Epictetus Quotes
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When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it. It is not the things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor are they what they seem to be. They are what they are.
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Let silence be your general rule; or say only what is necessary and in few words.
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To be getting an education means this: to be learning what is your own, and what is not your own.
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You will do the greatest service to the state if you shall raise, not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens: for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses rather than for mean slaves to lurk in great houses.
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Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.
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Act your part with honor.
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Each man's life is a kind of campaign, and a long and complicated one at that. You have to maintain the character of a soldier, and do each separate act at the bidding of the General.
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The appearance of things to the mind is the standard of every action to man.
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When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing?
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Never say of anything I have lost it, only say that I have given it back.
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Ask yourself, "How are my thoughts, words and deeds affecting my friends, my spouse, my neighbour, my child, my employer, my subordinates, my fellow citizens?"
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The beginning of philosophy is the recognition of the conflict between opinions.
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He who exercises wisdom exercises the knowledge which is about God.
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If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated.
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What disturbs people's minds are not events but their judgments on events.
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Only the educated are free.
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Have this thought ever present with thee, when thou losest any outward thing, what thou gainest in its stead; and if this be the more precious, say not, I have suffered loss. (27).
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Authentic happiness is always independent of external conditions.
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The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.
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If you wish to be a writer, write.
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Difficulty shows what men are.
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If anyone should tell you that a particular person has spoken critically of you, don't bother with excuses or defenses. Just smile and reply, "I guess that person doesn't know about all my other faults. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned only these."
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Opportunity beckons more surely when misfortune comes upon a person than it ever does when that person is riding the crest of a wave of success. It sharpens a person's wits, if that person will let it, enabling him or her to see more clearly and evaluate situations with a more knowledgeable judgment.
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There is a fine circumstance connected with the character of a Cynic,-that he must be beaten like an ass, and yet when beaten must love those who beat him, as the father, as the brother of all.