more on this theme | more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
You can fetter my leg, but not even Zeus himself can get the better of my choice.
Gist of Idea
Not even Zeus can control what I choose
Source
Epictetus (The Discourses [c.56], 1.01.23)
Book Ref
Epictetus: 'The Discourses, The Handbook, Fragments', ed/tr. Gill,C [Everyman 1995], p.7
A Reaction
This is the beginnings of the idea of free will. It is based on the accurate observation that the intrinsic privacy of a mind means that no external force can be assured of controlling its actions. Epictetus failed to think of internal forces.