--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What disturbs people's minds are not…" description: "\"What disturbs people's minds are not events but their judgments on events.\" — Epictetus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/epictetus-413_events_what-disturbs-people-s-minds-are-not-eve_599372.jpg" --- # What disturbs people's minds are not events but their… ![“What disturbs people's minds are not events but their judgments on events.” quote by Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/epictetus-413_events_what-disturbs-people-s-minds-are-not-eve_599372.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/epictetus-413_events_what-disturbs-people-s-minds-are-not-eve_599372.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/epictetus-413_events_what-disturbs-people-s-minds-are-not-eve_599372.jpg) > “What disturbs people's minds are not events but their judgments on events.” [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. Our reactions, not external events, disturb us; judgments shape our emotional state. **In simple terms:** Events aren't disturbing; our judgments are. Key Takeaway Examine and adjust your judgments. Themes stoicism perception control Mood thoughtful calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - stressful news - personal conflicts - unexpected changes Key Concepts cognitive bias emotional regulation Questions to Reflect On - What judgments cause you distress? - How can you reframe a recent event? A Different Perspective Changing judgments can be difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Disturbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disturbs-278497/) [Disturbs People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disturbs-people-3751460/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Events Judgments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events-judgments-4890046/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Judgments Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgments-events-4890047/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-minds/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [What disturbs people, these are not things, but the judgments relating to things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-disturbs-people-these-are-not-things-but-the-judgments-relating/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [“References to everybody just disturb me, and it also disturbs me that the people who make policy are not the same people who live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-malveaux/references-to-everybody-just-disturb-me-and-it-also-disturbs-me-that/) [Julianne Malveaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-malveaux/) > [That disturbs people when they know they didn't have the guts or integrity to stick to their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bernhard/that-disturbs-people-when-they-know-they-didn-t-have-the-guts-or/) [Sandra Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bernhard/) > [My work disturbs people and nobody wants to be disturbed. They are not fully aware of the effect my work has on them, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/my-work-disturbs-people-and-nobody-wants-to-be-disturbed-they-are-not/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Peace is a day-to-day problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an 'is,' it is a 'becoming.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-selassie/peace-is-a-day-to-day-problem-the-product-of-a-multitude-of-events/) [Haile Selassie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-selassie/) > [What disturbs and alarms man are not the things, but his opinions and fancies about the things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/what-disturbs-and-alarms-man-are-not-the-things-but-his-opinions-and/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Violence is a calm that disturbs you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/violence-is-a-calm-that-disturbs-you/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [He who has peace of mind disturbs neither himself nor another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epicurus/he-who-has-peace-of-mind-disturbs-neither-himself-nor-another/) [Epicurus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epicurus/) > [In my view, the critical questions in this era of mass incarceration are: What disturbs us? What seems contrary to expectation? Who do we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/in-my-view-the-critical-questions-in-this-era-of-mass-incarceration/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“Avoid putting attention on anything that disturbs you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/avoid-putting-attention-on-anything-that-disturbs-you/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [Nothing disturbs me more than the glorification of stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/nothing-disturbs-me-more-than-the-glorification-of-stupidity/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Everything disturbs an absent lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/everything-disturbs-an-absent-lover/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [Bad music disturbs me, but wonderful music disturbs me even more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arturo-benedetti-michelangeli/bad-music-disturbs-me-but-wonderful-music-disturbs-me-even-more/) [Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arturo-benedetti-michelangeli/) > [“But this is what disturbs me: if there is no God, then, the question is, who is in control of man's life and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bulgakov/but-this-is-what-disturbs-me-if-there-is-no-god-then-the-question-is/) [Mikhail Bulgakov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bulgakov/) > [If you have anything which disturbs you in me. Say it to me not everyone else.When you do that I see you as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eshurne/if-you-have-anything-which-disturbs-you-in-me-say-it-to-me-not/) [Eshurne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eshurne/) ## 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 Events quotes > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [My political views have never made me insensitive to the pain and suffering caused to the innocent victims of events such as the Warrington…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fox/my-political-views-have-never-made-me-insensitive-to-the-pain-and/) [Claire Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fox/) > [Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/teaching-children-about-the-natural-world-should-be-seen-as-one-of/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [I wasn’t like, boo hoo, Bin Laden’s dead, but I wasn’t jumping. America’s a very nationalistic country, and in episodes like that of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scahill/i-wasn-t-like-boo-hoo-bin-laden-s-dead-but-i-wasn-t-jumping-america-s/) [Jeremy Scahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scahill/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [Things happen too quickly, crisis follows crisis, the soil of our minds is perpetually disturbed. 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