Quotes from Epictetus

Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent.

If you wish to be a writer, write.

I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment?

If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.

Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well.

Remember that you ought to behave in life as you would at a banquet. As something is being passed around it comes to you; stretch out your hand, take a portion of it politely. It passes on; do not detain it. Or it has not come to you yet; do not project your desire to meet it, but wait until it comes in front of you. So act toward children, so toward a wife, so toward office, so toward wealth.

We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.

Difficulty shows what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. Why? So that you may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat.

Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?

Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment.

It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens.

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

Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Therefore, give yourself fully to your endeavors. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths. Remain steadfast...and one day you will build something that endures: something worthy of your potential.

It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit, amid abundance

These reasonings are unconnected: I am richer than you, therefore I am better; I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better. The connection is rather this: I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours; I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours. But you, after all, are neither property nor style.

If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: 'I used to be angry every day; then every other day; now only every third or fourth day.' When you reach thirty days offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods.

An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame another or himself.

Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to.

Even as the Sun doth not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so thou also wait not for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do thy duty; nay, do good of thine own accord, and thou wilt be loved like the Sun.

Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them.

It is our attitude toward events, not events themselves, which we can control. Nothing is by its own nature calamitous -- even death is terrible only if we fear it.

Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.

If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don't aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don't altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn't easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are going to shortchange the other.

It is unrealistc to expect people to see you as you see yourself.