Epictetus Quotations | Page 3

If you wish to live a life free from sorrow, think of what is going to happen as if it had already happened.

Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.

Every habit and faculty is preserved and increased by correspondent actions, as the habit of walking, by walking; of running, by running.

Every place is safe to him who lives with justice.

Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own

Whoever wants to be free, therefore, let him not want or avoid anything that is up to others. Otherwise he will necessarily be a slave.

Do not so much be ashamed of that disgrace which proceeds from men's opinion as fly from that which comes from the truth.

It is my business, to manage carefully and dexterously whatever happens

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.

If you would be well spoken of, learn to be well-spoken; and having learnt to be well- spoken, strive also to be well-doing; so shall you succeed in being well spoken of.

We do not choose our own parts in life, and have nothing to do with those parts. Our duty is confined to playing them well.

Lampis the ship owner, on being asked how he acquired his great wealth, replied, My great wealth was acquired with no difficulty, but my small wealth, my first gains, with much labor.

And have you not received faculties which will enable you to bear all that happens to you? Have you not received greatness of spirit? Have you not received courage? Have you not received endurance?

Fortune is an evil chain to the body, and vice to the soul.

If I can acquire money and also keep myself modest and faithful and magnanimous, point out the way, and I will acquire it.

O slavish man! will you not bear with your own brother, who has God for his Father, as being a son from the same stock, and of the same high descent? But if you chance to be placed in some superior station, will you presently set yourself up for a tyrant?

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.

We are not to lead events, but to follow them.

If thou rememberest that God standeth by to behold and visit all that thou doest; whether in the body or in the soul, thou surely wilt not err in any prayer or deed; and thou shalt have God to dwell with thee.

Act well your given part; the choice rests not with you.

Dare to look up to God and say, Deal with me in the future as Thou wilt; I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing that pleases Thee; lead me where Thou wilt; clothe me in any dress Thou choosest.

A soul which is conversant with virtue is like an ever flowing source, for it is pure and tranquil and potable and sweet and communicative (social) and rich and harmless and free from mischief.

Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the most delight.

We all dread a bodily paralysis, and would make use of every contrivance to avoid it; but none of us is troubled about a paralysis of the soul.

These are the signs of a wise man: to reprove nobody, to praise nobody, to blame nobody, nor even to speak of himself or his own merits.

Do not give sentence in another tribunal till you have been yourself judged in the tribunal of Justice.

Every art and every faculty contemplates certain things as its principal objects.

It is better to advise than upbraid, for the one corrects the erring; the other only convicts them.

It was the first and most striking characteristic of Socrates never to become heated in discourse, never to utter an injurious or insulting word -- on the contrary, he persistently bore insult from others and thus put an end to the fray.

I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose.

When we act pugnaciously, and injuriously, and angrily, and rudely, to what level have we degenerated? To the level of the wild beasts. Well, the fact is that some of us are wild beasts of a larger size, while others are little animals, malignant and petty.

If you think you control things that are in the control of others, you will lament. You will be disturbed and you will blame both gods and men.

The materials are indifferent, but the use we make of them is not a matter of indifference.

It is the part of an uneducated person to blame others where he himself fares ill; to blame himself is the part of one whose education has begun; to blame neither another nor his own self is the part of one whose education is already complete.

No man is free who is not master of himself... Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose?

There are some faults which men readily admit, but others not so readily.

Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you.

What is a child? Ignorance. What is a child? Want of instruction.

Seek to be the purple thread in the long white gown.

To make anything a habit, do it; to not make it a habit, do not do it; to unmake a habit, do something else in place of it.

And be silent for the most part, or else make only the most necessary remarks, and express these in few words. But rarely, and when occasion requires you to talk, talk, indeed, but about no ordinary topics. Do not talk about gladiators, or horseraces, or athletes, or things to eat or drink - topics that arise on all occasions; but above all, do not talk about people, either blaming, or praising, or comparing them.

Learn to distinguish what you can and can't control. Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, desires and the things that repel us. They are directly subject to our influence.

It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united.

Things themselves don't hurt or hinder us. Things simply are what they are. How we view these things is another matter.People think what they will think; it is of no concern to us.

It is not events that disturb the minds of men, but the view they take of them.

Freedom and happiness come from understanding - and working with - our limits. Begin at once a program of self-mastery. Stick with your purpose. Do not seek external approval. Do not worry about anything outside of your control. The only things you command are your thoughts and actions. We choose our response. Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your control.

When we name things correctly, we comprehend them correctly, without adding information or judgements that aren't there. Does someone bathe quickly? Don't say be bathes poorly, but quickly. Name the situation as it is, don't filter it through your judgments. Give your assent only to that which is actually true.

First tell yourself what you want to be, then do what you need to do.

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.

In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught;but in life there are many things to draw us aside.

One of the best ways to elevate your character is to emulate worthy role models

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, and their motives may not be the highest.

If a person had delivered up your body to some passer-by, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in delivering up your own mind to any reviler, to be disconcerted and confounded?

To live a life of virtue, match up your thoughts, words, and deeds.

Appear to know only this--never to fail nor fall.

In the long run, every man will pay the penalty for this own misdeeds.

Let no man think that he is loved by any who loveth none.

Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control. Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But you are not merely your legs. Your will is bigger than your legs. Your will needn't be affected by an incident unless you let it.

Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new.

I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.

Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.

-….when things seem to have reached that stage, merely say “I won’t play any longer”, and take your departure; but if you stay, stop lamenting.

Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?

A guide, on finding a man who has lost his way, brings him back to the right path—he does not mock and jeer at him and then take himself off. You also must show the unlearned man the truth, and you will see that he will follow. But so long as you do not show it him, you should not mock, but rather feel your own incapacity.

Remember that you ought to behave in life as you would at a banquet. As something is being passed around it comes to you; stretch out your hand, take a portion of it politely. It passes on; do not detain it. Or it has not come to you yet; do not project your desire to meet it, but wait until it comes in front of you. So act toward children, so toward a wife, so toward office, so toward wealth.

You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will.

If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good.

God has entrusted me with myself. No man is free who is not master of himself. A man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.

What else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God? If I were a nightingale, I would do the nightingale's part; if I were a swan, I would do as a swan. But now I am a rational creature, and I ought to praise God. This is my work. I do it, nor will I desert my post, so long as I am allowed to keep it. And I ask you to join me in this same song.

It doesn't take much to lose everything, just a little departure from reason

You lose only the things you have

What ought one to say then as each hardship comes? I was practicing for this, I was training for this.

When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they do not see how they can get rid of it. Nevertheless, both arrive; and the gods have ordered it so, in the end men seek it from the gods

Anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether.

Let death be daily before your eyes, and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.

What is it to be a philosopher? Is it not to be prepared against events?

I am not eternity, but a man; a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day.

We need to regularly stop and take stock; to sit down and determine within ourselves which things are worth valuing and which things are not; which risks are worth the cost and which are not. Even the most confusing or hurtful aspects of life can be made more tolerable by clear seeing and by choice.

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?

Freedom is secured not by the fulfillment of one's desires, but by the removal of desire.

A half-hearted spirit has no power. Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Average people enter into their endeavors headlong and without care.

Don't regard what anyone says of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours.

When you let go of your attention for a little while, do not think you may recover it whenever you please.

In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.

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.

Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.

Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, �He who is content.

Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment.

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself. For, it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things. But while you are careful about the one, you must of necessity neglect the other

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!

Difficulty shows what men are.

So you wish to conquer in the Olympic Games, my friend? And I, too... But first mark the conditions and the consequences. You will have to put yourself under discipline; to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or not, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and wine at your will. Then, in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, to be severely thrashed, and after all of these things, to be defeated.

If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.

Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to.

Do not try to seem wise to others.

If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: 'I used to be angry every day; then every other day; now only every third or fourth day.' When you reach thirty days offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods.

Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

Desire and happiness cannot live together.

Neither the victories of the Olympic Games nor those achieved in battles make the man happy. The only victories that make him happy are those achieved against himself. Temptations and tests are combats. You have beaten one, two, many times; still fight. If you defeat at last you will be happy your entire life, as if you have always defeated.

It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit, amid abundance