Against the Sceptics

Epictetus – Discourses Book 1
I.5. Against the Sceptics

Types of petrification of the mind are:

1. Petrification of the intellect, and
2. Petrification of the sense of honour. When defiance is misplaced, against self-evident truths.

“One person does not notice a contradiction in his reasoning; he is unfortunate. Another person notices it, all right, but does not budge and does not back down; he is even more unfortunate. His sense of honour and truthfulness has been excised, and his reason – not excised, but brutalised.”

I can and should avoid petrification of the mind, even when I cannot avoid that of the body.