Epictetus Quotes
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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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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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Wherever any one is against his will, that is to him a prison.
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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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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 concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are.
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Think of God oftener than you breathe.
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Every place is safe to him who lives with justice.
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Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.
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It is my business, to manage carefully and dexterously whatever happens.
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Have the wisdom to know what cannot be changed, and the strength to change what can.
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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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Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature. the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
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Freedom is the name of virtue: Slavery, of vice…. None is a slave whose acts are free.
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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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'If the room is smoky, if only moderately, I will stay; if there is too much smoke I will go. Remember this, keep a firm hold on it, the door is always open.'
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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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You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.'
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Watch yourself as you go about your daily business and later reflect on what you saw, trying to identify the sources of distress in your life and thinking about how to avoid that distress.
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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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No matter where you find yourself, comport yourself as if you were a distinguished person.
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Not even on finding himself in a well-ordered house does a man step forward and say to himself, I must be master here! Else the lord of that house takes notice of it, and, seeing him insolently giving orders, drags him forth and chastises him. So it is also in the great City, the World. Here also is there a Lord of the House, who orders all things... (110).
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God has made all men to be happy.
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Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.