Quotes from Epictetus

Seek at once, therefore, to be able to say to every unpleasing semblance, "You are but a semblance and by no means the real thing." And then examine it by those rules which you have; and first and chiefly by this: whether it concerns the things which are within our own power or those which are not; and if it concerns anything beyond our power, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

The philosopher's lecture room is a 'hospital': you ought not to walk out of it in a state of pleasure, but in pain; for you are not in good condition when you arrive.

When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad," Epictetus said, Ã¢â'¬Å"don't blame another for your state of mind. Your condition is the result of your own opinions and interpretations. . . . "When anyone provokes you, remember that it is actually your own opinion provoking you. It is not the person who insults or attacks you who torments your mind, but the view you take of these things.

Understand what words you use first, then use them.

Well, when do we act like sheep: when we act for the sake of the belly, or of our sex-organs, or at random, or in a filthy fashion, or without due consideration, to what level have we degenerated? To the level of sheep.

When a young man was boasting in the theater and saying, I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men; Epictetus said, I also have conversed with many rich men, but I am not rich.

Remind yourself that what you love is mortal … at the very moment you are taking joy in something, present yourself with the opposite impressions. What harm is it, just when you are kissing your little child, to say: Tomorrow you will die, or to your friend similarly: Tomorrow one of us will go away, and we shall not see one another any more?

If you have assumed any character beyond your strength, you have both demeaned yourself ill in that and quitted one which you might have supported.

Freedom is not attained through the satisfaction of desires, but through the suppression of desires.

Lucky is the man who dies at work.

you are a little soul carrying around a corpse.

You're not yet Socrates, but you can still live as if you want to be him.

you're unable to make someone change his views, recognize that he is a child, and clap as he does. Or if you don't care to act in such a way, you have only to keep quiet.

First to those universal principles I have spoken of: these you must keep at command, and without them neither sleep nor rise, drink nor eat nor deal with men: the principle that no one can control another's will, and that the will alone is the sphere of good and evil.

Rahats?z edici bir sorunun sakin bir ÅŸekilde üstesinden gelmek, benim içsel huzurum için ödediÄŸim bedeldir. Kayg? ve endiÅŸeden özgür kalmam için ödediÄŸim ÅŸeydir; iÅŸe yaramaz bir ÅŸey için deÄŸil.

We must consider what is the time for singing, what the time for play, and in whose presence: what will be unsuited to the occasion; whether our companions are to despise us, or we to despise ourselves: when to jest, and whom to mock at: and on what occasion to be conciliatory and to whom: in a word, how one ought to maintain one's character in society. Wherever you swerve from any of these principles, you suffer loss at once; not loss from without, but issuing from the very act itself.

If a person gave your body to any stranger he met on his way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in handing over your own mind to be confused and mystified by anyone who happens to verbally attack you? 29.

The husbandman deals with land; physicians and trainers with the body; the wise man with his own Mind.

Never say of anything that I've lost it, only that Ive given it back.

Tis true I know what evil I shall do but passion overpowers the better council.

The object of your love is mortal; it is not one of your possessions; it has been given to you for the present, not inseparably nor forever." (Epictetus, The Discourses)

Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, He who is content.

When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.

If someone handed your body over to a passerby, you would be annoyed. Aren't you ashamed that you hand over your mind to anyone around, for it to be upset and confused if the person insults you?