Quotes from Epictetus

For determining the rational and the irrational, we employ not only our estimates of the value of external things, but also the criterion of that which is in keeping with one's own character. (Book I.2, 17p)

Don't mistake your assumptions for the truth.

Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor what they seem to be. They are what they are.

People are strange, they neither wish to live nor die.

The fear of death stems from the view that it is fearful.

These reasonings have no logical connection: "I am richer than you, therefore I am your superior." "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am your superior." The true logical connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore my possessions must exceed yours." "I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style must surpass yours." But you, after all, consist neither in property nor in style.

I cannot stay in harmony if I let myself become upset by things beyond my control.

Consider first, man, what the matter is, and what your own nature is able to bear. If you would be a wrestler, consider your shoulders, your back, your thighs; for different persons are made for different things.

Every difficulty in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and to invoke our own submerged inner resources. The trials we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths...Dig deeply. You possess strengths you might not realize you have. Find the right one. Use it.

When you desire something outside your sphere of power, you set yourself up for disappointment

When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself.

You must be one man, either good or bad. You must cultivate either your own ruling faculty or externals, and apply yourself either to things within or without you; that is, be either a philosopher, or one of the vulgar.

Open your eyes: See things for what they really are, thereby sparing yourself the pain of false attachments and avoidable devastation.

The Good stands before us like an archer's target. Evil is not a thing in itself but a missing of the mark, an arrow gone astray.

If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don't make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: " He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these.

Yes, but what good will all this do me when a child of mine dies, or if my brother, or I myself, have to die or be tortured?' [19] Nothing. Because that's not why you came, not why you took your seat in front of me, not the reason you sometimes sacrificed sleep to study by lamplight.

If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: "He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.

Some things are in our control and others not. Things inour control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in aword, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our controlare body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word,whatever are not our own actions. The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained,unhindered; but those not in our control are weak, slavish,restrained, belonging to others.

Obstacles Lameness may strike your leg, but not your determination. Sickness may weaken your body, but not your character. Misfortune may drain your bank account, but not your generosity—unless you let it. Each time an obstacle arises, remind yourself of this truth: while it may hurt some part of you, it can't touch your deepest self. The only person who can truly harm you—that is, make you a worse person—is you.

According to him the faculty of choice distinguishes humans from irrational animals. We can make considered choices among 'impressions' or 'appearances', meaning anything that comes within range of our senses, together with whatever thoughts and feelings these sensations evoke. While all animals are subject to impressions, those of humans differ by virtue of the fact that we possess the power of language and reason (both faculties expressed by the single word logos).

Evil is a by-product of forgetfulness, laziness, or distraction: it arises when we lose sight of our true aim in life

So decide now that you are worthy of living as a full-grown man who is making progress, and make everything that seems best be a law that you cannot go against. And if you meet with any hardship or anything pleasant or reputable or disreputable, then remember that the contest is now and the Olympic games are now and you cannot put things off any more and that your progress is made or destroyed by a single day and a single action

But shall he argue, indeed, and then not take pains to avoid conducting himself recklessly and at haphazard in an argument? And if he does not, how will he any longer be the sort of man we think he is? (...) Let them show that he will be able, and all these speculations become mere superfluity, they were absurd and inconsistent with our preconception of the good man.

Hay cosas que están bajo nuestro control y otras que están más allá de este. Bajo nuestro control están nuestras opiniones, nuestras preferencias, nuestros deseos, nuestras inclinaciones, nuestras aversiones; en una palabra, todo lo que es inherente a nuestras acciones.