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Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
Epictetus -
In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is the most difficult of all things.
Epictetus
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Inner peace begins when we stop saying of things, 'I have lost it' and instead say, 'It has been returned to where it came from.' Why should it be any concern of yours who gives your things back to the world that gave them to you? The important thing is to take great care with what you have while the world lets you have it.
Epictetus -
Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.
Epictetus -
If what the philosophers say be true,-that all men's actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain,-so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage.
Epictetus -
Everything has two handles, one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother sin against you lay not hold of it by the handle of his injustice, for by that it may not be borne: but rather by this, that he is your brother, the comrade of your youth; and thus you will lay hold on it so that it may be borne. (174).
Epictetus -
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.
Epictetus -
If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made man to enjoy felicity and constancy of good. (122).
Epictetus
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Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well.
Epictetus -
There is only one thing for which God has sent me into the world, and that is to develop every kind of virtue or strength, and there is nothing in all the world that I cannot use for this purpose.
Epictetus -
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.
Epictetus -
In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.
Epictetus -
You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be.
Epictetus -
The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.
Epictetus
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It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.
Epictetus -
Think of God oftener than you breathe.
Epictetus -
I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.
Epictetus -
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.
Epictetus -
The soul is unwillingly deprived of truth.
Epictetus -
Every place is safe to him who lives with justice.
Epictetus
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Do you know that disease and death must needs overtake us, no matter what we are doing?... what do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you?... If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, get to work on that.
Epictetus -
Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.
Epictetus -
Freedom and happiness come from understanding - and working with - our limits. Begin at once a program of self-mastery. Stick with your purpose. Do not seek external approval. Do not worry about anything outside of your control. The only things you command are your thoughts and actions. We choose our response. Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your control.
Epictetus -
Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.
Epictetus