Epictetus

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

- Epictetus

""First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.""

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"It is our attitude toward events, not events themselves, which we can control. Nothing is by its own nature calamitous – even death is terrible only if we fear it."

- Epictetus

"It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters."

- Epictetus

"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.""

- Epictetus

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not but rejoices for those which he has."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well."

- Epictetus

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."

- Epictetus

"Curb your desire—don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need."

- Epictetus

"That’s why the philosophers warn us not to be satisfied with mere learning, but to add practice and then training. For as time passes we forget what we learned and end up doing the opposite, and hold opinions the opposite of what we should."

- Epictetus

"Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it."

- Epictetus

"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…"

- Epictetus

"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 have not mentioned these alone.'"

- Epictetus

"We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them."

- Epictetus

"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them."

- Epictetus

"Freedom isn’t secured by filling up on your heart’s desire but by removing your desire."

- Epictetus

"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.’"

- Epictetus

"Any person capable of angering you becomes your master."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"The pleasure which we most rarely experience gives us greatest delight."

- Epictetus

"Be selective about whom you take on as friends, colleagues, and neighbors. The world is full of agreeable and talented folk. The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best."

- Epictetus

"Be selective about whom you take on as friends, colleagues, and neighbors. The world is full of agreeable and talented folk. The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. But remember that our moral influence is a two-way street, and we should thus make sure by our own thoughts, words, and deeds to be a positive influence on those we deal with. The real test of personal excellence lies in the attention we give to the often neglected small details of our conduct. Make it your business to draw out the best in others by being an exemplar yourself."

- Epictetus

"No man is free who is not master of himself."

- Epictetus

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."

- Epictetus

"It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows."

- Epictetus

"God has entrusted me with myself."

- Epictetus

"We must not believe the many, who say that only free people ought to be educated, but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that only the educated are free."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"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."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

""Books are the training weights of the mind.""

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother."

- Epictetus

"It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will."

- Epictetus

"We should always be asking ourselves: “Is this something that is, or is not, in my control?”"

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"Only the educated are free."

- Epictetus

"Books are the training weights of the mind."

- Epictetus

"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things that are beyond the power of our will."

- Epictetus

"What matters is not what happens to you, but how you react to it."

- Epictetus

"All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain."

- Epictetus

"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.”"

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"No one is free who is not master of themselves."

- Epictetus

"It is unrealistic to expect people to see you as you see yourself."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation."

- Epictetus

"When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn't have to look outside themselves for approval."

- Epictetus

"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them."

- Epictetus

"Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control."

- Epictetus

"It is difficulties that show what men are."

- Epictetus

"Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not."

- Epictetus

"Curb your desire — don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need."

- Epictetus

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."

- Epictetus

"Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well."

- Epictetus

"In short, you must remember this—that if you hold anything dear outside of your own reasoned choice, you will have destroyed your capacity for choice."

- Epictetus

"It's not things that upset us but our judgments about things."

- Epictetus

"I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it."

- Epictetus

"He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at."

- Epictetus

"Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it."

- Epictetus

"A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope."

- Epictetus

"The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you."

- Epictetus

"First, say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do."

- Epictetus

"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will."

- Epictetus

"Don't seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well."

- Epictetus

"You become what you give your attention to."

- Epictetus

"It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them."

- Epictetus

"The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have."

- Epictetus

"Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig."

- Epictetus

"Difficulties show a person's character."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things."

- Epictetus

"Settle on the type of person you want to be and stick to it, whether alone or in company."

- Epictetus

"Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater."

- Epictetus

"Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak."

- Epictetus

"When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval."

- Epictetus

"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 actions."

- Epictetus

"Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourselves."

- Epictetus

"People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them."

- Epictetus

"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."

- Epictetus

"To accuse others for one’s own misfortune is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"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."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"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."

- Epictetus

"Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment."

- Epictetus

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

- Epictetus

"Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them."

- Epictetus

""Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.""

- Epictetus