want it, the book is arguably describing your specific failure mode. New to the practice entirely? A ↑282 comment warns that starting here is exactly how people mistake the whole thing for a coping mechanism.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Discourses?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“>"A lesser man cannot harm a good man" -Socrates >"A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me." - Frederick Douglass >"Remember that it is we who torment, we who make difficulties for ourselves — that is, our opinions do. What, for instance, does it mean to be insulte…
“Has it occurred to you that they appear to be able to take pleasure in the small things, and that it would be a far greater expression of your philosophical wisdom to try to achieve their happiness, rather than trying to drag them into topics they *clearly* have no interest in. I love philosophy. I…
“Short answer: no, being stoic is not a coping mechanism. But what you are doing right now is absolutely a coping mechanism. I've been where you are because I started my practice with the same book as you, and I think I can help here. You've got stoicism fundamentally wrong, which is a common pitfal…
“>That’s why I just want them to fail in the future so badly for making my life harder and stressful, and also having such attitudes that I think no jobs or leaders would even want. In Stoicism, emotions like this (called "passions") are the result our judgments and expectations. You seem to have a…
“I’ll say that the content you’ve read is modern day self help and not the philosophy you claim it is. You seem to measure your own “success” on its productivity rather than your character. Character or excellence of being is all a Stoic values. It could be that you see “outcomes” as more important…
“2.13 when I see a man anxious is say, “what does this man want? If he did not want something which is not in his lower how could he be anxious?” For this reason a mute player when is he singing by himself has no anxiety, but when he enters the theater, he is anxious even if he has a good voice and p…
“I just read chapter 19 on Epictetus discourses last week, where he discusses how to deal with tyrants. What I got from it is to not be disturbed by their actions as they can't break your will.
“I second this, but there's a potential for this going sour. OP has to know that there's stoicism/broicism, and there's Stoicism. Best bet is to stay away from Ryan holiday stuff, and just get Robin Waterfield's translation of the Discourses of Epictetus, and possibly John Sellar's "Stoicism" to…
“Read the enchiridion at the back of the Epictetus’ discourses and selected writings. Then the Meditations.
“If you’re looking for a classic text that will teach you Stoicism, you should read Enchiridion and Discourses of Epictetus.
“More specifically, ppl with this false impression of stoicism probably only read the Meditations and tbh its wording can be easily misunderstood by beginners Ppl need to stop recommending the Meditations as a primer and instead recommend something like the Enchiridion or a select few of the discour…
“This isn't something anyone can summarize into a reddit comment. Partly because of you don't seek the answers yourself you wont be engaged/convinced and partly because there is a 10,000 character limit. If you read Epictetus discourses however this is answered in great detail. There isnt a shortcu…
“> If you're a total beginner, my recommendation is always to start with the Enchiridion and discourses of Epictetus. They are available for free online. "The Practicing Stoic" by Ward Farnsworth also comes highly recommended as a primer. > Enchiridion is structured as an instruction or lesson, and …
“Well, first of all, allow yourself to feel your emotions without judging them as good or bad. Just observe them, they are not evil – make friends with the emotion, learn what it has to say. And they pass like the weather. Next, read some old Stoic philosophy. I recommend The Discourses and Selected …
“Some of the translations are hilarious, in my opinions. In the Penguin Classics translation of Epictetus’ Discourses and Selected Writings. In Book IV: Chapter I: On Freedom, he mentions a slave who may end up finding a sugar daddy.
Convinced? Pick up Discourses
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Discourses — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guides featuring Discourses
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
Discourses — frequently asked
What does Reddit actually think of Discourses and Selected Writings?+
It functions as a working reference inside r/Stoicism more than a book people simply praise. A ↑642 thread cites Epictetus directly to argue insults require consent; a ↑238 comment uses him to push back on self-help readings of Stoicism. People argue with it, not just about it.
Is Discourses and Selected Writings a good starting point for Stoicism?+
Maybe not. A ↑282 r/Stoicism comment warns that readers who start here commonly mistake the whole practice for a coping mechanism and get the fundamentals wrong. If you want a gentler entry point, look elsewhere first, then come back to Epictetus once you have some grounding.
Why did mentions of Discourses and Selected Writings spike in 2022?+
The tracked data shows 86 mentions that year against 15 the year before and 57 the year after — the clear high point of the seven-year record. The data doesn't explain the cause directly, but it lines up with r/Stoicism's broader growth period; mentions have eased in every year since.
Can Discourses and Selected Writings be misused, according to Reddit?+
Yes, per a ↑382 r/Stoicism thread that specifically warns against using the philosophy to justify pushing it on people who aren't interested — treating that impulse itself as a failure to actually absorb the book's argument about focusing on what you control.