{"id":2598,"date":"2016-11-08T05:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T11:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturespath\/?p=2598"},"modified":"2016-11-08T05:00:05","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T11:00:05","slug":"epictetus-are-you-an-interpreter-or-a-philosopher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/epictetus-are-you-an-interpreter-or-a-philosopher\/","title":{"rendered":"Epictetus: Are You an Interpreter or a Philosopher?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Portrait<\/a>
Portrait of the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus, 2nd century AD, Louvre Museum, photo by Carole Raddato (cc) 2012.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Anytime someone is showing off
\nbecause he understands Chrysippus,*
\nsay to yourself: \u201cIf Chrysippus
\nhadn\u2019t written such difficult stuff
\nthis guy would have nothing to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seriously, what do you want?<\/p>\n

You want to understand
\nnature and to follow her.<\/p>\n

So I ask\u2014who interprets nature?
\nWell: I hear that Chrysippus does.
\nBut I just can\u2019t understand his writings.
\nSo, I look for someone to interpret them.<\/p>\n

OK then, I find someone and so
\nall I have to do is listen to him.<\/p>\n

That becomes the important thing\u2014
\nadmiring the interpretation. So, then,
\nare you a philosopher or a student?<\/p>\n

This is why, when someone asks
\nfor me to interpret Chrysippus,
\nI blush. I\u2019m walking the walk,
\nbut I won\u2019t that talk at all.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seriously, what do you want?
\nYou want to understand nature and to follow her. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1440,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[29,17,443],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-nature","tag-paganism","tag-stoicism"],"yoast_head":"\nEpictetus: Are You an Interpreter or a Philosopher?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seriously, what do you want? 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You want to understand nature and to follow her.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/epictetus-are-you-an-interpreter-or-a-philosopher\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nature's Sacred Journey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-08T11:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/857\/2016\/11\/Chrysippus_z-210x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Breeden\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Breeden\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/epictetus-are-you-an-interpreter-or-a-philosopher\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/epictetus-are-you-an-interpreter-or-a-philosopher\/\",\"name\":\"Epictetus: Are You an Interpreter or a Philosopher?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-08T11:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-08T11:00:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/b300adc411d9be68fce36f08dde96008\"},\"description\":\"Seriously, what do you want? 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