Reddit mentions of Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life

There is no "one size fits all" answer. The /r/Stoicism FAQ has a starting points for newcomers question, which gives a rundown of different options.


Repeating a summary of the FAQ entry, good options are:

• The Enchiridion of Epictetus is short and easy to read. It was written as a "cheat sheet" of sorts for Epictetus's Discourses, reading the Discourses as well can be very helpful for clarifying what is being said.
  
• Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, a personal journal. There are several out-of-copyright translations online, none of which are very good. (I think this one is the least bad of the legally free ones.) Hard and Hays both have much better translations.
  
• Selected essays and letters by Seneca the Younger, particularly De Tranquillitate (On Tranquility of Mind) and De Brevitate Vitae (On the Shortness of Life). His letters are all on wikisource.
  Moses Hadas's The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca is a good printed source for these and other writing by Seneca.
  
  Popular modern accounts include Stoicism and the Art of Happiness by Donald Robertson and A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine. The later is notable for being popular, easy to read, and controversial; some (including myself) find that he departs significantly from several fundamental elements of Stoicism (see here, here and here).
  
  I also like The Stoics: A Guide for the Perplexed by Andrew Holowchak as an introduction. Holowchak retains much of the "practical" emphasis of the Robertson and Irvine, is better covering the historically important theoretical aspects, and modern non-Stoic influences are less pervasive in Holowchak than in either Robertson or Irvine.
  
  I think any of these can be a good starting point, and any of them can be valuable on its own, but each only offers a partial glimpse of Stoicism as a whole.
  
  Most of the ancient sources above are good for browsing, picking random pages and reading a little bit here and there. Each has its own distinct character. A good approach may be to find copies of the Enchiridion, Meditations, and a selections of Seneca, and spend a little time browsing through each, and then focusing on the one that appeals most. Then, pursue supporting material to help give context, unpack references, and otherwise improve interpretation. For the Enchiridion, the best source for this would be the Discourses, and Long's Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life is also helpful, in different ways. For the Meditations, Stephens' Marcus Aurelius does a good job of explaining context, references, and interpretation.

To read along with the Discourses.

To read along with the Meditations.