This celebrated work is a compilation made by Arrian himself from the 'Discourses', and the great majority of those who know Epictetus at all have come to do so from this little book alone. Occasionally Arrian has modified to a slight degree the form of statement, as we may observe from the numerous instances, amounting to somewhat more than half of the book, where material from the first four books of the 'Discourses' has been employed; but the substance seems to have been faithfuly preserved, wherever it is possible to follow his procedure in detail.

This soft covered, 45 page booklet costs under $ 5.00. It is a translation by George Long (1800-1879). The Enchiridion is a brief introductory manual on how to transform Stoicism into a way of life. In it are covered rules for proper social and sexual conduct, and for true thinking. Part of right thinking entails knowing how to distinguish that which we can change from that which we cannot. Our lives are subject to many intractables: the vagaries of health and fortune, and finally, death. But we retain the power to control our thinking, passions and decisions. In this way we can come to terms with our environment, and thus free ourselves from a world of change and dependencies.

Epictetus was one of the most important Stoic philosophers of the first century A.D., along with Seneca, Lucius Annaeus Cornutus and Musonius Rufus. Stoicism's emphasis on reason, austerity and self-control continued to appeal to sober-minded individuals during the next century (the emperor Marcus Aurelius being Stoicism's most distinguished late exponent), before fading as a school in the third century A.D. Nevertheless, the works of Epictetus as compiled by Arrian have played an influential role in the development of the modern philosphies of rationalism and secularism.