Nothing great, said Epictetus, is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is.
Epictetus Discourses (108 CE) Translated by George Long
Source checked by an editor
When and why it was written
- When
- From the Discourses, Arrian's record of Epictetus's lectures in Nicopolis, early 2nd century CE.
- Why
- A student asked how to live in harmony with nature, and wanted the answer at once.
What it means
Epictetus answers impatience with a fig tree: it has to flower, then fruit, then ripen. Nothing worth having skips the stages.
Character, like fruit, is slow, and the slowness is not a sign that nothing is happening.
Our reading of the passage cited above, not a quotation from a commentary.
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Discourses, 108 CE
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