Epictetus Quotes
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Any one thing in the creation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence to a humble and grateful mind.
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Don’t consent to be hurt and you won’t be hurt – this is a choice over which you have control.
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I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose.
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It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay the blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself.
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Remember that you are but an actor, acting whatever part the Master has ordained. It may be short or it may be long. If he wishes you to represent a poor man, do so heartily; if a cripple, or a magistrate, or a private man, in each case act your part with honor.
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What disturbs and alarms man are not the things, but his opinions and fancies about the things.
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Everything has two handles,-one by which it may be borne; another by which it cannot.
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He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.
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If someone irritates you, it is only your own response that is irritating you. Therefore, when anyone seems to be provoking you, remember that it is only your judgment of the incident that provokes you.
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These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better." The connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;" "I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours." But you, after all, are neither property nor style.
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Does a man reproach thee for being proud or ill-natured, envious or conceited, ignorant or detracting? Consider with thyself whether his reproaches are true. If they are not, consider that thou art not the person whom he reproaches, but that he reviles an imaginary being, and perhaps loves what thou really art, though he hates what thou appearest to be.
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Cowardice, the dread of what will happen.
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When we blather about trivial things, we ourselves become trivial, for our attention gets taken up with trivialities. You become what you give your attention to.
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Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan.
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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
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Confidence in nonsense is a requirement for the creative process.
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What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others.
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'My brother ought not to have treated me thus.' True: but he must see to that. However he may treat me, I must deal rightly by him. This is what lies with me, what none can hinder. (97).
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Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives them.
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It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay the blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself. (5) tr. George Long (1888).
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It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
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Avoid banquets which are given by strangers an ignorant persons. But if there is ever occasion to join them, let your attention be carefully fixed, that you slip not into the manner of the vulgar (the uninstructed).
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Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.
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There are some things which men confess with ease, and others with difficulty.