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Difficulties are things that show a person what he is.
- Epictetus
Related topics: Positive Motivational
We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how to respond to them.
- Epictetus
If thy brother wrongs thee,
remember not so much his wrong-doing,
but more than ever that he is thy brother.
- Epictetus
Is freedom anything else than the right
to live as we wish? Nothing else.
- Epictetus
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- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it.
Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
- Epictetus
First say to yourself what you would be;
then do what you have to do.
- 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
Whoever does not regard what he has
as most ample wealth, is unhappy,
though he be master of the world.
- Epictetus
No great thing is created suddenly.
- Epictetus
Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
- Epictetus
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
- Epictetus
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you,
but your opinion that these things are insulting.
- Epictetus
We should not moor a ship with one anchor,
or our life with one hope.
- Epictetus
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.
- Epictetus
Do not seek to bring things to pass
in accordance with your wishes,
but wish for them as they are,
and you will find them.
- Epictetus
No man is free who is not master of himself.
- 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
Make the best use of what is in your power,
and take the rest as it happens.
- Epictetus
When you have shut your doors, and darkened your room,
remember, never to say that you are alone,
for you are not alone, but God is within,
and your genius is within.
- Epictetus
If you want to improve,
be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
- Epictetus
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,
but the fear of pain or death.
- Epictetus
We have two ears and one mouth so that
we can listen twice as much as we speak.
- Epictetus
You may be always victorious if
you will never enter into any contest
where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.
- Epictetus
People are not disturbed by things,
but by the view they take of them.
- Epictetus
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things,
and then proceed to greater.
- Epictetus
We can't control the impressions others form about us,
and the effort to do so only debases our character.
- Epictetus
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
- Epictetus
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor,
nor should life rest on a single hope.
- Epictetus
Whenever you are angry, be assured that
it is not only a present evil,
but that you have increased a habit.
- Epictetus
Wealth consists not in having great possessions,
but in having few wants.
- Epictetus
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
- Epictetus
We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral.
- Epictetus
It is impossible to begin to learn
that which one thinks one already knows.
- Epictetus
Anyone is free who lives as he wishes to live.
- Epictetus
Fortify yourself with contentment,
for it is an impregnable fortress. -
- Epictetus
Control thy passions lest they take vengeance upon thee.
- 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
The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live
that his happiness shall depend
as little as possible on external things.
- Epictetus
Men are disturbed not by things,
but by the view which they take of them.
- Epictetus
If evil be spoken of you
and it be true, correct yourself,
if it be a lie, laugh at it.
- Epictetus
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you,
whose presence calls forth your best.
- Epictetus
Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich,
for the hopes of the instructed
are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
- Epictetus
Imagine for yourself a character,
a model personality whose example you determine to follow,
in private as well as in public.
- Epictetus
If anyone is unhappy, remember that
his unhappiness is his own fault...
Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility
except our own opinion.
- Epictetus
To accuse others for one's own misfortunes
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
It's not what happens to you,
but how you react to it that matters.
- Epictetus
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.
- Epictetus
All religions must be tolerated...
for every man must get to heaven in his own way.
- Epictetus
No one is free who is not master of himself.
- Epictetus
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?
- Epictetus
Keep your attention focused entirely
on what is truly your own concern,
and be clear that what belongs to others
is their business and none of yours.
- Epictetus
Silence is safer than speech.
- Epictetus
Unless we place our religion
and our treasure in the same thing,
religion will always be sacrificed.
- Epictetus
Keep silence for the most part,
and speak only when you must,
and then briefly.
- Epictetus
Freedom is not procured by a full
enjoyment of what is desired,
but by controlling the desire.
- Epictetus
The world turns aside to let any man pass
who knows where he is going.
- Epictetus
It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures,
but the foolish to be a slave to them.
- Epictetus
There is nothing good or evil save in the will.
- Epictetus
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.
- Epictetus
It takes more than just a good looking body.
You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
- Epictetus
The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man
are those of bearing and forbearing.
- Epictetus
All philosophy lies in two words,
sustain and abstain.
- Epictetus
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. -
- Epictetus
He is a drunkard who takes more than
three glasses though he be not drunk.
- Epictetus
If one oversteps the bounds of moderation,
the greatest pleasures cease to please.
- Epictetus
God has entrusted me with myself.
- Epictetus
One that desires to excel
should endeavor in those things
that are in themselves most excellent.
- Epictetus
Difficulties show men what they are.
In case of any difficulty,
remember that God has pitted you
against a rough antagonist
that you may be a conqueror,
and this cannot be without toil.
- Epictetus
If you seek truth, you will not seek
victory by dishonorable means,
and if you find truth, you will become invincible.
- Epictetus
Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom
understand that the impulse to blame
something or someone is foolishness,
that there is nothing to be gained in blaming,
whether it be others or oneself.
- Epictetus
If you wish to be a writer, write.
- Epictetus
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May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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