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Quotation from Discourses (selection) and Encheiridion by Epictetus
“The beginning of philosophy, to him at least who enters on it in the right way and by the door is a consciousness of his own weakness and inability about necessary things”
Discourses (selection) and Encheiridion, Discourses, "What the Beginning of Philosophy Is" (II.11), trans. George Long (1877)
Epictetus contrasts our untaught notions of good and evil with skills like geometry and music, which everyone admits must be learned.
Citation: "The beginning of philosophy, to him at least who enters on it in the right way and by the door is a consciousness of his own weakness and inability about necessary things" — Epictetus, Discourses (selection) and Encheiridion, Discourses, "What the Beginning of Philosophy Is" (II.11), trans. George Long (1877). (id epictetus-discourses-and-encheiridion-q7)
Portrait: Epictetus from L. Annaei Senecae philosophi Opera, 1605, title page detail, Theodoor Galle, Public domain.
