--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No man is free who is not master of…" description: "\"No man is free who is not master of himself... Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose?\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/118/epictetus-413_choices_no-man-is-free-who-is-not-master-of-hims_2777071.jpg" --- # No man is free who is not master of himself... Is freedom… ![“No man is free who is not master of himself... Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose?” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/118/epictetus-413_choices_no-man-is-free-who-is-not-master-of-hims_2777071.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/118/epictetus-413_choices_no-man-is-free-who-is-not-master-of-hims_2777071.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/118/epictetus-413_choices_no-man-is-free-who-is-not-master-of-hims_2777071.jpg) > “No man is free who is not master of himself... Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose?” [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. Freedom requires self‑mastery; true liberty is living by one's own choices. **In simple terms:** Freedom is self‑mastery. Key Takeaway Cultivate personal autonomy. Themes freedom self‑control choice Mood thoughtful determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily decision making - habit formation - leadership - personal crises Key Concepts stoicism ethics Questions to Reflect On - What does freedom mean to you? - How can you increase self‑mastery? A Different Perspective External constraints can limit perceived freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [No man is free who is not master of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/no-man-is-free-who-is-not-master-of-himself/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [God has entrusted me with myself. No man is free who is not master of himself. A man should so live that his happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/god-has-entrusted-me-with-myself-no-man-is-free-who-is-not-master-of/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“no man is free until he s a master of himself!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictitus/no-man-is-free-until-he-s-a-master-of-himself/) Epictitus > [“No person is free who is not master of themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/no-person-is-free-who-is-not-master-of-themselves/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/to-be-able-to-choose-between-proprietary-software-packages-is-to-be-2/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose? Nothing else. Tell me then, you men, do you wish to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/is-freedom-anything-else-than-the-power-of-living-as-we-choose/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Feel free to call me by my first name: Master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/feel-free-to-call-me-by-my-first-name-master/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Please, we're all friends here. Feel free to call me by my first name: Master.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/please-we-re-all-friends-here-feel-free-to-call-me-by-my-first-name/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“No man is free unless he is the master of himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/no-man-is-free-unless-he-is-the-master-of-himself/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Whatever does not spring from a man's free choice, or is only the result of instruction and guidance, does not enter into his very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-von-humboldt/whatever-does-not-spring-from-a-man-s-free-choice-or-is-only-the/) [Wilhelm von Humboldt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-von-humboldt/) > [The dignity of man is in free choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/the-dignity-of-man-is-in-free-choice/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [Only when he voluntarily chooses that which he inexorably must do, has man any free will at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/only-when-he-voluntarily-chooses-that-which-he-inexorably-must-do-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We had become a country that valued security over freedom, power over justice, and war over peace. I wanted”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kroese/we-had-become-a-country-that-valued-security-over-freedom-power-over/) [Robert Kroese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kroese/) > [True freedom is to have power over oneself for everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/true-freedom-is-to-have-power-over-oneself-for-everything/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“to whom will the technology give greater power and freedom? And whose power and freedom will be reduced by it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/to-whom-will-the-technology-give-greater-power-and-freedom-and-whose/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) ## 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 Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) Alison James > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. I want to entertain, but I also want to say something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/movies-have-power-power-to-impact-society-and-the-choices-we-make-i/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [Clarissa," he said, "here with the vampire, I see. When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No man is free who is not master of himself... 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