--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you would improve, submit to be…" description: "\"If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and if you sha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg" --- # If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense… ![“If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and if you shall seem to someone to be a person of importance, distrust yourself.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg) > “If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and if you shall seem to someone to be a person of importance, distrust yourself.” [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. Encourages humility and self‑doubt, warning against seeking validation from external opinions and urging recognition of one's own ignorance. **In simple terms:** Promote self‑awareness and modesty. Key Takeaway Avoid ego‑driven validation. Themes humility self‑knowledge skepticism inner‑strength wisdom Mood reflective cautious inquisitive Type philosophical advice maxim When to use this quote - personal growth - leadership decisions - creative brainstorming - conflict resolution Key Concepts self‑perception external validation epistemic humility Practical Applications - coaching sessions - mindfulness training Questions to Reflect On - How does external approval shape your self‑image? - What practices help you stay grounded in uncertainty? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust/) [Foolish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish/) [Foolish Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foolish-respect-767777/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Importance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance/) [Importance Distrust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/importance-distrust-767775/) [Improve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improve/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Respect Externals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect-externals-767774/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Self knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-knowledge/) [Sense Foolish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-foolish-767776/) [Submit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/submit/) [Trust yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust-yourself/) [Wish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wish/) ## Related quotes > [You don't have any kind of sense of being foolish when you are acting. When you're younger you don't want to look a fool,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-wilkinson/you-don-t-have-any-kind-of-sense-of-being-foolish-when-you-are-acting/) [Tom Wilkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-wilkinson/) > [“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-want-to-improve-be-content-to-be-thought-foolish-and-stupid-3/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-want-to-improve-be-content-to-be-thought-foolish-and-stupid-2/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“The process of building trust is an interesting one, but it begins with yourself, with what I call self trust, and with your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-process-of-building-trust-is-an-interesting-one-but-it-begins/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Get out into the sunlight-out where everything is-with a vibration that is so dominant that those who annoy you, those who don't agree with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/get-out-into-the-sunlight-out-where-everything-is-with-a-vibration/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [There are no choices that are really a detour that will take you far from where you're wanting to be - because your Inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/there-are-no-choices-that-are-really-a-detour-that-will-take-you-far/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-dream-anything-that-you-want-to-dream-that-is-the-beauty-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is a sore point, because you do have advantages if you have access to more than one language. You also have problems, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/it-is-a-sore-point-because-you-do-have-advantages-if-you-have-access/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Stop worrying about what others think. At the end of the day, you have to live with you. Trust yourself. No one has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-richardson/stop-worrying-about-what-others-think-at-the-end-of-the-day-you-have/) [Cheryl Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-richardson/) > [“Be patient with yourself; trust in the Universe; find mentors; know that you can achieve whatever you set out to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-l-dunton/be-patient-with-yourself-trust-in-the-universe-find-mentors-know-that/) [Diane L. Dunton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-l-dunton/) > [You must strive to become much less susceptible to influences outside of yourself and much more inclined to trust the instincts and feelings that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/you-must-strive-to-become-much-less-susceptible-to-influences-outside/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [When it comes to fighting you shouldn't be thinking at all. You have to clear your mind and trust yourself completely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-nelson/when-it-comes-to-fighting-you-shouldn-t-be-thinking-at-all-you-have/) [Gunnar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-nelson/) > [Practice following your intuition in everyday things, trusting your gut feelings moment by moment and acting on them as best you can. As you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-gawain/practice-following-your-intuition-in-everyday-things-trusting-your/) [Shakti Gawain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-gawain/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [The thing I try to tell people who are just starting in the business is to listen to yourself, trust yourself, and be kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessie-mueller/the-thing-i-try-to-tell-people-who-are-just-starting-in-the-business/) [Jessie Mueller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessie-mueller/) ## 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/) > [“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/) > [It was the first and most striking characteristic of Socrates never to become heated in discourse, never to utter an injurious or insulting word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/it-was-the-first-and-most-striking-characteristic-of-socrates-never/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) [Explore all 577 Epictetus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## More Distrust quotes > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Distrust all those who love you extremely upon a very slight acquaintance and without any visible reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distrust-all-those-who-love-you-extremely-upon-a-very-slight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [We believe a scientist because he can substantiate his remarks, not because he is eloquent and forcible in his enunciation. In fact, we distrust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-a-richards/we-believe-a-scientist-because-he-can-substantiate-his-remarks-not/) [I. A. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/i-a-richards/) > [Our own distrust gives a fair pretence for the knavery of other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/our-own-distrust-gives-a-fair-pretence-for-the-knavery-of-other-people/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Let not the world see fear and sad distrust govern the motion of a kingly eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-not-the-world-see-fear-and-sad-distrust-govern-the-motion-of-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/excessive-distrust-is-not-less-hurtfjul-than-its-opposite-most-men/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/objection-evasion-joyous-distrust-and-love-of-irony-are-signs-of/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [On one thing, at least, men & women both agree: They both distrust women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/on-one-thing-at-least-men-women-both-agree-they-both-distrust-women/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Our distrust of another justifies his deceit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/our-distrust-of-another-justifies-his-deceit/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to democracies as against despots.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/there-is-one-safeguard-known-generally-to-the-wise-which-is-an/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [When I arrived in America, though I had left the war physically far behind, in my mind, the soldiers were still chasing to kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loung-ung/when-i-arrived-in-america-though-i-had-left-the-war-physically-far/) [Loung Ung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loung-ung/) > [You have to believe in something, and you have to believe in the things that you feel and find value in those things, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-choi/you-have-to-believe-in-something-and-you-have-to-believe-in-the/) [Roy Choi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-choi/) > [ Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond \[character\] and the psychological approach in search of a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-pavis/avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of-the-individual-that/) [Patrice Pavis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-pavis/) [Browse all 582 Distrust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distrust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and if you shall seem to someone to be a person of importance, distrust yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Epictetus" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Distrust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/epictetus-413_distrust_if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-consid_55068.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be…” — 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": "If you would improve, submit to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/if-you-would-improve-submit-to-be-considered-wihout-sense-and-foolish/#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 } } ] } ```