Epictetus Quotes

Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives them.

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

Be free from grief not through insensibility like the irrational animals, nor through want of thought like the foolish, but like a man of virtue by having reason as the consolation of grief.

It is not he who gives abuse that affronts, but the view that we take of it as insulting; so that when one provokes you it is your own opinion which is provoking.

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

We should do everything both cautiously and confidently at the same time.

Envy is the antagonist of the fortunate.

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

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

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

Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan.

Consider the bigger picture.....think things through and fully commit!

It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?

Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world.

We must be afraid of neither poverty nor exile nor imprisonment; of fear itself only should we be afraid.

Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.

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

What will the world be quite overturned when you die?

What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.

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.

Don't demand or expect that events happen as you would wish them do. Accept events as they actually happen. That way, peace is possible.

Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcome.

Any one thing in the creation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence to a humble and grateful mind.

Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well.

Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.

When our friends are present we ought to treat them well; and when they are absent, to speak of them well.

From now on practice saying to everything that appears unpleasant: You are merely an appearance and NOT what you appear to be.

Silence is safer than speech.

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

Here is the beginning of philosophy: a recognition of the conflicts between men, a search for their cause, a condemnation of mere opinion .. . and the discovery of a standard of judgement.

Getting distracted by trifles is the easiest thing in the world… Focus on your main duty

Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants.

Law intends indeed to do service to human life, but it is not able when men do not choose to accept her services; for it is only in those who are obedient to her that she displays her special virtue.

To be getting an education means this: to be learning what is your own, and what is not your own.

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.

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.

Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.

Your master is he who controls that on which you have set your heart or wish to avoid.

You can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer.

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

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

No man is disturbed by things, but by his opinion about things.

The Beginning of Philosophy is a Consciousness of your own Weakness and inability in necessary things.

Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? What sinews are those? - A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolutions; unerring decisions.

There is nothing good or evil save in the will.

Do nothing in a depressed mood, nor as one afflicted, nor as thinking that you are in misery, for no one compels you to that.

Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power and should not be at all your concerns.

You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be.

Each man's life is a kind of campaign, and a long and complicated one at that. You have to maintain the character of a soldier, and do each separate act at the bidding of the General.

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