The Socrates Café — Philosophers Quotes Edition - Oba 7th floor.

This is a new edition of the Socrates cafe with a new format.

In this edition, the moderator will pick a specific quote, topic or question from a known philosophers (example; Voltaire, Kant, Marcus Aurelius, Hypatia of Alexandria, Rousseau, Machiavelli, Descartes, Plato and others).

A summary around a page will be provided in the event (See below - The topic of this Session)

Please take the time to read.

The Moderator will read the summary and give an introduction of the topic. Then, we will have an open discussion, and a final round when everyone will give their conclusions.

The topic of this Session
Epictetus - No Harm Without Cooperation: “Another person cannot hurt you without your own belief in the injury; you are hurt the moment you believe yourself to be.”

The Core Idea: You Are the Final Gatekeeper
Epictetus is not saying that bad things don't happen to you, or that bullies and narcissists aren't real. He is saying that the final injury happens inside you — in the mind — not in the external event itself.
Think of it in two layers:

What someone does to you → the words, the insult, the dismissal, the cruelty — that is real.

What you make of it → the meaning you assign it, whether you accept it as true, how much power you hand it — that is where the actual wound is created.

This concept from Epictetus’s Enchiridion (Chapter 20) emphasizes that external events only cause suffering when we consent to them through our judgments.

What "Cooperation" Really Means
The word cooperation here is key. Epictetus means that harm requires your mental agreement to be fully realized. This isn't victim-blaming — he's pointing to something deeply empowering: that your inner world, your judgments and beliefs about yourself, are the one thing no one can touch without your permission.
A narcissist's greatest weapon is making you believe their version of you. The moment you internalize their narrative — that you are lesser, crazy, too sensitive, unwor