Epictetus Quotes
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Happiness is an equivalent for all troublesome things.
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In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is the most difficult of all things.
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When we are invited to a banquet, we take what is set before us; and were one to call upon his host to set fish upon the table or sweet things, he would be deemed absurd. Yet in a word, we ask the Gods for what they do not give; and that, although they have given us so many things! (35).
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There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
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Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not death, but rather the fear of death?
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Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.
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To know that you do not know and to be willing to admit that you do not know without sheepishly apologizing is real strength and sets the stage for learning and progress in any endeavor.
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Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not.
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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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It is a mark of a mean capacity to spend much time on the things which concern the body, such as much exercise, much eating, much drinking, much easing of the body, much copulation. But these things should be done as subordinate things: and let all your care be directed to the mind.
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Think of God oftener than you breathe.
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Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.
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Every place is safe to him who lives with justice.
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What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.
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An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame another or himself.
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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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In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.
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Keep death and exile daily before thine eyes, with all else that men deem terrible, but more especially Death. Then wilt thou never think a mean thought, nor covet anything beyond measure. (161).
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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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Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.
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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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No matter where you find yourself, comport yourself as if you were a distinguished person.
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Men are not troubled by things themselves, but by their thoughts about them.
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Do not give sentence in another tribunal till you have been yourself judged in the tribunal of Justice.