--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do not strive for things occurring to…" description: "\"Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well.\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg" --- # Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish… ![“Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg) > “Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well.” [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. Accept reality as it is and align your desires with it to achieve inner harmony. **In simple terms:** Accept what happens, wish for it. Key Takeaway Adapt your wishes to reality. Themes stoicism acceptance inner peace Mood calm reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - stressful work - relationship conflicts - health challenges - personal setbacks Key Concepts determinism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How can you reframe a disappointment as an opportunity? - What desires are you clinging to? A Different Perspective May ignore necessary change by resisting reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Occur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occur/) [Occur Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occur-flow-4362692/) [Occur Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occur-wish-4362693/) [Occurring Occur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurring-occur-4362694/) [Strive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strive/) [Strive Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strive-things-1118030/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [Strive to find things to be thankful for and just look for the good in who you are!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bethany-hamilton/strive-to-find-things-to-be-thankful-for-and-just-look-for-the-good/) [Bethany Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bethany-hamilton/) > [When you are in love you strive to do the things that will please your lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/when-you-are-in-love-you-strive-to-do-the-things-that-will-please/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [I never seemed to fit in. But it made me try to strive for things ten times harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/i-never-seemed-to-fit-in-but-it-made-me-try-to-strive-for-things-ten/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/bid-me-run-and-i-will-strive-with-things-impossible/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“We are defined by those things we lack: the things we strive for and the things we require to make us whole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-bolton/we-are-defined-by-those-things-we-lack-the-things-we-strive-for-and/) [Raymond Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-bolton/) > [I got to L.A., and they said I had to lose weight, let my hair grow and buy some dresses. 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Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/most-damage-that-others-do-us-is-out-of-fear-humiliation-and-pain/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [When you write it doesn't occur to you that somebody could think different from what you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-nemerov/when-you-write-it-doesn-t-occur-to-you-that-somebody-could-think/) [Howard Nemerov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-nemerov/) > [We see China as a large market opportunity with similar cyclical economic cycles that occur throughout every economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-leone/we-see-china-as-a-large-market-opportunity-with-similar-cyclical/) [Douglas Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-leone/) > [I grew up in a family that despised displays of strong emotion, rage in particular. We stewed. We sulked. When arguments did occur, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koren-zailckas/i-grew-up-in-a-family-that-despised-displays-of-strong-emotion-rage/) [Koren Zailckas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koren-zailckas/) > [I don't write a play from beginning to end. I don't write an outline. I write scenes and moments as they occur to me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-greenberg/i-don-t-write-a-play-from-beginning-to-end-i-don-t-write-an-outline-i/) [Richard Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-greenberg/) > [Nothing can happen, nothing can occur in your life which is not a precisely perfect opportunity for you to heal something, create something, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/nothing-can-happen-nothing-can-occur-in-your-life-which-is-not-a/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The body moves through space every day, and in architecture in cities that can be orchestrated. Not in a dictatorial fashion, but in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-predock/the-body-moves-through-space-every-day-and-in-architecture-in-cities/) [Antoine Predock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-predock/) > [Fear of failure, what is that? It would never occur to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-david/fear-of-failure-what-is-that-it-would-never-occur-to-me/) [Laurie David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-david/) ## 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 Flow quotes > [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Behind every word flows energy. If you use your words to gossip or babble about what you are going to do before you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/behind-every-word-flows-energy-if-you-use-your-words-to-gossip-or/) [Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [I take the seashell from my jeans pocket and rub my fingers across its silken, indented surface, shallow as my own open hand. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kenison/i-take-the-seashell-from-my-jeans-pocket-and-rub-my-fingers-across/) [Katrina Kenison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kenison/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“When we strike a balance between the challenge of an activity and our skill at performing it, when the rhythm of the work itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/when-we-strike-a-balance-between-the-challenge-of-an-activity-and-our/) [Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/) > [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/) [Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/) > [I have this belief about things happening organically. I believe life has this organic flow in a way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naoko-mori/i-have-this-belief-about-things-happening-organically-i-believe-life/) [Naoko Mori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naoko-mori/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/david-rockefeller-is-the-most-conspicuous-representative-today-of-the/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [The tides which flow and lapse in the Bristol Channel are often distained by the freshets of many streams falling through wooded coombes below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-tides-which-flow-and-lapse-in-the-bristol-channel-are-often/) [Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/) > [“Life is a flow which we can either resist or go with it gracefully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonmoy-acharjee/life-is-a-flow-which-we-can-either-resist-or-go-with-it-gracefully/) [Tonmoy Acharjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tonmoy-acharjee/) > [What a strange power the perception of beauty is! It seems to ebb and flow like some secret tide, independent alike of health and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/what-a-strange-power-the-perception-of-beauty-is-it-seems-to-ebb-and/) [A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/) [Browse all 3,282 Flow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Epictetus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-occur-as-you-wish-but-wish-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flow" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-occur-as-you-wish-but-wish-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/epictetus-413_flow_do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-oc_2126394.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and…” — Epictetus", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Epictetus", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Do not strive for things occurring...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-occur-as-you-wish-but-wish-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/do-not-strive-for-things-occurring-to-occur-as-you-wish-but-wish-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```