Some believe that the root of all suffering is the desire to change what already is. Stoicism is a branch of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in the lands of ancient Rome and Greece. After he gained freedom from his previous conditions as a slave, one man named Epictetus rose to the occasion. He went on to open his own institution consisting of disciplines inspired by Socratic teachings and his personal manual. The bigger goal always being to enlighten others on their best approach to life which put simply was; do not attempt to change systems already in place in order to conform, the best way to live is to accept things as they are. This ideology would affect a Stoic in all scopes of life; beliefs, behaviour, and general purpose. According to Epictetus, a person is in control of three areas in life; opinions, actions, and dislikes. Thereby, all…show more content… Everything in your life that is positive, must always be accompanied by the acknowledgement of its nature. There is no doubt that negative situations will occur. A loved one might leave you, your car might get stolen, you could go to prison, however, that is okay. He writes “men are not disturbed by the things which happen, but by opinions about the things (Sources of Western Society, v.1, 65). Life is filled with misfortune, the important thing to remember is that you’re going to get through it. An individual’s task when faced with adversity is to remain undisturbed. Additionally, one should never blame others for their misfortune since it is always the result of our own points of view. Moreover, the Stoics taught that emotions are the results of destructive errors of judgment. They declared that our expectations were incorrect, and that we should live in accordance to reality. To the Stoics, a good mental state is determined by its capacity of reason and rationale. However, this doesn’t mean to rule out emotions
