---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Control thy passions lest they take…"
description: "\"“Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.”\" — Epictetus"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdd/epictetus-413_vengeance_control-thy-passions-lest-they-take-veng_720856.jpg"
---

#  Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.

![“Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdd/epictetus-413_vengeance_control-thy-passions-lest-they-take-veng_720856.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdd/epictetus-413_vengeance_control-thy-passions-lest-they-take-veng_720856.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bdd/epictetus-413_vengeance_control-thy-passions-lest-they-take-veng_720856.jpg)

> ““Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.””

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Uncontrolled emotions can turn against you, causing harm.

**In simple terms:** Emotions unchecked cause self‑damage.

Key Takeaway

Master your emotions.

Themes

self‑control philosophy ethics

Mood

reflective serious

Type

advice philosophical

When to use this quote

- stressful work
- personal conflict
- decision making
- relationship tension

Key Concepts

Stoicism emotional regulation

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you notice when a passion is becoming destructive?
- What strategies help you keep emotions in check?

A Different Perspective

Emotions may be suppressed but not eliminated, leading to repression.

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[Lest Vengeance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lest-vengeance-5665917/) [Passions Lest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passions-lest-2176083/) [Thy Passions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thy-passions-2176082/) [Vengeance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vengeance/) [Vengeance Thee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vengeance-thee-3858622/)

## Related quotes

> [Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/control-thy-passions-lest-they-take-vengence-on-thee/)

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> [“Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee. ~ Epictetus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/control-thy-passions-lest-they-take-vengence-on-thee-epictetus/)

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> [The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides By the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/the-path-of-the-righteous-man-is-beset-on-all-sides-by-the-inequities/)

[Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/)

> [“Have thy struggles with thy natural inclinations, restraint of thy passions, and submission to the holy Will of God, ever cost thee a drop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rev-fr-ignatius-of-the-side-of-jesus-passionist/have-thy-struggles-with-thy-natural-inclinations-restraint-of-thy/)

[Rev. Fr. Ignatius of the Side of Jesus Passionist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rev-fr-ignatius-of-the-side-of-jesus-passionist/)

> [“All thy passions in the end became virtues, and all thy devils, angels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/all-thy-passions-in-the-end-became-virtues-and-all-thy-devils-angels/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Woman is the lesser man, and all thy passions, match'd with mine, Are as moonlight unto sunlight, and as water unto wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/woman-is-the-lesser-man-and-all-thy-passions-match-d-with-mine-are-as/)

[Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/)

> [“I know precisely what honor is, Heracles. Honor is the artifice kings sell the peasants’ sons so that they may fight and die without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bes/i-know-precisely-what-honor-is-heracles-honor-is-the-artifice-kings/)

[Bes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bes/)

> [The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-rarer-action-is-in-virtue-than-in-vengeance/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [I struggle with insecurities. I struggle with forgiveness. I struggle with letting someone go that did me dirty without vengeance, which is an evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-reyez/i-struggle-with-insecurities-i-struggle-with-forgiveness-i-struggle/)

[Jessie Reyez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-reyez/)

> [“A trop le battre, même le fer devient épée.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agurzil-le-dieu-impie-tiziri-wuming/a-trop-le-battre-m-me-le-fer-devient-p-e/)

[Agurzil le dieu impie Tiziri Wuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agurzil-le-dieu-impie-tiziri-wuming/)

> [“I want you to understand me. This isn’t vengeance. This is punishment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-want-you-to-understand-me-this-isn-t-vengeance-this-is-punishment/)

[Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/)

> [“Waiting for Vengeance' Well, what is this? What am I coming to? And beyond that, what am I gonna do? Now there’s blankness Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/waiting-for-vengeance-well-what-is-this-what-am-i-coming-to-and/)

[Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/)

> [ \[Photographer Julian Wasser\] had this great idea that I should play chess naked with Marcel Duchamp and it seem to be such a great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/photographer-julian-wasser-had-this-great-idea-that-i-should-play/)

[Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/)

> [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/)

[R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/)

> [“I am awake. I know what you took. I am coming for you. Vengeance is mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-burks/i-am-awake-i-know-what-you-took-i-am-coming-for-you-vengeance-is-mine/)

[Robin Burks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-burks/)

## More by Epictetus

> [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-at-the-mercy-of-whoever-wields-authority-over-the-things-we/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/practice-yourself-for-heaven-s-sake-in-little-things-and-then-proceed/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-laugh-much-or-often-or-unrestrainedly/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/when-men-are-unhappy-they-do-not-imagine-they-can-ever-cease-to-be-so/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-not-disturbed-by-what-happens-to-us-but-by-our-thoughts-about/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/don-t-be-prideful-with-any-excellence-that-is-not-your-own/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/you-know-yourself-what-you-are-worth-in-your-own-eyes-and-at-what/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/as-a-man-casting-off-worn-out-garments-taketh-new-ones-so-the-dweller/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [“For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/for-it-is-not-death-or-pain-that-is-to-be-feared-but-the-fear-of-pain/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-else-can-i-do-a-lame-old-man-but-sing-hymns-to-god-if-i-were-a/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [People are disturbed not by things, but by the view they take of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them-2/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [“Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/small-minded-people-blame-others-average-people-blame-themselves-the/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

> [All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/all-philosophy-lies-in-two-words-sustain-and-abstain/)

[Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

[Explore all 577 Epictetus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/)

## More Vengeance quotes

> [“I am awake. I know what you took. I am coming for you. Vengeance is mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-burks/i-am-awake-i-know-what-you-took-i-am-coming-for-you-vengeance-is-mine/)

[Robin Burks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-burks/)

> [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/)

[R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/)

> [ \[Photographer Julian Wasser\] had this great idea that I should play chess naked with Marcel Duchamp and it seem to be such a great… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/photographer-julian-wasser-had-this-great-idea-that-i-should-play/)

[Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/)

> [“Waiting for Vengeance' Well, what is this? What am I coming to? And beyond that, what am I gonna do? Now there’s blankness Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/waiting-for-vengeance-well-what-is-this-what-am-i-coming-to-and/)

[Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/)

> [“I want you to understand me. This isn’t vengeance. This is punishment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-want-you-to-understand-me-this-isn-t-vengeance-this-is-punishment/)

[Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/)

> [“A trop le battre, même le fer devient épée.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agurzil-le-dieu-impie-tiziri-wuming/a-trop-le-battre-m-me-le-fer-devient-p-e/)

[Agurzil le dieu impie Tiziri Wuming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agurzil-le-dieu-impie-tiziri-wuming/)

> [I struggle with insecurities. I struggle with forgiveness. I struggle with letting someone go that did me dirty without vengeance, which is an evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-reyez/i-struggle-with-insecurities-i-struggle-with-forgiveness-i-struggle/)

[Jessie Reyez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-reyez/)

> [The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/the-rarer-action-is-in-virtue-than-in-vengeance/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [“I know precisely what honor is, Heracles. Honor is the artifice kings sell the peasants’ sons so that they may fight and die without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bes/i-know-precisely-what-honor-is-heracles-honor-is-the-artifice-kings/)

[Bes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bes/)

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[Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/)

> [Are you going to go down on your knees and beg for your life, old one?" Abbot Mortimer stared calmly into Cluny's savage eye.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jacques/are-you-going-to-go-down-on-your-knees-and-beg-for-your-life-old-one/)

[Brian Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jacques/)

> [At an age when most actresses are being phased out, I am being phased in - with a vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candice-bergen/at-an-age-when-most-actresses-are-being-phased-out-i-am-being-phased/)

[Candice Bergen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candice-bergen/)

> [My husband is a fall-away Catholic, but with a vengeance. He's actually more of a feminist than I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olympia-dukakis/my-husband-is-a-fall-away-catholic-but-with-a-vengeance-he-s-actually/)

[Olympia Dukakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olympia-dukakis/)

> [If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-man-had-his-way-the-plan-of-redemption-would-be-an-endless-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Food for her is not food, it is terror, dignity, gratitude, vengeance, joyfulness, humiliation, religion, history, and, of course, love. As if the fruit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-for-her-is-not-food-it-is-terror-dignity-gratitude-vengeance/)

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