Quotes from Epictetus

What would Heracles have been if he had said, How am I to prevent a big lion from appearing, or a big boar, or brutal men? What care you, I say? If a big boar appears, you will have a greater struggle to engage in; if evil men appear, you will free the world from evil men.

You only have to doze a moment, and all is lost. For ruin and salvation both have their source inside you.

Treasure Your Mind, Cherish Your Reason, Hold to Your Purpose Don't surrender your mind. If someone were to casually give your body away to any old passerby, you would naturally be furious. Why then do you feel no shame in giving your precious mind over to any person who might wish to influence you? Think twice before you give up your own mind to someone who may revile you, leaving you confused and upset.

secondly, what the nature of God is. Whatever that nature is discovered to be, the man who would please and obey Him must strive with all his might to be made like unto him. If the Divine is faithful, he also must be faithful; if free, he also must be free; if beneficent, he also must be beneficent; if magnanimous, he also must be magnanimous. Thus as an imitator of God must he follow Him in every deed and word.

Do your best to rein in your desire. For if you desire something that isn't within your own control, disappointment will surely follow; meanwhile, you will be neglecting the very things that are within your control that are worthy of desire.

If you meet temptation, use self-control; if you meet pain, use fortitude; if you meet revulsion, use patience.

Man, the rational animal, can put up with anything except what seems to him irrational; whatever is rational is tolerable.

As you travel the path of philosophy, be content to be considered plain or even foolish. Do not strive to be celebrated for anything. If you are praised by others, be skeptical of yourself. For it it is no easy feat to hold onto your inner harmony while collecting accolades. When grasping for one, you are likely to drop the other.

In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is most difficult of all things.

For I am not everlasting, but a human being, a part of the whole as an hour is a part of the day. Like an hour I must come, and like an hour pass away.

Taking account of the value of externals, you see, comes at some cost to the value of one's own character.

Make it your goal never to fail in your desires or experience things you would rather avoid; try never to err in impulse and repulsion; aim to be perfect also in the practice of attention and withholding judgment.

In the long run, every man will pay the penalty for his own misdeeds. The man who remembers this will be angry with no one, indignant with no one, revile no one, blame no one, offend no one, hate no one.

Freedom, you see, is having events go in accordance with our will, never contrary to it.

Can we avoid people? How is that possible? And if we associate with them, can we change them? Who gives us that power?

Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions

Philosophers say that people are all guided by a single standard. When they assent to a thing, it is because they feel it must be true, when they dissent, it is because they feel something isn't true, and when they suspend judgement, it is because they feel that the thing is unclear.

at any one time, whereas the conjunctive proposition 'Both it is day and it is night' is false at any moment. 8. As you are careful … at the same time: E.g. by 'strutting' or otherwise walking in an inappropriate manner, or engaging in undignified thoughts or daydreams. 9. Don't embrace marble statues: Outdoors, naked, in cold weather: a bizarre and showy kind

Destroy desire completely for the present. For if you desire anything which is not in our power, you must be unfortunate

It is not things that trouble us, but our judgements about things.

As long as you honour material things, direct your anger at yourself rather than the thief or adulterer.

the same thing, really, that we all want: to live in peace, to be happy, to do as we like and never be foiled or forced to act against our wishes.

If then you desire (aim at) such great things remember that you must not (attempt to) lay hold of them with a small effort;

Small-minded people habitually reproach others for their own misfortunes. Average people reproach themselves. Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom understand that the impulse to blame something or someone is foolishness, that there is nothing to be gained in blaming, whether it be others or oneself.