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Pierre Hadot argued that the aphorisms were part of an exercise, reformulating their lessons over and over in different ways as a way to keep them fresh, so that it wasn't just the words they remembered. He was an ex-Jesuit and saw spiritual exercises everywhere in ancient philosophy though. He's well worth reading, he just goes to great lengths to find what he's looking for.Trouble with brilliant and pithy statements is that their wisdom is the end goal, not the method. For example, Epictetus said, "The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best." How do I turn this into a to-do list?