Epictetus Quotes

365 quotes in 3065 categories

• Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives them.
• Ruin and recovering are both from within.
• It is unreasonable to think we can earn rewards without being willing to pay their true price. It is always our choice whether or not…
• In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with…
• Try not to react merely in the moment. Pull back from the situation. Take a wider view. Compose yourself.
• Consider the bigger picture.....think things through and fully commit!
• When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it.
• Ask yourself: Does this appearance (of events) concern the things that are within my own control or those that are not? If it concerns anything…
• 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…
• 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.
• As you think, so you become.....Our busy minds are forever jumping to conclusions, manufacturing and interpreting signs that aren't there.
• No matter where you find yourself, comport yourself as if you were a distinguished person.
• Ask yourself, "How are my thoughts, words and deeds affecting my friends, my spouse, my neighbour, my child, my employer, my subordinates, my fellow citizens?"
• 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…
• Survey and test a prospective action before undertaking it. Before you proceed, step back and look at the big picture, lest you act rashly on…
• What is a good person? One who achieves tranquillity by having formed the habit of asking on every occasion, "what is the right thing to…
• Freedom and happiness are won by disregarding things that lie beyond our 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…
• God has made all men to be happy.
• Books are the training weights of the mind.

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