“If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 28
The Stoics believed that the mind is the most valuable possession and must be protected, while the body can be controlled by external forces. We often unconsciously hand over control of our minds to social media, television, and other people, leading to a waste of time and energy. This self-inflicted control of our minds is an abomination to the Stoics.
