The Discourses record conversations between Epictetus and his students, focusing on how to live with integrity, discipline, and inner freedom. Epictetus teaches that while external events lie beyond our control, our judgements, choices, and character remain fully ours. Across the four books, he explores duty, resilience, desire, fear, social roles, and the nature of virtue. Oldfather’s translation preserves Epictetus’s direct, conversational tone, offering a vivid picture of Stoic training as lived in daily life.