Epictetus tells his daughter how to do anything, no matter what it is. He says she doesn't have a choice about their situation or status in ancient Rome. No one has the power to degrade us only themselves by being unfair and unkind. You can be someone your kids respect, someone that they can be proud of. The single parent working long shifts in a restaurant is far more impressive than the half-assing stockbroker anyway.
Of course, her father would have preferred to be powerful, to be wealthy, to hold some prestigious position. He didn’t want to dig sewage canals or wait on entitled aristocrats. He didn’t want to be at the bottom of Rome’s social hierarchy. Nobody would choose that life.
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