Not All Changes are Accepted (Handbook of Epictetus Sec. 11-25)

Section 17 mentions that any role that you are given in life you should play it the best you can. If you are given a role and you think you're better than it you should exert your role the best you can with the hope that destiny will put you in a role that suits you in a better way. The point of this passage is that your job is to get the tasks that you are given completed, your job is not to decide which tasks you are assigned. I believe that this is one of the wisest passages I've read so far in Handbook of Epictetus. This is certainly something that I will remember most of my life if not all of it. The best part of it is that it says you have to play the role the best you can no matter what role it is: if it's a beggar you have to play, then you have to play it but remember it's not your role to decide your tasks.

This book makes the reader realize things too, that it's not all color pink in life. It says, "If you crave philosophy prepare yourself on the spot to be ridiculed, to be jeered by many people…" (Sec. 22). People think that if they have a new idea, they will be congratulated and cheered for. The reality is that people in general never want to change because it changes their comfort zone. The world has changed to what it is now because of the people that put up with the put downs and aggravations. This not only includes philosophy but it includes all types of prophets that try to expand their beliefs. The perfect example of it was Christ, who came to earth claiming to be the son of God and not only was he rejected, but his followers were killed and were stoned to death.