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Two principles we should always have ready — that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them.
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Silence is safer than speech.
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Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them.
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Wish that everything should come about just as it does.
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No great thing is created suddenly. There must be time. Give your best and always be kind.
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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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Remember that you are in actor in a play of such a kind that the author chooses...For this is your duty, to act well the part that is given to you; but to select the part belongs to another.
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If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, "He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.
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Give thyself more diligently to reflection: know thyself: take counsel with the Godhead; without God put thine hand into nothing. (115).
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One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.
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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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Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.
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Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants.
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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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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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Who is there whom bright and agreeable children do not attract to play and creep and prattle with them?
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Thou shalt not blame or flatter any. (6).
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Truth is a thing immortal and perpetual, and it gives to us a beauty that fades not away in time, nor does it take away the freedom of speech which proceeds from justice; but it gives to us the knowledge of what is just and lawful, separating from them the unjust and refuting them.
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Concerning the Gods, there are those who deny the very existence of the Godhead; others say that it exists, but neither bestirs nor concerns itself not has forethought far anything. A third party attribute to it existence and forethought, but only for great and heavenly matters, not for anything that is on earth. A fourth party admit things on earth as well as in heaven, but only in general, and not with respect to each individual. A fifth, of whom were Ulysses and Socrates, are those that cry: -- I move not without Thy knowledge!
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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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Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself.
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What matters most is what sort of person you are becoming. Wise individuals care only about whom they are today and who they can be tomorrow.
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To adorn our characters by the charm of an amiable nature shows at once a lover of beauty and a lover of man.
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If anyone is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault... Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility except our own opinion.
Epictetus