Born a slave and handicapped by lameness, Epictetus by sheer power of will, which his teachings emphasize as all-important, became a freedman and the great spokesman for Stoicism. The word "spokesman" is used advisedly, since he wrote nothing, and the world owes to Arrian, the historian of Alexander the Great, the transcript of the spoken Discourses and the Manual. In them, Epictetus envisages man as a responsible member of society, a citizen with an interest in his own and the common welfare. Man, by the act of will, he insists, can attain great moral stature; by self-control he can master himself and contribute to the good life of his fellow men. The Manual, in the form of fifty-three aphorisms, offers a summary of the doctrines of Epictetus and the principles of the Stoic philosophy.