Quotes by Epictetus (Page 2 of 2)

Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself.

In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is most difficult of all things.

Do not be concerned too much with what will happen. Everything which happens will be good and useful for you.

Another person will not hurt you without your cooperation. You are hurt the moment you believe yourself to be.

Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.

Who is your master? Anyone who has control over things upon which you've set your heart, or over things which you seek to avoid.

If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters -- don't wish to seem knowledgeable. And if some regard you as important, distrust yourself.

Just stick to your principles. And rest assured that, if you remain true to them, the same people who made fun of you will come to admire you.

Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.

How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself.

Death, for instance, is nothing terrible, but the terrible thing is the opinion that death is terrible.

You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will.

Give yourself fully to your endeavors. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths.

Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.

If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.

The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.

Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.

We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free.

You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.

It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.

The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.

We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope.

Never in any case say I have lost such a thing, but I have returned it. Is your child dead? It is a return. Is your wife dead? It is a return. Are you deprived of your estate? Is not this also a return?

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.

All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way.

Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.

Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

There is nothing good or evil save in the will.

Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.

Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.

He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk.

If you wish to be a writer, write.

When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.

God has entrusted me with myself.

If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.