From: imbibe@mindspring.com   
      
   Epictetus taught that philosophy is a way of life and not simply a theoretical   
   discipline. To Epictetus, all external events are beyond our control; we   
   should accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. However,   
   individuals are responsible for    
   their own actions, which they can examine and control through rigorous   
   self-discipline.   
      
   Epictetus was born around AD 50, presumably at Hierapolis, Phrygia. The name   
   his parents gave him is unknown; the word epíktētos simply means "gained" or   
   "acquired"; Plato, in his Laws, used the term to mean property that is "added   
   to one's hereditary    
   property". He spent his youth in Rome as a slave to Epaphroditus, a wealthy   
   freedman and secretary to Nero.   
      
   Early in life, Epictetus acquired a passion for philosophy and, with the   
   permission of his wealthy master, he studied Stoic philosophy under Musonius   
   Rufus. Becoming more educated in this way raised his social status. At some   
   point, he became disabled.    
   Celsus, quoted by Origen, wrote that this was because his leg had been   
   deliberately broken by his master. Simplicius, in contrast, wrote that he had   
   simply been disabled from childhood.   
      
   Epictetus obtained his freedom sometime after the death of Nero in AD 68, and   
   he began to teach philosophy in Rome. Around AD 93, when the Roman emperor   
   Domitian banished all philosophers from the city, Epictetus moved to Nicopolis   
   in Epirus, Greece,    
   where he founded a school of philosophy.   
      
   His most famous pupil, Arrian, studied under him as a young man (around AD   
   108) and claimed to have written his famous Discourses based on the notes he   
   took on Epictetus's lectures. Arrian argued that his Discourses should be   
   considered comparable to the    
   Socratic literature. Arrian described Epictetus as a powerful speaker who   
   could "induce his listener to feel just what Epictetus wanted him to feel."   
   Many eminent figures sought conversations with him. Emperor Hadrian was   
   friendly with him, and may have    
   heard him speak at his school in Nicopolis.   
      
   He lived a life of great simplicity, with few possessions. He lived alone for   
   a long time, but in his old age, he adopted a friend's child who otherwise   
   would have been left to die and raised him with the aid of a woman. It is   
   unclear whether Epictetus    
   and she were married. He died sometime around AD 135. After his death,   
   according to Lucian, his oil lamp was purchased by an admirer for 3,000   
   drachmae.   
      
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epictetus   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)