ARRIAN TO LUCIUS GELLIUS

WISHETH ALL HAPPINESS.

I did not write the Discourses of Epictetus in the formal way that one typically composes a literary work, nor did I publish them myself—any more than I "wrote" them at all. Whatever I heard from his own mouth, I simply attempted to record in his exact words as much as possible, to preserve them as personal notes on his way of thinking and his blunt, frank manner of speaking.

These Discourses are the kind of things someone would naturally say extempore original: "extempore" - Latin for "spontaneously" or "without preparation." in conversation with another, not things prepared for public reading. As they are, I do not know how they have come to the public's attention without my knowledge or consent. However, it is of little consequence to me whether I appear to be a skilled writer, and it is of no consequence to Epictetus whether anyone treats his...