Epictetus Quotes
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When our friends are present we ought to treat them well; and when they are absent, to speak of them well.
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If a man would pursue Philosophy, his first task is to throw away conceit. For it is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he has a conceit that he already knows.
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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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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.
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What hurts this person is not the occurrence itself, for another person might not feel oppressed by this situation at all. What is hurting this person is the response he or she has uncritically adopted. It is not a demonstration of kindness or friendship to the people we care about to join them in indulging in wrongheaded, negative feelings.
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You are a principal work, a fragment of [Goddess herself], you have in yourself a part of [her]. Why then are you ignorant of your high birth?
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The wise realize that some things are within their control, and most things are not. They learn early on to distinguish between what they can and can't regulate.
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In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.
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Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
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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).
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If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.
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The soul is unwillingly deprived of truth.
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It is wicked to withdraw from being useful to the needy, and cowardly to give way to the worthless.
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When one maintains his proper attitude in life, he does not long after externals. What would you have, O man?
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The origin of sorrow is this: to wish for something that does not come to pass.
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Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.
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It is hard to combine and unite these two qualities, the carefulness of one who is affected by circumstances, and the intrepidity of one who heeds them not. But it is not impossible: else were happiness also impossible.
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It is unreasonable to think we can earn rewards without being willing to pay their true price. It is always our choice whether or not we wish to pay the price for life's rewards.
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Men are not troubled by things themselves, but by their thoughts about them.
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Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.
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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.
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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).
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You ought to choose both physician and friend, not the most agreeable, but the most useful.
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From now on practice saying to everything that appears unpleasant: You are merely an appearance and NOT what you appear to be.