Never say of anything, "I have lost it," but, "I have restored it."
Epictetus The Enchiridion, Section XI (125 CE) Translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
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When and why it was written
- When
- From the Enchiridion, the handbook compiled by Arrian from Epictetus's teaching in the early 2nd century CE.
- Why
- Epictetus is teaching how to hold people and things as on loan rather than owned.
What it means
Epictetus asks for a change of grammar. What we call loss he calls giving back something that was only ever lent.
The idea is demanding, and it is not meant to make grief disappear. It is meant to make gratitude possible while the thing is still here.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
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The Enchiridion, 125 CE
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