Why is Marcus Memerelius catching on with normies, while Epictetus is completely unknown...

>not the enchiridion

Enchiridion is just a summary. Something you read after The Discourses. We're also misisng anywhere from 1-4 Discourses, so parts of the Enchiridion are summarizing disoucres we don't have.

It literally means "The Handbook", and is something you're meant to just carry around with you.

>brutally murders germanic civilians
>enslaves countless thousands
>raises shit heir
>damages roman empire beyond repair with his costly campaigns
>but it's all ok because he felt bad about it in his diary

Only plebs like Aurelius.

>normies
I don't think that means what you think it means.

What are the habits of Normies anyway?

Because Meditations are essentially a self-help book and 21st century is full of braindead consumers who base their lives on such books, they need to be told specifically what to think and what to do. With Meditations they can at least pretend they're intellectual and shit. Also they're short, concise and easy to understand for a typical 21st century low-attention span mind. With Discourses this isn't the case.

Marcus Aurelius is a pretty tragic figure due to what eventually happened with his son and also he was a Roman emperor actually applying Stoicism to his way of rule which makes it much more interesting than the teachings by themselves.

Socializing, partying, working out, going into the public, having average, easy interests like sports and Star Wars and entry-level politics.
I guarantee if you go up to the average person and ask "do you read Marcus Aurelius," they'd say "fucking WHO?" It's laughable that OP thinks Aurelius' is a "normie interest."

Yes, I can't imagine the public you are mentioning knowing MA. Or knowing a philosophical theme other than Plato's cavern and maybe some Nietszche.

>easy to understand for a typical 21st century low-attention span mind
>it's so easy to understand everyone fails to understand it
>it's so easy to understand because the Greeks have completely different conception of emotions, normative ethics and human teleology
>it's so easy to understand a book that doesn't contain a coherent philosophy because it's someones private notes

Most people who do read the Meditations have a very poor understanding of Stoicism.
But it is an easy book to read since it is a collection of quotes.

>it's easy to understand
>admits most people don't understand it
I can't be the only one to see you just admitted the opposite of your original position being true.

>But it is an easy book to read since it is a collection of quotes.
Easy to read =/= easy to understand.
>collection of quotes.
Uhhhh what? No it isn't. If you aren't quoting someone it isn't a quote. There might a quote in there somewhere, it's been a few years since I read it, but it is most certainly not a collection of quotes.

His fake quotes have been around forever

I don't disagree with you. The book is easy to read, but at the same time few people who read it understand the philosophy behind it. And they don't know they didn't understand it.

I'm not either.

>The book is easy to read
Sure.
>but at the same time few people who read it understand the philosophy behind it
This is demonstrably false. The book is very popular and the vast majority of people who read it have no background in philosophy. If it were that easy to understand you wouldn't have every single Veeky Forums thread being almost entirely nothing but misconceptions and untruths.

>And they don't know they didn't understand it.
Isn't that just admitting I'm right. Not understanding but thinking you understand =/= understanding. They are still failing to understand it which means it can't be said to be easy to understand.

I don't think you understood this, but I'm actually agreeing with you.

>Other internet communities, particularly those focused on motivation, are talking about Aurelius!
>He's caught on with the normies

Go to a bar.
Go to a club.
Go to a campus.
Go to a live show.
Go to a fair.
Go to a park.
Tell me the normies are talking about Aurelius there.

Sorry. Early in the morning for me.

Are the people who worship Beyonce, rappers, NBA stars and the Kardashian/Jenner normies?

Shame on you when you step through to, the old dirty bastard, straight from the brooklyn zoo.

Yes they are quintessential normies

If it makes you feel any better I saw Epictetus on sale in Waterstones today so clearly there is demand for him.

This. Reddit and Tumblr are not for "normies"

Normal people go out and live their life