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Enchiridion

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Evolution_II

Infinite_Library

The_Art_of_Living__The_Classical_Manual_on_Virtue

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IN CHAPTERS TITLE

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1.13_-_Gnostic_Symbols_of_the_Self

1.14_-_Bibliography

1.15_-_Index

1.17_-_The_Transformation

BOOK_IX._-_Of_those_who_allege_a_distinction_among_demons,_some_being_good_and_others_evil

ENNEAD_03.02_-_Of_Providence.

ENNEAD_06.05_-_The_One_and_Identical_Being_is_Everywhere_Present_In_Its_Entirety.345

the_Eternal_Wisdom

The_Logomachy_of_Zos

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SIMILAR TITLES

Epictetus

TERMS STARTING WITH

Epictetus: (c. 60-110 A.D.) A Stoic philosopher and freed slave, who established his School in Nicopolis, Epirus; his Discourses were published by Arrian, his learned disciple, they contain sharp observations of human behavior and pithy sayings on ethical matters. -- R.B.W.

Epictetus Greek Stoic philosopher, a freed slave who taught philosophy in Rome until 90 AD, when Domitian expelled all philosophers. He left no writings, and his philosophy is known through the Discourses and Enchiridion of his pupil Flavius Arrian. Like other Stoics, he held that each person has at the root of his or her being a spark of the Logos, so that all people are brothers and relationships with others must be respected. Inner harmony could be attained by correct perceptions and attitudes, differentiating between what is “ours” and thus under our control, and what is “not ours” and therefore beyond our control. He encouraged making new habits of thought and action through constant practice and self-discipline and by acting deliberately.


TERMS ANYWHERE

Epictetus: (c. 60-110 A.D.) A Stoic philosopher and freed slave, who established his School in Nicopolis, Epirus; his Discourses were published by Arrian, his learned disciple, they contain sharp observations of human behavior and pithy sayings on ethical matters. -- R.B.W.

Epictetus Greek Stoic philosopher, a freed slave who taught philosophy in Rome until 90 AD, when Domitian expelled all philosophers. He left no writings, and his philosophy is known through the Discourses and Enchiridion of his pupil Flavius Arrian. Like other Stoics, he held that each person has at the root of his or her being a spark of the Logos, so that all people are brothers and relationships with others must be respected. Inner harmony could be attained by correct perceptions and attitudes, differentiating between what is “ours” and thus under our control, and what is “not ours” and therefore beyond our control. He encouraged making new habits of thought and action through constant practice and self-discipline and by acting deliberately.

epictetain ::: a. --> Pertaining to Epictetus, the Roman Stoic philosopher, whose conception of life was to be passionless under whatever circumstances.

KEYS (10k)

   95 Epictetus
   13 Epictetus
   2 Leo Tolstoy
   1 Voltaire
   1 Tom Butler-Bowdon
   1 Mortimer J Adler
   1 Epictetus: Manual. 13
   1 Epictetus : Conversations
   1 Epictetus 33. 2

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

1148 Epictetus
   65 Ryan Holiday
   11 Marcus Aurelius
   6 William B Irvine
   4 Anonymous
   3 J D Salinger
   3 Donald J Robertson
   3 Blaise Pascal
   2 Voltaire
   2 Leo Tolstoy
   2 Laini Taylor
   2 Jonathan Haidt
   2 Elizabeth Gilbert
   2 Edward Gibbon
   2 Dale Carnegie
   2 Arthur Schopenhauer
   2 Albert Ellis

1:No great thing is created suddenly. ~ Epictetus,

2:Get rid of self-conceit. ~ Epictetus,

3:Act your part with honor. ~ Epictetus,

4:If you wish to write, write. ~ Epictetus,

5:Only the educated are free.    ~ Epictetus,

6:Silence is safer than speech. ~ Epictetus,

7:Difficulty shows what men are. ~ Epictetus,

8:God has entrusted me with myself. ~ Epictetus,

9:If it pleases the gods, so be it. ~ Epictetus,

10:No great thing is created suddenly. ~ Epictetus,

11:Do not try to seem wise to others.    ~ Epictetus,

12:I must die; so must I die groaning too? ~ Epictetus,

13:Cowardice, the dread of what will happen. ~ Epictetus,

14:Books are the training weights of the mind. ~ Epictetus,

15:Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.    ~ Epictetus,

16:I want to die, even though I don't have to. ~ Epictetus,

17:Nothing great comes into being all at once. ~ Epictetus,

18:You become what you give your attention to. ~ Epictetus,

19:Think of God more often than thou breathest. ~ Epictetus,

20:What is the product of virtue? Tranquillity. ~ Epictetus,

21:Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly. ~ Epictetus,

22:There is no shame in making an honest effort. ~ Epictetus,

23:Is it not the same distance to God everywhere? ~ Epictetus,

24:We are caught half asleep by every appearance. ~ Epictetus,

25:Understand what words you use first, then use them. ~ Epictetus,

26:Seek to be the purple thread in the long white gown. ~ Epictetus,

27:All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain. ~ Epictetus,

28:Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee. ~ Epictetus,

29:You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not. ~ Epictetus,

30:If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad. ~ Epictetus,

31:Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men! ~ Epictetus,

32:Wish that everything should come about just as it does. ~ Epictetus,

33:Act well your given part; the choice rests not with you. ~ Epictetus,

34:Don't live by your own rules, but in harmony with nature ~ Epictetus,

35:Everyone's life is a warfare, and that long and various. ~ Epictetus,

36:First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. ~ Epictetus,

37:If you can make music with someone you don't need words. ~ Epictetus,

38:Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them. ~ Epictetus,

39:Prefer enduring satisfaction to immediate gratification. ~ Epictetus,

40:Check your passions that you may not be punished by them. ~ Epictetus,

41:Difficulties are things that show a person what they are. ~ Epictetus,

42:Faithfulness is the antidote to bitterness and confusion. ~ Epictetus,

43:Let no man think that he is loved by any who loveth none. ~ Epictetus,

44:Anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether. ~ Epictetus,

45:Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world. ~ Epictetus,

46:Life is a piece of music, and you're supposed to be dancing. ~ Epictetus,

47:No man is free who is not master of himself.    ~ Epictetus, [T5],

48:What is learned without pleasure is forgotten without remorse. ~ Epictetus,

49:He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.    ~ Epictetus,

50:What is death? A scary mask. Take it off - see, it doesn't bite. ~ Epictetus,

51:It is unrealistc to expect people to see you as you see yourself. ~ Epictetus,

52:Make a bad beginning and you'll contend with troubles ever after. ~ Epictetus,

53:No living being is held by anything so strongly as its own needs. ~ Epictetus,

54:What is a child? Ignorance. What is a child? Want of instruction. ~ Epictetus,

55:Some of their faults men readily admit, but others not so readily. ~ Epictetus,

56:Tell yourself what you want to be, then act your part accordingly. ~ Epictetus,

57:And, first, ordinarily be silent. ~ Epictetus 33. 2, the Eternal Wisdom

58:He who exercises wisdom exercises the knowledge which is about God. ~ Epictetus,

59:Never look for your work in one place and your progress in another. ~ Epictetus,

60:Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast. ~ Epictetus,

61:It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.    ~ Epictetus,

62:We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope. ~ Epictetus,

63:A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope    ~ Epictetus,

64:Fortify yourself with contentment for this is an impregnable fortress. ~ Epictetus,

65:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.    ~ Epictetus,

66:The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going. ~ Epictetus,

67:You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be. ~ Epictetus,

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

69:First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.    ~ Epictetus,

70:Proper preparation for the future consists of forming good personal habits. ~ Epictetus,

71:Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.    ~ Epictetus,

72:First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus,

73:I will define him simply as someone set on becoming a god rather than a man. ~ Epictetus,

74:People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.    ~ Epictetus, Enchiridion,

75:It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them." ~ Epictetus,

76:We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us." ~ Epictetus,

77:The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. ~ Epictetus,

78:The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best." ~ Epictetus,

79:What is really your own? The use you make of the ideas, resources, and opportunities that come your way. ~ Epictetus,

80:Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness    ~ Epictetus,

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

82:This world is a republic all whose citizens are made of one and the same substance. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

83:In all things to do what depends on oneself and for the rest to remain firm and calm. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

84:Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.    ~ Epictetus,

85:Any person capable of angering you becomes your master;    he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.    ~ Epictetus,

86:I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. ~ Leo Tolstoy,

87:I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people.    ~ Leo Tolstoy,

88:When we act with obstinacy, malice, anger, violence, to whom do we make ourselves near and like? To wild beasts. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

89:True good can only be obtained by our effort towards spiritual perfection and this effort is always in our power. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

90:He becomes master of all this universe who has this knowledge.-Know thyself, sound the divinity ~ Epictetus, "Conversations." III.22, the Eternal Wisdom

91:Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort. ~ Epictetus,

92:This world is a people of friends, and these friends are first the gods and next men whom Nature has made for each other. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

93:From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do -- now." ~ Epictetus,

94:And shall I then no longer be? Yes, thou shalt be, but thou shalt be something else of which the world will have need at that moment. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

95:Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for anything nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave." ~ Epictetus,

96:Whoever, therefore, wants to be free, let him neither wish for anything, nor avoid anything, that is under the control of others, or else he is necessarily a slave. ~ Epictetus,

97:What then is the duty of the citizen? Never to consider his particular interest, never to calculate as if he were an isolated individual. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

98:I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live    ~ Epictetus,

99: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?    ~ Epictetus,

100: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.    ~ Epictetus,

101:If thou wouldst make progress, be resigned to passing for an idiot or an imbecile in external things; consent to pass for one who understands nothing of them at all. ~ Epictetus: Manual. 13, the Eternal Wisdom

102:Man! renounce all that thou mayst be happy, that thou mayst be free, that thou mayst have thy soul large and great. Carry high thy head,...and thou art delivered from servitude. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

103:Thou wouldst exhort men to good ? but hast thou exhorted thyself ? Thou wouldst be useful to them ? Show by thy own example what men philosophy can make and do not prate uselessly. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

104:God has entrusted me with myself. No man is free who is not master of himself. A man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.    ~ Epictetus,

105:Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.    ~ Epictetus,

106:Regularly ask yourself: "how are my thoughts, words and deeds afgecting my friends, my spouse, my neighbour, my child, my employer, my subordinates, my fellow citizens?" Make it your business to draw out the best in others by being an exemplar yourself. ~ Epictetus,

107:In what then consists progress? He who detaching him self from external things devotes himself entirely to the education and preparation of his faculty of judgment and will in order to put it into accord with Nature and give it elevation, freedom, independence, self-possession,-he it is who is really progressing. ~ Epictetus : Conversations, the Eternal Wisdom

108:There is in all this only transformations of things one into another; there is no annihilation: a regulated order, a disposition of the ensemble, that is all. There is nothing else in a departure, it is only a slight change. There is nothing else in death, it is only a great change. The actual being changes, not into a non-existence, but into something it is not at present. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

109: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. ~ Epictetus,

110:Knowest thou not that thou nurturest in thyself a god? It is a god whom thou usest for thy strength, a god whom thou carriest with thee everywhere, and thou knowest it not at all, O unhappy man. And thinkest thou that I speak of a silver or golden idol outside thee? The god of whom I speak, thou carriest within thee and perceivest not that thou pollutest him by thy impure thoughts and infamous actions. ~ Epictetus, the Eternal Wisdom

111:Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap.    ~ Epictetus,

112:Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice - now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren't a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. The longer you wait, the more you'll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do - now.    ~ Epictetus,

113:But in what circumstances does our reason teach us that there is vice or virtue? How does this continual mystery work? Tell me, inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago, Africans, Canadians and you, Plato, Cicero, Epictetus! You all feel equally that it is better to give away the superfluity of your bread, your rice or your manioc to the indigent than to kill him or tear out his eyes. It is evident to all on earth that an act of benevolence is better than an outrage, that gentleness is preferable to wrath. We have merely to use our Reason in order to discern the shades which distinguish right and wrong. Good and evil are often close neighbours and our passions confuse them. Who will enlighten us? We ourselves when we are calm. ~ Voltaire, the Eternal Wisdom

114:How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.    From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event. That is how Socrates fulfilled himself by attending to nothing except reason in everything he encountered. And you, although you are not yet a Socrates, should live as someone who at least wants to be a Socrates.    ~ Epictetus, (From Manual 51),

115:reading :::    50 Spiritual Classics: List of Books Covered:    Muhammad Asad - The Road To Mecca (1954)    St Augustine - Confessions (400)    Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)    Black Elk Black - Elk Speaks (1932)    Richard Maurice Bucke - Cosmic Consciousness (1901)    Fritjof Capra - The Tao of Physics (1976)    Carlos Castaneda - Journey to Ixtlan (1972)    GK Chesterton - St Francis of Assisi (1922)    Pema Chodron - The Places That Scare You (2001)    Chuang Tzu - The Book of Chuang Tzu (4th century BCE)    Ram Dass - Be Here Now (1971)    Epictetus - Enchiridion (1st century)    Mohandas Gandhi - An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth (1927)    Al-Ghazzali - The Alchemy of Happiness (1097)    Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet (1923)    GI Gurdjieff - Meetings With Remarkable Men (1960)    Dag Hammarskjold - Markings (1963)    Abraham Joshua Heschel - The Sabbath (1951)    Hermann Hesse - Siddartha (1922)    Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception (1954)    William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)    Carl Gustav Jung - Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1955)    Margery Kempe - The Book of Margery Kempe (1436)    J Krishnamurti - Think On These Things (1964)    CS Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (1942)    Malcolm X - The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964)    Daniel C Matt - The Essential Kabbalah (1994)    Dan Millman - The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1989)    W Somerset Maugham - The Razor's Edge (1944)    Thich Nhat Hanh - The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975)    Michael Newton - Journey of Souls (1994)    John O'Donohue - Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (1998)    Robert M Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)    James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy (1994)    Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements (1997)    Helen Schucman & William Thetford - A Course in Miracles (1976)    Idries Shah - The Way of the Sufi (1968)    Starhawk - The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979)    Shunryu Suzuki - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)    Emanuel Swedenborg - Heaven and Hell (1758)    Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle (1570)    Mother Teresa - A Simple Path (1994)    Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now (1998)    Chogyam Trungpa - Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973)    Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations With God (1998)    Rick Warren - The Purpose-Driven Life (2002)    Simone Weil - Waiting For God (1979)    Ken Wilber - A Theory of Everything (2000)    Paramahansa Yogananda - Autobiography of a Yogi (1974)    Gary Zukav - The Seat of the Soul (1990)    ~ Tom Butler-Bowdon, 50 Spirital Classics (2017 Edition),

116:Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer - Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus - Tragedies 4. Sophocles - Tragedies 5. Herodotus - Histories 6. Euripides - Tragedies 7. Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates - Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes - Comedies 10. Plato - Dialogues 11. Aristotle - Works 12. Epicurus - Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid - Elements 14.Archimedes - Works 15. Apollonius of Perga - Conic Sections 16. Cicero - Works 17. Lucretius - On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil - Works 19. Horace - Works 20. Livy - History of Rome 21. Ovid - Works 22. Plutarch - Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus - Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa - Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus - Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy - Almagest 27. Lucian - Works 28. Marcus Aurelius - Meditations 29. Galen - On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus - The Enneads 32. St. Augustine - On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njal 36. St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer - Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci - Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus - The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus - On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More - Utopia 44. Martin Luther - Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin - Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne - Essays 48. William Gilbert - On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser - Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon - Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare - Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei - Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler - Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey - On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan 57. René Descartes - Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton - Works 59. Molière - Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens - Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza - Ethics 63. John Locke - Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine - Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67.Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift - A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve - The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley - Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope - Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu - Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire - Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding - Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson - The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets    ~ Mortimer J Adler,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

1:Only the educated are free. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

2:Pain or pleasure? I say pleasure.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

3:There is nothing good or evil save in the will. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

4:You are a little soul carrying around a corpse. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

5:All philosophy in two words - sustain and abstain.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

6:Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

7:First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

8:Anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

9:Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

10:Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.     ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

11:It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

12:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

13:Learn to wish that everything should come to pass exactly as it does. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

14:Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the most delight.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

15:It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he think he knows.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

16:A ship ought not to be held by one anchor, nor life by a single hope.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

17:Fortify yourself with moderation; for this is an impregnable fortress.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

18:Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

19:Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

20:Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

21:He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

22:Make the best use of what is in your power and take the rest as it happens.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

23:The origin of sorrow is this: to wish for something that does not come to pass. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

24:All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven in his own way. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

25:We are disturbed, not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

26:Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

27:It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

28:Men are disturbed not by things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

29:The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

30:Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

31:It takes more than just a good-looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

32:One that desires to excel should endeavour in those things that are in themselves most excellent. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

33:If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

34:If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonourable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

35:There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

36:The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

37:You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

38:Renew every day your conversation with God: Do this even in preference to eating.  Think more often of God than you breathe. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

39:Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

40:Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

41:Ask not that events should happen as you will, but let your will be that events should happen as they do, and you shall have peace. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

42:If it should ever happen to you to be turned to externals in order to please some person, you must know that you have lost your purpose in life. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

43:Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

44:If virtue promises good fortune and tranquillity and happiness, certainly also the progress towards virtue is progress towards each of these things.    ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

45:I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. ~ leo-tolstoy, @wisdomtrove

46:We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

47:If a person had delivered up your body to some passer-by, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in delivering up your own mind to any reviler, to be disconcerted and confounded?   ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

48: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. " ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

49:If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

50:There is no one true religion, each religion has its truths and there are many paths we can choose to take that will lead us to to God. All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven in his own way. ~ epictetus, @wisdomtrove

51:If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: &

52:The manner in which Epictetus, Montaigne, and Salomon de Tultie wrote, is the most usual, the most suggestive, the most remembered, and the oftener quoted; because it is entirely composed of thoughts born from the common talk of life. ~ blaise-pascal, @wisdomtrove

53:Before you realize this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair, a notion nicely expressed in this exasperated line from the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus: &

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:Act your part with honor. ~ Epictetus,

2:Act your part with honor. ~ Epictetus,

3:Only the educated are free. ~ Epictetus,

4:If you wish to write, write. ~ Epictetus,

5:If you wish to write, write. ~ Epictetus,

6:Silence is safer than speech. ~ Epictetus,

7:What did I lack then, anyway? ~ Epictetus,

8:Difficulty shows what men are. ~ Epictetus,

9:Only the educated are free.    ~ Epictetus,

10:Difficulty shows what men are. ~ Epictetus,

11:Confident because of our caution ~ Epictetus,

12:God has entrusted me with myself. ~ Epictetus,

13:God has made all men to be happy. ~ Epictetus,

14:If it pleases the gods, so be it. ~ Epictetus,

15:Pain or pleasure? I say pleasure. ~ Epictetus,

16:You lose only the things you have ~ Epictetus,

17:Do not try to seem wise to others. ~ Epictetus,

18:God has entrusted me with myself. ~ Epictetus,

19:If it pleases the gods, so be it. ~ Epictetus,

20:If you wish to be a writer, write. ~ Epictetus,

21:Lucky is the man who dies at work. ~ Epictetus,

22:No great thing is created suddenly. ~ Epictetus,

23:No great thing is created suddenly. ~ Epictetus,

24:Do not try to seem wise to others.    ~ Epictetus,

25:Think of God oftener than you breathe. ~ Epictetus,

26:And, first, ordinarily be silent. ~ Epictetus 33. 2,

27:I must die; so must I die groaning too? ~ Epictetus,

28:Envy is the antagonist of the fortunate. ~ Epictetus,

29:I must die; so must I die groaning too? ~ Epictetus,

30:Cowardice, the dread of what will happen. ~ Epictetus,

31:Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it. ~ Epictetus,

32:Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. ~ Epictetus,

33:Ruin and recovering are both from within. ~ Epictetus,

34:Cowardice, the dread of what will happen. ~ Epictetus,

35:Desire and happiness cannot live together. ~ Epictetus,

36:It is difficulties that show what men are. ~ Epictetus,

37:The soul is unwillingly deprived of truth. ~ Epictetus,

38:With ills unending strives the putter off. ~ Epictetus,

39:Books are the training weights of the mind. ~ Epictetus,

40:I want to die, even though I don't have to. ~ Epictetus,

41:Nothing great comes into being all at once. ~ Epictetus,

42:You become what you give your attention to. ~ Epictetus,

43:Books are the training weights of the mind. ~ Epictetus,

44:Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.    ~ Epictetus,

45:I want to die, even though I don't have to. ~ Epictetus,

46:No man is free who is not master of himself. ~ Epictetus,

47:Nothing great comes into being all at once. ~ Epictetus,

48:Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcome. ~ Epictetus,

49:The best place to get help is from yourself. ~ Epictetus,

50:Think of God more often than thou breathest. ~ Epictetus,

51:What is the product of virtue? Tranquillity. ~ Epictetus,

52:You become what you give your attention to. ~ Epictetus,

53:Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly. ~ Epictetus,

54:There is no shame in making an honest effort. ~ Epictetus,

55:Think of God more often than thou breathest. ~ Epictetus,

56:What is the product of virtue? Tranquillity. ~ Epictetus,

57:Do not laugh much or often or unrestrainedly. ~ Epictetus,

58:Is it not the same distance to God everywhere? ~ Epictetus,

59:There is no shame in making an honest effort. ~ Epictetus,

60:We are not to lead events, but to follow them. ~ Epictetus,

61:You are a little soul carrying around a corpse ~ Epictetus,

62:Is it not the same distance to God everywhere? ~ Epictetus,

63:no man is free until he s a master of himself!! ~ Epictetus,

64:No one is ever unhappy because of someone else. ~ Epictetus,

65:No person is free who is not master of himself. ~ Epictetus,

66:There is nothing good or evil save in the will. ~ Epictetus,

67:You are a little soul carrying around a corpse. ~ Epictetus,

68:you are a little soul carrying around a corpse. ~ Epictetus,

69:Appear to know only this--never to fail nor fall. ~ Epictetus,

70:Every place is safe to him who lives with justice. ~ Epictetus,

71:No man is free unless he is the master of himself. ~ Epictetus,

72:No person is free who is not master of themselves. ~ Epictetus,

73:The good or ill of a man lies within his own will. ~ Epictetus,

74:If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write. ~ Epictetus,

75:Not things, but opinions about things, trouble men. ~ Epictetus,

76:Understand what words you use first, then use them. ~ Epictetus,

77:No thefts of free will reported.”[—Epictetus.] ~ Marcus Aurelius,

78:Seek to be the purple thread in the long white gown. ~ Epictetus,

79:Understand what words you use first, then use them. ~ Epictetus,

80:Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee. ~ Epictetus,

81:Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment. ~ Epictetus,

82:If you would be good, first believe that you are bad. ~ Epictetus,

83:Man is not fully free unless he is master of himself. ~ Epictetus,

84:Seek to be the purple thread in the long white gown. ~ Epictetus,

85:What will the world be quite overturned when you die? ~ Epictetus,

86:All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain. ~ Epictetus,

87:Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee. ~ Epictetus,

88:Happiness is an equivalent for all troublesome things. ~ Epictetus,

89:You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not. ~ Epictetus,

90:All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain. ~ Epictetus,

91:Any person capable of angering you becomes your master. ~ Epictetus,

92:Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee. ~ Epictetus,

93:If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad. ~ Epictetus,

94:Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men! ~ Epictetus,

95:Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men. ~ Epictetus,

96:Wish that everything should come about just as it does. ~ Epictetus,

97:You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not. ~ Epictetus,

98:Act well your given part; the choice rests not with you. ~ Epictetus,

99:Don't live by your own rules, but in harmony with nature ~ Epictetus,

100:Everyone's life is a warfare, and that long and various. ~ Epictetus,

101:First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. ~ Epictetus,

102:If you can make music with someone you don't need words. ~ Epictetus,

103:If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad. ~ Epictetus,

104:Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them. ~ Epictetus,

105:Prefer enduring satisfaction to immediate gratification. ~ Epictetus,

106:Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men! ~ Epictetus,

107:Wish that everything should come about just as it does. ~ Epictetus,

108:Act well your given part; the choice rests not with you. ~ Epictetus,

109:Check your passions that you may not be punished by them. ~ Epictetus,

110:Difficulties are things that show a person what they are. ~ Epictetus,

111:Don't live by your own rules, but in harmony with nature ~ Epictetus,

112:Everyone's life is a warfare, and that long and various. ~ Epictetus,

113:Faithfulness is the antidote to bitterness and confusion. ~ Epictetus,

114:First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. ~ Epictetus,

115:If you can make music with someone you don't need words. ~ Epictetus,

116:Let no man think that he is loved by any who loveth none. ~ Epictetus,

117:Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them. ~ Epictetus,

118:Prefer enduring satisfaction to immediate gratification. ~ Epictetus,

119:A little wisp of soul carrying a corpse.”—Epictetus. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

120:Anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether. ~ Epictetus,

121:Check your passions that you may not be punished by them. ~ Epictetus,

122:Difficulties are things that show a person what they are. ~ Epictetus,

123:Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own ~ Epictetus,

124:Faithfulness is the antidote to bitterness and confusion. ~ Epictetus,

125:Let no man think that he is loved by any who loveth none. ~ Epictetus,

126:Who exactly do you want to be? What kind of person do you ~ Epictetus,

127:Anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether. ~ Epictetus,

128:Fortune is an evil chain to the body, and vice to the soul. ~ Epictetus,

129:İnsanın zaten bildiğini sandığı şeyi öğrenmesi imkansızdır. ~ Epictetus,

130:No man can rob us of our Will—no man can lord it over that! ~ Epictetus,

131:Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle. ~ Epictetus,

132:Seek not the good in external things;seek it in yourselves. ~ Epictetus,

133:Some things are up to us, and some things are not up to us. ~ Epictetus,

134:We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral. ~ Epictetus,

135:Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world. ~ Epictetus,

136:Life is a piece of music, and you’re supposed to be dancing. ~ Epictetus,

137:At every occasion in your life, do not forget to commune with ~ Epictetus,

138:Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world. ~ Epictetus,

139:Life is a piece of music, and you’re supposed to be dancing. ~ Epictetus,

140:Who is a friend?" his answer was, "A second self (alter ego). ~ Epictetus,

141:He who is not happy with little will never be happy with much. ~ Epictetus,

142:He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at. ~ Epictetus,

143:Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly. ~ Epictetus,

144:No man is free who is not master of himself.    ~ Epictetus, [T5], #2index,

145:What is death? A scary mask. Take it off-see, it doesn't bite. ~ Epictetus,

146:What is learned without pleasure is forgotten without remorse. ~ Epictetus,

147:Wherever any one is against his will, that is to him a prison. ~ Epictetus,

148:Why are you pestering me, pal? My own evils are enough for me. ~ Epictetus,

149:You are a little soul carrying a dead body, as Epictetus said. ~ Epictetus,

150:A poor soul burdened with a corpse,' Epictetus calls you. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

151:Never say that I have taken it, only that I have given it back. ~ Epictetus,

152:No man is disturbed by things, but by his opinion about things. ~ Epictetus,

153:What is learned without pleasure is forgotten without remorse. ~ Epictetus,

154:Loss and sorrow are only possible with respect to things we own. ~ Epictetus,

155:Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives them. ~ Epictetus,

156:What is death? A scary mask. Take it off – see, it doesn’t bite. ~ Epictetus,

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

158:Authentic happiness is always independent of external conditions. ~ Epictetus,

159:CIRCUMSTANCES DON’T MAKE THE MAN, THEY ONLY REVEAL HIM TO HIMSELF ~ Epictetus,

160:Confidence in nonsense is a requirement for the creative process. ~ Epictetus,

161:He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.    ~ Epictetus,

162:If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked. ~ Epictetus,

163:It is unrealistc to expect people to see you as you see yourself. ~ Epictetus,

164:Make a bad beginning and you’ll contend with troubles ever after. ~ Epictetus,

165:No living being is held by anything so strongly as its own needs. ~ Epictetus,

166:To get or not to get what we desire can be equally disappointing. ~ Epictetus,

167:What is a child? Ignorance. What is a child? Want of instruction. ~ Epictetus,

168:What is death? A scary mask. Take it off – see, it doesn’t bite. ~ Epictetus,

169:Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, “He who is content. ~ Epictetus,

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

171:Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself. ~ Epictetus,

172:Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants. ~ Epictetus,

173:It is unrealistc to expect people to see you as you see yourself. ~ Epictetus,

174:Make a bad beginning and you’ll contend with troubles ever after. ~ Epictetus,

175:Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them. ~ Epictetus,

176:No living being is held by anything so strongly as its own needs. ~ Epictetus,

177:Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the most delight. ~ Epictetus,

178:Some of their faults men readily admit, but others not so readily. ~ Epictetus,

179:Tell yourself what you want to be, then act your part accordingly. ~ Epictetus,

180:The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will. ~ Epictetus,

181:What is a child? Ignorance. What is a child? Want of instruction. ~ Epictetus,

182:What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others. ~ Epictetus,

183:You are invincible if nothing outside the will can disconcert you. ~ Epictetus,

184:A fool cannot be convinced or even compelled to renounce his folly. ~ Epictetus,

185:He who exercises wisdom exercises the knowledge which is about God. ~ Epictetus,

186:In order to please others, we loose our hold on our life's purpose. ~ Epictetus,

187:It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. ~ Epictetus,

188:Man is troubled not by events, but by the meaning he gives to them. ~ Epictetus,

189:Never look for your work in one place and your progress in another. ~ Epictetus,

190:Some of their faults men readily admit, but others not so readily. ~ Epictetus,

191:So what oppresses and scares us? It is our own thoughts, obviously. ~ Epictetus,

192:Tell yourself what you want to be, then act your part accordingly. ~ Epictetus,

193:To live a life of virtue, match up your thoughts, words, and deeds. ~ Epictetus,

194:Avoid banquets which are given by strangers and by ignorant persons. ~ Epictetus,

195:Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast. ~ Epictetus,

196:Freedom is not achieved by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it. ~ Epictetus,

197:Freedom is not archived by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it. ~ Epictetus,

198:He who exercises wisdom exercises the knowledge which is about God. ~ Epictetus,

199:He who exercises wisdom, exercises the knowledge which is about God. ~ Epictetus,

200:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. ~ Epictetus,

201:It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows. ~ Epictetus,

202:Never look for your work in one place and your progress in another. ~ Epictetus,

203:Times relieves the foolish from sorrow, but reason relieves the wise ~ Epictetus,

204:Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast. ~ Epictetus,

205:First tell yourself what you want to be, then do what you need to do. ~ Epictetus,

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

207:We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope. ~ Epictetus,

208:Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee. ~ Epictetus,

209:Consider the bigger picture.....think things through and fully commit! ~ Epictetus,

210:Fortify yourself with contentment for this is an impregnable fortress. ~ Epictetus,

211:In the long run, every man will pay the penalty for this own misdeeds. ~ Epictetus,

212:It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.    ~ Epictetus,

213:Never say of anything that I've lost it, only that I've given it back. ~ Epictetus,

214:People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them. ~ Epictetus,

215:The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going. ~ Epictetus,

216:We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope. ~ Epictetus,

217:A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope ~ Epictetus,

218:A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope    ~ Epictetus,

219:Fortify yourself with contentment for this is an impregnable fortress. ~ Epictetus,

220:Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress. ~ Epictetus,

221:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.    ~ Epictetus,

222:It is my business, to manage carefully and dexterously whatever happens ~ Epictetus,

223:People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them. ~ Epictetus,

224:The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have. ~ Epictetus,

225:The pleasure which we most rarely experience gives us greatest delight. ~ Epictetus,

226:The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going. ~ Epictetus,

227:First say to yourself what you would be;and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus,

228:Never say about anything, I have lost it, but only I have given it back. ~ Epictetus,

229:People feel disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them. ~ Epictetus,

230:So why not care for that side of you, where you and the gods are equals? ~ Epictetus,

231:What is it to be a philosopher? Is it not to be prepared against events? ~ Epictetus,

232:First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus,

233:First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus,

234:First, tell yourself what you want to be, then act your part accordingly. ~ Epictetus,

235:Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. ~ Epictetus,

236:Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly.” —Epictetus ~ Tim Gunn,

237:Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them. ~ Epictetus,

238:Never say of anything I have lost it, only say that I have given it back. ~ Epictetus,

239:No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage. ~ Epictetus,

240:Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. ~ Epictetus,

241:We should do everything both cautiously and confidently at the same time. ~ Epictetus,

242:Yes, but my nose is running.’ Then what do you have hands for, you slave? ~ Epictetus,

243:You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be. ~ Epictetus,

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

245:Death is not dreadful or else it would have appeared dreadful to Socrates. ~ Epictetus,

246:He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk. ~ Epictetus,

247:We ought to flee the friendship of the wicked, and the enmity of the good. ~ Epictetus,

248:What disturbs people's minds are not events but their judgments on events. ~ Epictetus,

249:When did anger, however, ever teach someone to play music or pilot a ship? ~ Epictetus,

250:When you find your direction, check to make sure that it is the right one. ~ Epictetus,

251:You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be. ~ Epictetus,

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

253:And can you be forced by anyone to desire something against your will? ‘No. ~ Epictetus,

254:Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee. ~ Epictetus Epictetus ~ Epictetus,

255:If they are wise, do not quarrel with them; if they are fools, ignore them. ~ Epictetus,

256:Is you naturally entitled, then, to a good father? No, only to a father. Is ~ Epictetus,

257:It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows. ~ Epictetus,

258:Men are not troubled by things themselves, but by their thoughts about them ~ Epictetus,

259:Proper preparation for the future consists of forming good personal habits. ~ Epictetus,

260:First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.    ~ Epictetus,

261:First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus,

262:I am not eternity, but a man; a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day. ~ Epictetus,

263:It doesn't take much to lose everything, just a little departure from reason ~ Epictetus,

264:It is not things in themselves which trouble us, but our opinions of things. ~ Epictetus,

265:I will define him simply as someone set on becoming a god rather than a man. ~ Epictetus,

266:Just begin, believe me, and you will see the truth of what I’ve been saying. ~ Epictetus,

267:Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. ~ Epictetus,

268:No man is able to make progress when he is wavering between opposite things. ~ Epictetus,

269:Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. ~ Epictetus,

270:Proper preparation for the future consists of forming good personal habits. ~ Epictetus,

271:The appearance of things to the mind is the standard of every action to man. ~ Epictetus,

272:Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.    ~ Epictetus,

273:Consciousness of its weakness will keep you from tackling difficult subjects. ~ Epictetus,

274:First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus,

275:If you want to improve, you must be content to be thought foolish and stupid. ~ Epictetus,

276:It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death. ~ Epictetus,

277:It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them. ~ Epictetus,

278:It is your own convictions which compels you; that is, choice compels choice. ~ Epictetus,

279:I will define him simply as someone set on becoming a god rather than a man. ~ Epictetus,

280:We suffer not from the events in our lives but from our judgement about them. ~ Epictetus,

281:You are a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

282:Don’t give in to second thoughts, because no one who wavers will make progress ~ Epictetus,

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

284:In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then undertake it ~ Epictetus,

285:Once you know who you are and to whom you are linked, you will know what to do ~ Epictetus,

286:There are some things which men confess with ease, and others with difficulty. ~ Epictetus,

287:What else is freedom but the power to live our life the way we want? ‘Nothing. ~ Epictetus,

288:You are a little soul carrying about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

289:You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will. ~ Epictetus,

290:Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful. ~ Epictetus,

291:It is not events that disturb the minds of men, but the view they take of them. ~ Epictetus,

292:Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly. ~ Epictetus,

293:One of the best ways to elevate your character is to emulate worthy role models ~ Epictetus,

294:Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily. ~ Epictetus,

295:Protect what belongs to you at all costs; don't desire what belongs to another. ~ Epictetus,

296:The divine order does not design people or circumstance according to our tastes ~ Epictetus,

297:The origin of sorrow is this: to wish for something that does not come to pass. ~ Epictetus,

298:Tis true I know what evil I shall do but passion overpowers the better council. ~ Epictetus,

299:To pay homage to beauty is to admire Nature; to admire Nature is to worship God ~ Epictetus,

300:We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. ~ Epictetus,

301:Whatever your vocation, pursue it wholeheartedly. Consider, choose, and commit. ~ Epictetus,

302:All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven in his own way. ~ Epictetus,

303:And the way to be free is to let go of anything that is not within your control. ~ Epictetus,

304:At this time is freedom anything but the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. ~ Epictetus,

305:For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death. ~ Epictetus,

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

307:The beginning of philosophy is the recognition of the conflict between opinions. ~ Epictetus,

308:To pay homage to beauty is to admire Nature; to admire Nature is to worship God. ~ Epictetus,

309:What concerns me is not the way things are, but the way people think things are. ~ Epictetus,

310:What disturbs people, these are not things, but the judgments relating to things ~ Epictetus,

311:Always remember what is your own and what is not, and you’ll never be troubled. [ ~ Epictetus,

312:But until he succeeds in suppressing his lust and anxiety, how is he really free? ~ Epictetus,

313:Every art and every faculty contemplates certain things as its principal objects. ~ Epictetus,

314:Freedom and happiness are won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. ~ Epictetus,

315:Let silence be your general rule; or say only what is necessary and in few words. ~ Epictetus,

316:Let thy speech of God be renewed day by day, aye, rather than thy meat and drink. ~ Epictetus,

317:Seek not good from without; seek it within yourselves, or you will never find it. ~ Epictetus,

318:To a longer and worse life, a shorter and better is by all means to be preferred. ~ Epictetus,

319:When one maintains his proper attitude in life, he does not long after externals. ~ Epictetus,

320:Don't regard what anyone says of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours. ~ Epictetus,

321:God save me from fools with a little philosophy—no one is more difficult to reach. ~ Epictetus,

322:If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please. ~ Epictetus,

323:True peace is characterized by nothing so much as steadiness and imperturbability. ~ Epictetus,

324:A man that seeks truth and loves it must be reckoned precious to any human society. ~ Epictetus,

325:Don't put your purpose in one place and expect to see progress made somewhere else. ~ Epictetus,

326:It were no slight attainment could we merely fulfil what the nature of man implies. ~ Epictetus,

327:Make it your business to draw out the best in others by being an exemplar yourself. ~ Epictetus,

328:This world is a republic all whose citizens are made of one and the same substance. ~ Epictetus,

329:Have the wisdom to know what cannot be changed, and the strength to change what can. ~ Epictetus,

330:If you see anybody wail and complain, call him a slave, though he be clad in purple. ~ Epictetus,

331:In short, we do not abandon any discipline for despair of ever being the best in it. ~ Epictetus,

332:It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them. ~ Epictetus,

333:We should not have either a blunt knife or a freedom of speech which is ill-managed. ~ Epictetus,

334:What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgements about these things. ~ Epictetus,

335:You are a spirit, bearing the weight of a dead body, as Epictetus used to say. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

336:A city is not adorned by external things, but by the virtue of those who dwell in it. ~ Epictetus,

337:Adopt new habits yourself: consolidate your principles by putting them into practice. ~ Epictetus,

338:Everything has two handles,-one by which it may be borne; another by which it cannot. ~ Epictetus,

339:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”—Epictetus ~ Timothy Ferriss,

340:In all things to do what depends on oneself and for the rest to remain firm and calm. ~ Epictetus,

341:It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens." Epictetus ~ Epictetus,

342:But first consider how much more sparing and patient of hardship the poor are than we. ~ Epictetus,

343:Contentment, as it is a short road and pleasant, has great delight and little trouble. ~ Epictetus,

344:If you have anything better to be doing when death overtakes you, get to work on that. ~ Epictetus,

345:It is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows,” Epictetus says. ~ Ryan Holiday,

346:Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinion about the things. ~ Epictetus,

347:Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope. ~ Epictetus,

348:Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things, and thence proceed to greater. ~ Epictetus,

349:this is your business—to act well the given part, but to choose it belongs to another. ~ Epictetus,

350:Your master is he who controls that on which you have set your heart or wish to avoid. ~ Epictetus,

351:grammar will tell you how to write; but whether to write or not, grammar will not tell. ~ Epictetus,

352:If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it. ~ Epictetus,

353:Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things: ~ Epictetus,

354:People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.    ~ Epictetus, Enchiridion,

355:The foolish and the uneducated have little use for freedom. Only the educated are free. ~ Epictetus,

356:What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are. ~ Epictetus,

357:Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire. ~ Epictetus,

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

359:Getting distracted by trifles is the easiest thing in the world… Focus on your main duty ~ Epictetus,

360:It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them. ~ Epictetus,

361:To the rational being only the irrational is unendurable, but the rational is endurable. ~ Epictetus,

362:A vine cannot behave olively, nor an olive tree vinely – it is impossible, inconceivable. ~ Epictetus,

363:Behold the birth of tragedy: when idiots come face to face with the vicissitudes of life. ~ Epictetus,

364:Freedom is secured not by the fulfillment of one's desires, but by the removal of desire. ~ Epictetus,

365:Happiness and personal fulfillment are the natural consequences of doing the right thing. ~ Epictetus,

366:If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it. ~ Epictetus,

367:It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens." Epictetus ~ Epictetus,

368:Settle on the type of person you want to be and stick to it, whether alone or in company. ~ Epictetus,

369:They made you responsible only for what is in your power – the proper use of impressions. ~ Epictetus,

370:Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say (I. C. 19). ~ Marcus Aurelius,

371:We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us. ~ Epictetus,

372:What is yours is to play the assigned part well. But to choose it belongs to someone else ~ Epictetus,

373:And then we’ll be emulating Socrates,* once we’re able to write hymns of praise in prison. ~ Epictetus,

374:No great thing is created suddenly. There must be time. Give your best and always be kind. ~ Epictetus,

375:No matter where you find yourself, comport yourself as if you were a distinguished person. ~ Epictetus,

376:Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening. ~ Epictetus,

377:And where there is ignorance, there is also want of learning and instruction in essentials. ~ Epictetus,

378:No one has power over our principles, and what other people do control we don’t care about. ~ Epictetus,

379:The materials are indifferent, but the use we make of them is not a matter of indifference. ~ Epictetus,

380:Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them. ~ Epictetus,

381:Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new. ~ Epictetus,

382:Very little is needed for everything to be upset and ruined, only a slight lapse in reason. ~ Epictetus,

383:You ought to choose both physician and friend, not the most agreeable, but the most useful. ~ Epictetus,

384:A ship should not be held by a single anchor; neither should life depend upon a single hope. ~ Epictetus,

385:Because when you engage in the same things as the masses, you lower yourself to their level. ~ Epictetus,

386:Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems ~ Epictetus,

387:We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them ~ Epictetus,

388:Do not wish that all things will go well with you, but that you will go well with all things. ~ Epictetus,

389:Don’t consent to be hurt and you won’t be hurt – this is a choice over which you have control ~ Epictetus,

390:It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united. ~ Epictetus,

391:The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing. ~ Epictetus,

392:We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them. ~ Epictetus,

393:who is your master? Whoever has authority over anything that you’re anxious to gain or avoid. ~ Epictetus,

394:Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. ~ Epictetus,

395:greatness of reason is measured not by height or length, but by the quality of its judgements. ~ Epictetus,

396:Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice. ~ Epictetus,

397:Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan. ~ Epictetus,

398:What disturbs and alarms man are not the things, but his opinions and fancies about the things. ~ Epictetus,

399:Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen. ~ Epictetus,

400:One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent. ~ Epictetus,

401:The cause of all human evils is the not being able to apply general principles to special cases. ~ Epictetus,

402:well as the others, namely, the faculty of reason. Reason is unique among the faculties assigned ~ Epictetus,

403:You can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer. ~ Epictetus,

404:Be confident in everything outside the will, and cautious in everything under the will’s control. ~ Epictetus,

405:It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it. ~ Epictetus,

406:The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. ~ Epictetus,

407:To be getting an education means this: to be learning what is your own, and what is not your own. ~ Epictetus,

408:Where are you going to find serenity and independence – in something free, or something enslaved? ~ Epictetus,

409:Apropos of which, Diogenes says somewhere that one way to guarantee freedom is to be ready to die. ~ Epictetus,

410:As Epictetus says, Men are not influenced by things, but by their thoughts about things. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer,

411:Resistance is vain in any case; it only leads to useless struggle while inviting grief and sorrow. ~ Epictetus,

412:So-and-so’s son died.’ (‘The question’). Answer: ‘Since it’s nothing he can control, it isn’t bad. ~ Epictetus,

413:Who is not attracted by bright and pleasant children, to prattle, to creep, and to play with them? ~ Epictetus,

414:It is better to advise than upbraid, for the one corrects the erring; the other only convicts them. ~ Epictetus,

415:It is wicked to withdraw from being useful to the needy, and cowardly to give way to the worthless. ~ Epictetus,

416:Reading should serve the goal of attaining peace; if it doesn’t make you peaceful, what good is it? ~ Epictetus,

417:The people before whom you bow and tremble – when I meet them, I treat them as if they were slaves. ~ Epictetus,

418:Freedom is not attained through the satisfaction of desires, but through the suppression of desires. ~ Epictetus,

419:Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account! ~ Epictetus,

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

421:Nothing is in reality either pleasant or unpleasant by nature but all things become so through habit ~ Epictetus,

422:People are ready to acknowledge some of their faults, but will admit to others only with reluctance. ~ Epictetus,

423:Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed. ~ Epictetus,

424:I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose. ~ Epictetus,

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

426:Restrict yourself to choice and refusal; and exercise them carefully, with discipline and detachment. ~ Epictetus,

427:You will never have to experience defeat if you avoid contests whose outcome is outside your control. ~ Epictetus,

428:Any one thing in the creation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence to a humble and grateful mind. ~ Epictetus,

429:Did you ever see me any way but with a smile on my face, ready to obey any orders that you had for me? ~ Epictetus,

430:Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. ~ Epictetus,

431:If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy. ~ Epictetus,

432:Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. ~ Epictetus,

433:Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak. ~ Epictetus,

434:The Beginning of Philosophy is a Consciousness of your own Weakness and inability in necessary things. ~ Epictetus,

435:The husbandman deals with land; physicians and trainers with the body; the wise man with his own Mind. ~ Epictetus,

436:What ought one to say then as each hardship comes? I was practicing for this, I was training for this. ~ Epictetus,

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

438:Do not give sentence in another tribunal till you have been yourself judged in the tribunal of Justice. ~ Epictetus,

439:Epictetus echoes this advice: We should keep in mind that “all things everywhere are perishable. ~ William B Irvine,

440:Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account! ~ Epictetus,

441:If you didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for? ~ Epictetus,

442:İnsanlar olaylardan rahatsızlık duymaz, olaylara bakış açıları asıl rahatsızlık yaratandır.’’ Epictetus ~ Anonymous,

443:Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control. ~ Epictetus,

444:When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn't have to look outside themselves for approval. ~ Epictetus,

445:When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval. ~ Epictetus,

446:Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world. ~ Epictetus,

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

448:I have learned to see that whatever comes about is nothing to me if it lies beyond the sphere of choice. ~ Epictetus,

449:In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is the most difficult of all things. ~ Epictetus,

450:It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body; for it is better to die than to live badly. ~ Epictetus,

451:It’s like weaving: the weaver does not make the wool, he makes the best use of whatever wool he’s given. ~ Epictetus,

452:One person likes tending to his farm, another to his horse; I like to daily monitor my self-improvement. ~ Epictetus,

453:Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness ~ Epictetus,

454:The people have a right to the truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. ~ Epictetus,

455:There is nothing more inspiring than a speaker who makes clear to his audience that he has need of them. ~ Epictetus,

456:which is to say, stand with the philosopher, or else with the mob!” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.15.13 W ~ Ryan Holiday,

457:Freedom and slavery, the one is the name of virtue, and the other of vice, and both are acts of the will. ~ Epictetus,

458:If you wish to be a writer; write! Send quote to a friend Epictetus (50-120) Greek philosopher. ~ Epictetus,

459:It's so simple really: If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you start something, finish it. ~ Epictetus,

460:Living a good life leads to enduring happiness. Goodness in and of itself is the practice AND the reward. ~ Epictetus,

461:Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak. ~ Epictetus,

462:We must be afraid of neither poverty nor exile nor imprisonment; of fear itself only should we be afraid. ~ Epictetus,

463:He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ~ Epictetus,

464:It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting. ~ Epictetus,

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

466:We can't control the impressions others form about us, and the effort to do so only debases our character. ~ Epictetus,

467:Whatever your mission, stick by it as if it were a law and you would be committing sacrilege to betray it. ~ Epictetus,

468:When our friends are present we ought to treat them well; and when they are absent, to speak of them well. ~ Epictetus,

469:When you let go of your attention for a little while, do not think you may recover it whenever you please. ~ Epictetus,

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

471:Sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy. ~ Epictetus,

472:Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things, it ought not itself to be left in disorder. ~ Epictetus,

473:Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness    ~ Epictetus,

474:Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit. ~ Epictetus,

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

476:Anytus and Meletus can kill me, but they cannot harm me,’50 he says, and: ‘If it pleases the gods, so be it. ~ Epictetus,

477:Are the Trojans wise or foolish? If they are wise, do not quarrel with them; if they are fools, ignore them. ~ Epictetus,

478:If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother. ~ Epictetus,

479:If you have a favorite cup, remember that it is only a cup that you prefer—if it is broken, you can bear it. ~ Epictetus,

480:If you wish to live a life free from sorrow, think of what is going to happen as if it had already happened. ~ Epictetus,

481:Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. ~ Epictetus,

482:Try not to react merely in the moment. Pull back from the situation. Take a wider view. Compose yourself. ~ Epictetus,

483:It is better by assenting to truth to conquer opinion, than by assenting to opinion to be conquered by truth. ~ Epictetus,

484:Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, ~ Epictetus,

485:The universe is but one great city, full of beloved ones, divine and human, by nature endeared to each other. ~ Epictetus,

486:To adorn our characters by the charm of an amiable nature shows at once a lover of beauty and a lover of man. ~ Epictetus,

487:To live a life of virtue, you have to become consistent, even when it isn't convenient, comfortable, or easy. ~ Epictetus,

488:We don’t abandon our pursuits because we despair of ever perfecting them.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.2.37b ~ Ryan Holiday,

489:When you have him as your leader, and conform your will and desire to his, what fear of failure can you have? ~ Epictetus,

490:Another person will not hurt you without your cooperation; you are hurt the moment you believe yourself to be. ~ Epictetus,

491:Friend, lay hold with a desperate grasp, ere it is too late, on Freedom, on Tranquility, on Greatness of soul! ~ Epictetus,

492:No man is free who is not master of himself... Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose? ~ Epictetus,

493:By accepting life's limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, we become free. ~ Epictetus,

494:If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase. ~ Epictetus,

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

496:You can be happy if you know this secret: Some things are within your power to control and some things are not. ~ Epictetus,

497:Desire to become pure, and, once pure, you will be at ease with yourself, and comfortable in the company of God. ~ Epictetus,

498:Greek philosopher Epictetus says, “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. ~ Neil Pasricha,

499:If your heart is quite set upon a crown, make and put on one of roses, for it will make the prettier appearance. ~ Epictetus,

500:When we act with obstinacy, malice, anger, violence, to whom do we make ourselves near and like? To wild beasts. ~ Epictetus,

501:I see good people dying of cold and hunger.’ Well, don’t you see wicked people dying of luxury, pride and excess? ~ Epictetus,

502:Men are disturbed not by things that happen but by their opinion of the things that happen. —Epictetus ~ Dashama Konah Gordon,

503:True good can only be obtained by our effort towards spiritual perfection and this effort is always in our power. ~ Epictetus,

504:It is better to starve to death in a calm and confident state of mind than to live anxiously amidst abundance. And ~ Epictetus,

505:It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should? ~ Epictetus,

506:Do not try to seem wise to others. If you want to live a wise life, live it on your own terms and in your own eyes. ~ Epictetus,

507:the good of man, and likewise his ill, lies in how he exercises his choice, while everything else is nothing to us, ~ Epictetus,

508:The Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~ Laini Taylor,

509:What saith Antisthenes? Hast thou never heard?— It is a kingly thing, O Cyrus, to do well and to be evil spoken of. ~ Epictetus,

510:But if with trembling and lamentation you seek not to fall into that which you avoid, tell me how you are improving. ~ Epictetus,

511:Doesn’t it seem to you that acting against one’s will, under protest and compulsion, is tantamount to being a slave? ~ Epictetus,

512:Epictetus, a Greek philosopher, once wrote, “Circumstances do not make the man. They merely reveal him to himself. ~ Brian Tracy,

513:For what else are tragedies but the ordeals of people who have come to value externals, tricked out in tragic verse? ~ Epictetus,

514:If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible. ~ Epictetus,

515:The flourishing life cannot be achieved until we moderate our desires and see how superficial and fleeting they are. ~ Epictetus,

516:As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new. ~ Epictetus,

517:Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. ~ Epictetus,

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

519:There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. ~ Epictetus,

520:There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will. ~ Epictetus,

521:Asked how a man should best grieve his enemy, Epictetus replied, "By setting himself to live the noblest life himself. ~ Epictetus,

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

523:Instead of meeting misfortune with groans and tears, I will call upon the faculty especially provided to deal with it. ~ Epictetus,

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

525:Man, what are you talking about? Me in chains? You may fetter my leg but my will, not even Zeus himself can overpower. ~ Epictetus,

526:The motto from Epictetus means, "It is not things themselves, but opinions concerning things, which disturb men. ~ Laurence Sterne,

527:We all carry the seeds of greatness within us, but we need an image as a point of focus in order that they may sprout. ~ Epictetus,

528:Ask not that events should happen as you will, but let your will be that events should happen that you will have peace. ~ Epictetus,

529:Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you. ~ Epictetus,

530:It is no easy thing for a principle to become a man's own unless each day he maintains it and works it out in his life. ~ Epictetus,

531:The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” — Epictetus ~ Barbara De Angelis,

532:There is a time and place for diversion and amusements, but you should never allow them to override your true purposes. ~ Epictetus,

533:There is one road to peace and happiness (keep the thought near by morning, noon and night): renunciation of externals; ~ Epictetus,

534:We are disturbed not by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens. —Epictetus, Greek philosopher I ~ Marci Shimoff,

535:What are you going to get when you trade your freedom away? Check to see what your proud new possessions will be worth. ~ Epictetus,

536:When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it. ~ Epictetus,

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

538:has any of you such power as Socrates had, in all his intercourse with men, of winning them over to his own convictions? ~ Epictetus,

539:He becomes master of all this universe who has this knowledge.—Know thyself, sound the divinity ~ Epictetus, “Conversations.” III.22,

540:No, I cannot escape death, [10] but at least I can escape the fear of it – or do I have to die moaning and groaning too? ~ Epictetus,

541:So when we are frustrated, angry or unhappy, never hold anyone except ourselves – that is, our judgements – accountable. ~ Epictetus,

542:So why take on the burden of matters which you cannot answer for? You are only making unnecessary problems for yourself. ~ Epictetus,

543:They are all just so many opportunities to justify your ways to man, by showing just how little circumstances amount to. ~ Epictetus,

544:To a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable; but everything reasonable may be supported. ~ Epictetus,

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

546:Who, then, is the invincible human being? One who can be disconcerted by nothing that lies outside the sphere of choice. ~ Epictetus,

547:As it is pleasant to see the sea from the land, so it is pleasant for him who has escaped from troubles to think of them. ~ Epictetus,

548:Do not so much be ashamed of that disgrace which proceeds from men's opinion as fly from that which comes from the truth. ~ Epictetus,

549:Epictetus is reminding you that serenity and stability are results of your choices and judgment, not your environment. ~ Ryan Holiday,

550:In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught;but in life there are many things to draw us aside. ~ Epictetus,

551:Seek not for events to happen as you wish but rather wish for events to happen as they do and your life will go smoothly. ~ Epictetus,

552:So don't make a show of your philosophical learning to the uninitiated, show them by your actions what you have absorbed. ~ Epictetus,

553:This world is a people of friends, and these friends are first the gods and next men whom Nature has made for each other. ~ Epictetus,

554:But to be hanged—is that not unendurable?" Even so, when a man feels that it is reasonable, he goes off and hangs himself. ~ Epictetus,

555:Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them. ~ Epictetus,

556:Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.    ~ Epictetus,

557:If I can acquire money and also keep myself modest and faithful and magnanimous, point out the way, and I will acquire it. ~ Epictetus,

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

559:Pain too is just a scary mask: look under it and you will see. The body sometimes suffers, but relief is never far behind. ~ Epictetus,

560:Persist and resist". Persist in your efforts. Resist giving into distraction, discouragement, and disorder. - Epictetus ~ Ryan Holiday,

561:Consider first the nature of the business in hand; then examine thy own nature, whether thou hast strength to undertake it. ~ Epictetus,

562:Idiot, that’s his concern – don’t concern yourself with other people’s business. It’s his problem if he receives you badly. ~ Epictetus,

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

564:Renew every day your conversation with God: Do this even in preference to eating. Think more often of God than you breathe. ~ Epictetus,

565:To make anything a habit, do it; to not make it a habit, do not do it; to unmake a habit, do something else in place of it. ~ Epictetus,

566:We do not choose our own parts in life, and have nothing to do with those parts. Our duty is confined to playing them well. ~ Epictetus,

567:What is it that every man seeks? To be secure, to be happy, to do what he pleases without restraint and without compulsion. ~ Epictetus,

568:You may be always victorious if you will never enter into any contest where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself. ~ Epictetus,

569:In literature, too, it is not great achievement to memorize what you have read while not formulating an opinion of your own. ~ Epictetus,

570:The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. ~ Epictetus,

571:When your thoughts, words, and deeds form a seamless fabric, you streamline your efforts and thus eliminate worry and dread. ~ Epictetus,

572:"But to be hanged - is that not unendurable?" Even so, when a man feels that it is reasonable, he goes off and hangs himself. ~ Epictetus,

573:Do nothing in a depressed mood, nor as one afflicted, nor as thinking that you are in misery, for no one compels you to that. ~ Epictetus,

574:Do not strive for things occurring to occur as you wish, but wish the things occurring as they occur, and you will flow well. ~ Epictetus,

575:For it is always true that to whatever point the perfecting of anything leads us, progress is an approach towards this point. ~ Epictetus,

576:… freedom isn’t secured by filling up on your heart’s desire but by removing your desire.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.175 ~ Ryan Holiday,

577:The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. ~ Epictetus,

578:The upshot is that if you identify self-interest with piety, honesty, country, parents and friends, then they are all secure. ~ Epictetus,

579:Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. ~ Epictetus,

580:Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace. ~ Epictetus,

581:Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace. ~ Epictetus,

582:For what else is tragedy than the perturbations ([Greek: pathae]) of men who value externals exhibited in this kind of poetry? ~ Epictetus,

583:From now on practice saying to everything that appears unpleasant: You are merely an appearance and NOT what you appear to be. ~ Epictetus,

584:Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public. ~ Epictetus,

585:So if you like doing something, do it regularly; if you don't like doing something, make a habit of doing something different. ~ Epictetus,

586:Epictetus being asked how a man should give pain to his enemy answered, By preparing himself to live the best life that he can. ~ Epictetus,

587:We aren't filled with fear except by things that are bad; and not by them, either, as long as it is in our power to avoid them. ~ Epictetus,

588:In time, you will grow to be confident that there is not a single impression that you will not have the moral means to tolerate. ~ Epictetus,

589:It is a universal law — have no illusion — that every creature alive is attached to nothing so much as to its own self-interest. ~ Epictetus,

590:Show me a man who though sick is happy, who though in danger is happy, who though in prison is happy, and I'll show you a Stoic. ~ Epictetus,

591:The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. ~ Epictetus,

592:Whenever externals are more important to you than your own integrity, then be prepared to serve them the remainder of your life. ~ Epictetus,

593:Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. ~ Epictetus,

594:Every circumstance comes with two handles, which one of which you can hold it, while with the other conditions are insupportable. ~ Epictetus,

595:It is a universal law – have no illusions – that every creature alive is attached to nothing so much as to its own self-interest. ~ Epictetus,

596:A bad person’s character cannot be trusted, it’s weak and indecisive, easily won over by different impressions at different times. ~ Epictetus,

597:It is for you to arrange your priorities; but whatever you decide to do, don’t do it resentfully, as if you were being imposed on. ~ Epictetus,

598:What do we value? Externals. What do we look after? Externals. [12] So of course, we are going to experience fear and nervousness. ~ Epictetus,

599:Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.18.21 ~ Ryan Holiday,

600:Any person capable of angering you becomes your master;    he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.    ~ Epictetus,

601:I have a bad neighbour – bad, that is, for himself. For me, though, he is good: he exercises my powers of fairness and sociability. ~ Epictetus,

602:Only consider at what price you sell your own will: if for no other reason, at least for this, that you sell it not for a small sum. ~ Epictetus,

603:There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. —Epictetus ~ Aleatha Romig,

604:And shall I then no longer be? Yes, thou shalt be, but thou shalt be something else of which the world will have need at that moment. ~ Epictetus,

605:Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. ~ Epictetus,

606:It is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows,” Epictetus says. You can’t learn if you think you already know. ~ Ryan Holiday,

607:But they have produced such wonderful fruit in a human mind, as part of their plan to bestow on humanity the true secret of happiness. ~ Epictetus,

608:Circumstances do not rise to meet our expectations. Events happen as they do. People behave as they are. Embrace what you actually get. ~ Epictetus,

609:On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use. ~ Epictetus,

610:Surrender the body and its members, physical faculties, property, reputation, office, honours, children, siblings – repudiate them all. ~ Epictetus,

611:Whoever wants to be free, therefore, let him not want or avoid anything that is up to others. Otherwise he will necessarily be a slave. ~ Epictetus,

612:Your primary desire, says Epictetus, should be your desire not to be frustrated by forming desires you won’t be able to fulfill. ~ William B Irvine,

613:If you must be affected by other people's misfortunes, show them pity instead of contempt. Drop this readiness to hate and take offence. ~ Epictetus,

614:If you resist it a whole month, offer God a sacrifice, because the vice begins to weaken from day one, until it is wiped out altogether. ~ Epictetus,

615:These are the signs of a wise man: to reprove nobody, to praise nobody, to blame nobody, nor even to speak of himself or his own merits. ~ Epictetus,

616:Whoever then would be free, let him wish nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must necessarily be a slave. ~ Epictetus,

617:But it is within your power to avoid disappointment, by directing your desires to things that are rightfully yours to obtain and control. ~ Epictetus,

618:Every habit and faculty is preserved and increased by correspondent actions, as the habit of walking, by walking; of running, by running. ~ Epictetus,

619:Make the best use of what is in our power, and treat the rest in accordance with its nature. And what is its nature? However God decides. ~ Epictetus,

620:Pleasure, like a kind of bait, is thrown before everything which is really bad, and easily allures greedy souls to the hook of perdition. ~ Epictetus,

621:There is but one way to tranquility of mind and happiness, and that is to account no external things thine own, but to commit all to God. ~ Epictetus,

622:What then is the duty of the citizen? Never to consider his particular interest, never to calculate as if he were an isolated individual. ~ Epictetus,

623:As you think, so you become.....Our busy minds are forever jumping to conclusions, manufacturing and interpreting signs that aren't there. ~ Epictetus,

624:Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant ~ Epictetus,

625:Don't demand or expect that events happen as you would wish them do. Accept events as they actually happen. That way, peace is possible. ~ Epictetus,

626:For what else is tragedy than the portrayal in tragic verse of the sufferings of men who have attached high value to external things? [27] ~ Epictetus,

627:Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. ~ Epictetus,

628:Covetousness like jealousy, when it has taken root, never leaves a person, but with their life. Cowardice is the dread of what will happen. ~ Epictetus,

629:Follow your principles as though they were laws. Do not worry if others criticize or laugh at you, for their opinions are not your concern. ~ Epictetus,

630:Why, do you not know, then, that the origin of all human evils, and of baseness, and cowardice, is not death, but rather the fear of death? ~ Epictetus,

631:If I was a nightingale I would sing like a nightingale; if a swan, like a swan. But since I am a rational creature my role is to praise God. ~ Epictetus,

632:Let your will to avoid have no concern with what is not in man's power; direct it only to things in man's power that are contrary to nature. ~ Epictetus,

633:Whoever then would be free, let him wish for nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must necessarily be a slave. ~ Epictetus,

634:Älä pyri siihen, että kaikki tapahtuisi kuten haluat, vaan halua kaiken tapahtuvan niin kuin se tapahtuu. Silloin elämäsi on tasaista virtaa. ~ Epictetus,

635:Goodness exists independently of our conception of it. The good is out there and it always has been out there, even before we began to exist. ~ Epictetus,

636:Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one. ~ Epictetus,

637:Those proficient praise no one, blame no one, and accuse no one. They say nothing concerning their self as being anybody or knowing anything. ~ Epictetus,

638:Use, do not abuse; the wise man arrange things so. I flee Epictetus and Petronius alike. Neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy. ~ Voltaire,

639:What matters most is what sort of person you are becoming. Wise individuals care only about whom they are today and who they can be tomorrow. ~ Epictetus,

640:For you will learn by experience that it’s true: the things that men admire and work so hard to get prove useless to them once they’re theirs. ~ Epictetus,

641:He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. — EPICTETUS, Greek philosopher ~ Michael J Gelb,

642:If what charms you is nothing but abstract principles, sit down and turn them over quietly in your mind: but never dub yourself a Philosopher. ~ Epictetus,

643:Working within our sphere of control, we are naturally free, independent, and strong. Beyond that sphere, we are weak, limited, and dependent. ~ Epictetus,

644:You are a principal work, a fragment of [Goddess herself], you have in yourself a part of [her]. Why then are you ignorant of your high birth? ~ Epictetus,

645:If you have assumed a character beyond your strength, you have both played a poor figure in that, and neglected one that is within your powers. ~ Epictetus,

646:If you think you control things that are in the control of others, you will lament. You will be disturbed and you will blame both gods and men. ~ Epictetus,

647:On the occasion of every accident (event) that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use. ~ Epictetus,

648:We all dread a bodily paralysis, and would make use of every contrivance to avoid it; but none of us is troubled about a paralysis of the soul. ~ Epictetus,

649:-….when things seem to have reached that stage, merely say “I won’t play any longer”, and take your departure; but if you stay, stop lamenting. ~ Epictetus,

650:Don't be concerned who is watching you. The triumphs and merits of others belong to them - as do yours to you. Make the most of what you've got. ~ Epictetus,

651:For as wood is the material of the carpenter, and marble that of the sculptor, so the subject matter of the art of life is the life of the self. ~ Epictetus,

652:From this instant, then, choose to act like the worthy and capable person you are. Follow unwaveringly what reason tells you is the best course. ~ Epictetus,

653:If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated. ~ Epictetus,

654:It is much better to die of hunger unhindered by grief and fear than to live affluently beset with worry, dread, suspicion and unchecked desire. ~ Epictetus,

655:Stop honouring externals, quit turning yourself into the tool of mere matter, or of people who can supply you or deny you those material things. ~ Epictetus,

656:We should realize that an opinion is not easily formed unless a person says and hears the same things every day and practises them in real life. ~ Epictetus,

657:Is there smoke in the house? If it’s not suffocating, I will stay indoors; if it proves too much, I’ll leave. Always remember – the door is open. ~ Epictetus,

658:I can only suppose that you weigh all those negatives against the worth of the show, and choose, in the end, to be patient and put up with it all. ~ Epictetus,

659:What is a good person? One who achieves tranquillity by having formed the habit of asking on every occasion, "what is the right thing to do now?" ~ Epictetus,

660:Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the living, and her eyes they blind. ~ Epictetus,

661:He didn’t care; it was not his skin he wanted to save, but the man of honour and integrity. These things are not open to compromise or negotiation. ~ Epictetus,

662: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. ~ Epictetus,

663:It isn't death, pain, exile or anything else you care to mention that accounts for the way we act, only our opinion about death, pain and the rest. ~ Epictetus,

664:Where does the good lie? ‘In the will.’ And evil? ‘Also in the will.’ And things neither good nor bad – ‘… lie in whatever is external to the will. ~ Epictetus,

665:Common and vulgar people ascribe all ills that they feel to others; people of little wisdom ascribe to themselves; people of much wisdom, to no one. ~ Epictetus,

666:Do you think freedom is something good?’ ‘The greatest good of all.’ ‘Can anyone in possession of the greatest good be unhappy or unfortunate?’ ‘No. ~ Epictetus,

667:For I am not Eternity, but a human being—a part of the whole, as an hour is part of the day. I must come like the hour, and like the hour must pass! ~ Epictetus,

668:Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort. ~ Epictetus,

669:Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well. —EPICTETUS ~ Jonathan Haidt,

670:If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good. ~ Epictetus,

671:Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours. ~ Epictetus,

672:You'd have a better chance persuading someone to change their sexual orientation than reaching people who have rendered themselves so deaf and blind. ~ Epictetus,

673:A half-hearted spirit has no power. Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Average people enter into their endeavors headlong and without care. ~ Epictetus,

674:Bid a singer in a chorus, Know Thyself; and will he not turn for the knowledge to the others, his fellows in the chorus, and to his harmony with them? ~ Epictetus,

675:Show me someone untroubled with disturbing thoughts about illness, danger, death, exile or loss of reputation. By all the gods, I want to see a Stoic! ~ Epictetus,

676:From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do -- now. ~ Epictetus,

677:Is then the fruit of a fig-tree not perfect suddenly and in one hour, and would you possess the fruit of a man's mind in so short a time and so easily? ~ Epictetus,

678:It is better to do wrong seldom and to own it, and to act right for the most part, than seldom to admit that you have done wrong and to do wrong often. ~ Epictetus,

679:Throw him in jail.’ What jail? The one he is in already, since he is there against his will; and if he is there against his will then he is imprisoned. ~ Epictetus,

680:Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but accustom yourself to something else. ~ Epictetus,

681:You are not your body and hair-style, but your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES ~ Ryan Holiday,

682:I was born to fly wherever I like, to live in the open air, to sing whenever I want. You take all this away from me and then say, “What’s wrong with you? ~ Epictetus,

683:There is only one way to happiness,” Epictetus taught the Romans, “and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. ~ Dale Carnegie,

684:Two principles we should always have ready — that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them. ~ Epictetus,

685:You have been given your own work to do. Get to it right now, do your best at it, and don't be concerned with who is watching you. Create your own merit. ~ Epictetus,

686:It is not my place in society that makes me well off, but my judgements, and these I can carry with me... These alone are my own and cannot be taken away. ~ Epictetus,

687:Take care not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. If you were to guard against this in every action, you should enter upon those actions more safely. ~ Epictetus,

688:A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be. ~ Epictetus,

689:If anyone is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault... Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility except our own opinion. ~ Epictetus,

690:Survey and test a prospective action before undertaking it. Before you proceed, step back and look at the big picture, lest you act rashly on raw impulse. ~ Epictetus,

691:The philosopher's school, ye men, is a surgery: you ought not to go out of it with pleasure, but with pain. For you are not in sound health when you enter. ~ Epictetus,

692:What are we to do, then? To make the best of what lies within our power, and deal with everything else as it comes. ‘How does it come, then?’ As God wills. ~ Epictetus,

693:A vulgar man, in any ill that happens to him, blames others; a novice in philosophy blames himself; and a philosopher blames neither, the one nor the other. ~ Epictetus,

694:Epictetus (55 − 135 A.D.) said, "There is only one way to happiness and that is to stop worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. ~ James Scott Bell,

695:For sheep don't throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. ~ Epictetus,

696:If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good. CXXIII ~ Epictetus,

697:Wisdom means understanding without any doubt that circumstances do not rise to meet our expectations. Events happen as they may. People behave as they will. ~ Epictetus,

698:A boxer derives the greatest advantage from his sparring partner – and my accuser is my sparring partner. He trains me in patience, civility and even temper. ~ Epictetus,

699:How do I handle chance impressions, naturally or unnaturally? Do I respond to them as I should, or don’t I?∗ Do I tell externals that they are nothing to me? ~ Epictetus,

700:Remember from now on whenever something tends to make you unhappy, draw on this principle: 'This is no misfortune; but bearing with it bravely is a blessing. ~ Epictetus,

701:When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad, don’t blame another for your state of mind. Your condition is the result of your own opinions and interpretations. ~ Epictetus,

702:Bring on whatever difficulties you like, Zeus; I have resources and a constitution that you gave me by means of which I can do myself credit whatever happens. ~ Epictetus,

703:Put away the fear of death, and however much thunder and lightning you have to face, you will find the mind capable of remaining calm and composed regardless. ~ Epictetus,

704:Ask yourself, "How are my thoughts, words and deeds affecting my friends, my spouse, my neighbour, my child, my employer, my subordinates, my fellow citizens?" ~ Epictetus,

705:Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life. ~ Epictetus,

706:People find particular things, however, frightening; and it's when someone is able to threaten or entice us with those that the man himself becomes frightening. ~ Epictetus,

707:Every day you should put the ideas in action that protect against attachment to externals such as individual people, places or institutions – even your own body. ~ Epictetus,

708:If you take care of it and identify with it, you will never be blocked or frustrated; you won’t have to complain, and never will need to blame or flatter anyone. ~ Epictetus,

709:I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. ~ Leo Tolstoy,

710:I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived - and dying I will tend to later. ~ Epictetus,

711:Kein Mensch, der in Furcht oder Sorge oder Chaos lebt, ist frei, aber wer sich von Sorgen, Furcht und Chaos befreit, wird dadurch auch aus der Sklaverei befreit. ~ Epictetus,

712:Let someone transfer these opinions to the workings of the will, and I personally guarantee his peace of mind, no matter what his outward circumstances are like. ~ Epictetus,

713:The wise realize that some things are within their control, and most things are not. They learn early on to distinguish between what they can and can't regulate. ~ Epictetus,

714:When we blather about trivial things, we ourselves become trivial, for our attention gets taken up with trivialities. You become what you give your attention to. ~ Epictetus,

715:Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you. ~ Epictetus,

716:It is not he who gives abuse that affronts, but the view that we take of it as insulting; so that when one provokes you it is your own opinion which is provoking. ~ Epictetus,

717:Never say about anything, "I have lost it," but only "I have given it back." Is your child dead? It has been given back. Is your wife dead? She has been returned. ~ Epictetus,

718:Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life. IX ~ Epictetus,

719:Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for anything nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave. ~ Epictetus,

720:If someone, says Epictetus, refuses to accept what is patently obvious, it is not easy to find arguments to use against him that could cause him to change his mind. ~ Epictetus,

721:If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled? ~ Epictetus,

722:If you choose, you are free; if you choose, you need blame no man—accuse no man. All things will be at once according to your mind and according to the Mind of God. ~ Epictetus,

723:I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people.    ~ Leo Tolstoy,

724: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. ~ Epictetus,

725: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. ~ Epictetus,

726:At feasts, remember that you are entertaining two guests, body and soul. What you give to the body, you presently lose; what you give to the soul, you keep for ever. ~ Epictetus,

727:[Do not get too attached to life] for it is like a sailor's leave on the shore and at any time, the captain may sound the horn, calling you back to eternal darkness. ~ Epictetus,

728:Epictetus would say that it is better to cradle a screaming baby in your arms than a lifeless one. The negative visualisation helps us to endure the screaming. ~ Svend Brinkmann,

729:In trying to please other people, we find ourselves misdirected toward what lies outside our sphere of influence. In doing so, we lose our hold on our lifes purpose. ~ Epictetus,

730:People with a strong physical constitution can tolerate extremes of hot and cold; people of strong mental health can handle anger, grief, joy and the other emotions. ~ Epictetus,

731:we should put our trust not in the crowd, who say that only free men can be educated, but rather in the philosophers, who say that none but the educated can be free. ~ Epictetus,

732:In theory it is easy to convince an ignorant person; in actual life, men not only object to offer themselves to be convinced, but hate the man who has convinced them. ~ Epictetus,

733:The wise person knows it is fruitless to project hopes and fears on the future. This only leads to forming melodramatic representations in your mind and wasting time. ~ Epictetus,

734:Don’t let the force of the impression when first it hits you knock you off your feet; just say to it, ‘Hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent. ~ Epictetus,

735:Focus not on what he or she does, but on keeping to your higher purpose. Your own purpose should seek harmony with nature itself. For this is the true road to freedom. ~ Epictetus,

736: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. ~ Epictetus,

737:A soul that makes virtue its companion is like an over-flowing well, for it is clean and pellucid, sweet and wholesome, open to all, rich, blameless and indestructible. ~ Epictetus,

738:Finally, when he crowns it off by becoming a senator, then he becomes a slave in fine company, then he experiences the poshest and most prestigious form of enslavement. ~ Epictetus,

739:For if we had any sense, what else should we do, both in public and in private, than sing hymns and praise the deity, and recount all the favours that he has conferred! ~ Epictetus,

740:In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles. ~ Epictetus,

741:We must not believe the many, who say that only free people ought to be educated, but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that only the educated are free. ~ Epictetus,

742:When you want to hear a philosopher, do not say, 'You say nothing to me'; only show yourself worthy or fit to hear, and then you will see how you will move the speaker. ~ Epictetus,

743:If you have assumed a character above your strength, you have both acted in this matter in an unbecoming way, and you have neglected that which you might have fulfilled. ~ Epictetus,

744:Be not diverted from your duty by any idle reflections the silly world may make upon you, for their censures are not in your power and should not be at all your concerns. ~ Epictetus,

745:If you would be well spoken of, learn to be well-spoken; and having learnt to be well- spoken, strive also to be well-doing; so shall you succeed in being well spoken of. ~ Epictetus,

746:No one who is in a state of fear or sorrow or tension is free, but whosoever is delivered from sorrows or fears or anxieties is at the same time delivered from servitude. ~ Epictetus,

747:We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free. ~ Epictetus,

748: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. ~ Epictetus,

749:Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, "Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you." ~ Epictetus,

750:I am prepared to show you that you have resources and a character naturally strong and resilient; show me in return what grounds you have for being peevish and malcontent. ~ Epictetus,

751:It is always our choice whether or not we wish to pay the price for life's rewards. And often it is best for us not to pay the price, for the price might be our integrity. ~ Epictetus,

752:So in life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control ~ Epictetus,

753:Epictetus, for example, asks us to think of the deity as the playwright who assigns us roles. Our business in life is to play admirably the role assigned to us. ~ George Lakoff,

754:Nothing great comes into being all at once, for that is not the case even with a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me now, ‘I want a fig,’ I’ll reply, ‘That takes time. ~ Epictetus,

755:Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others. ~ Epictetus,

756:Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? What sinews are those? - A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolutions; unerring decisions. ~ Epictetus,

757:We get angry because we put too high a premium on things that they can steal. Don’t attach such value to your clothes, and you won’t get angry with the thief who takes them. ~ Epictetus,

758:Conduct yourself in all matters, grand and public or small and domestic, in accordance with the laws of nature. Harmonizing your will with nature should be your utmost ideal. ~ Epictetus,

759:for your part, do not desire to be a general, or a senator, or a consul, but to be free; and the only way to this is a disregard of things which lie not within our own power. ~ Epictetus,

760:If, however, I liberate myself from my master – which is to say, from the emotions that make my master frightening – what troubles can I have? No man is my master any longer. ~ Epictetus,

761:It’s time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to be wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become. ~ Epictetus,

762:understand that every event is indifferent and nothing to you, of whatever sort it may be; for it will be in your power to make a right use of it, and this no one can hinder. ~ Epictetus,

763:But what master, I wonder, do you yourself serve? Money? Women? Boys? The emperor or one of his subordinates? It has to be one of them, or you wouldn’t fret about such things. ~ Epictetus,

764:Maak er van meet af aan een goede gewoonte van tegen elke pijnlijke indruk van buitenaf te zeggen: 'Jij bent niet meer dan een indruk! Jij bent heel anders dan je je voordoet! ~ Epictetus,

765:Nineteen centuries ago, the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak. ~ Daniel H Pink,

766:Who are those people by whom you wish to be admired? Are they not these whom you are in the habit of saying that they are mad? What then? Do you wish to be admired by the mad? ~ Epictetus,

767:I am richer than you, therefore my wealth is superior to yours’; and ‘I am a better speaker, therefore my diction is better than yours.’ But you are neither wealth nor diction. ~ Epictetus,

768:I cannot call somebody ‘hard-working’ knowing only that they read and write. Even if ‘all night long’ is added, I cannot say it – not until I know the focus of all this energy. ~ Epictetus,

769:Never praise or blame people on common grounds; look to their judgements exclusively. Because that is the determining factor, which makes everyone's actions either good or bad. ~ Epictetus,

770:What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows. ~ Epictetus,

771:-Who are those people by whom you wish to be admired? Are they not these whom you are in the habit of saying that they are mad? What then? Do you wish to be admired by the mad? ~ Epictetus,

772:If thou wouldst make progress, be resigned to passing for an idiot or an imbecile in external things; consent to pass for one who understands nothing of them at all. ~ Epictetus: Manual. 13,

773:Man! renounce all that thou mayst be happy, that thou mayst be free, that thou mayst have thy soul large and great. Carry high thy head,...and thou art delivered from servitude. ~ Epictetus,

774:A podium and a prison is each a place, one high and the other low, but in either place your freedom of choice can be maintained if you so wish.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.6.25 ~ Ryan Holiday,

775:Authentic happiness is always independent of external conditions. Vigilantly practice polite indifference to that which we can't control. Your happiness can only be found within. ~ Epictetus,

776:Do you realize that you are awake?’ ‘No, any more than when I dream and have the impression that I am awake.’ ‘And is the one impression in no way different from the other?’ ‘No. ~ Epictetus,

777:It is unreasonable to think we can earn rewards without being willing to pay their true price. It is always our choice whether or not we wish to pay the price for life's rewards. ~ Epictetus,

778:Show them where they go wrong and you will find that they’ll reform. But unless they see it, they are stuck with nothing better than their usual opinion as their practical guide. ~ Epictetus,

779:Most people are impulsive, however, and having committed to the thing, they persist, just making more confusion for themselves and others until it all end in mutual recrimination. ~ Epictetus,

780:Since I can get greatness of soul and nobility from myself, why should I look to get a farm, or money, or some office, from you? I will not be so insensible of what I already own. ~ Epictetus,

781:Keep the prospect of death, exile and all such apparent tragedies before you every day – especially death – and you will never have an abject thought, or desire anything to excess. ~ Epictetus,

782:Things themselves don't hurt or hinder us. Things simply are what they are. How we view these things is another matter.People think what they will think; it is of no concern to us. ~ Epictetus,

783:Thou wouldst exhort men to good ? but hast thou exhorted thyself ? Thou wouldst be useful to them ? Show by thy own example what men philosophy can make and do not prate uselessly. ~ Epictetus,

784:Men, the philosopher’s lecture-hall is a hospital—you shouldn’t walk out of it feeling pleasure, but pain, for you aren’t well when you enter it.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.23.30 ~ Ryan Holiday,

785:We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.1.21–23a ~ Ryan Holiday,

786:Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say. It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to subsist in consequence of change. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

787:Who [...] is the invincible human being?’ Epictetus once asked, before answering the question himself: ‘One who can be disconcerted by nothing that lies outside the sphere of choice. ~ Anonymous,

788:Your happiness depends on three things, all of which are within your power: your will, your ideas concerning the events in which you are involved, and the use you make of your ideas. ~ Epictetus,

789:But when he comes in thunder and lightning brandishing these things, and I show fear in response, in effect I have been brought face to face with my master, just like a runaway slave. ~ Epictetus,

790:Each man's life is a kind of campaign, and a long and complicated one at that. You have to maintain the character of a soldier, and do each separate act at the bidding of the General. ~ Epictetus,

791:I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live. ~ Epictetus,

792:Lampis the ship owner, on being asked how he acquired his great wealth, replied, My great wealth was acquired with no difficulty, but my small wealth, my first gains, with much labor. ~ Epictetus,

793:You become what you give your attention to...If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. ~ Epictetus,

794:Pidä silmiesi edessä joka päivä kuolema ja maanpako ja kaikki kauheana näyttäytyvä, ennen kaikkea kuolema. Silloin et koskaan ajattele mitään matalamielistä etkä himoitse mitään likaa. ~ Epictetus,

795:If you are told that such an one speaks ill of you, make no defense against what was said, but answer, "He surely knows not my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these only! ~ Epictetus,

796:I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live    ~ Epictetus,

797:The Greek philosopher Epictetus recognised this two thousand years ago when he wrote: ‘What disturbs and alarms man are not the things but his opinions and fancies about the things. ~ Robert Harris,

798:Geef me de moed om alles te accepteren wat niet in mijn vermogen ligt, de kracht om alles te veranderen wat wel in mijn vermogen ligt, en de wijsheid om tussen die twee te onderscheiden. ~ Epictetus,

799:Syyttää toisia omasta onnettomuudestansa on sivistymättömyyden merkki; syyttää itseänsä on sivistyksen alkeiden ilmaus, olla syyttämättä muita ja itseänsä on näyte ihmisen sivistyksestä. ~ Epictetus,

800:The soul that companies with virtue is like an ever-flowing source. It is a pure, clear, and wholesome draught, sweet, rich and generous of its store, that injures not, neither destroys. ~ Epictetus,

801:To know that you do not know and to be willing to admit that you do not know without sheepishly apologizing is real strength and sets the stage for learning and progress in any endeavor. ~ Epictetus,

802: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. ~ Epictetus,

803:If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply; "you obviously don't know about my other vices, otherwise you would have mentioned these as well ~ Epictetus,

804:It is hard to combine and unite these two qualities, the carefulness of one who is affected by circumstances, and the intrepidity of one who heeds them not. But it is not impossible: else ~ Epictetus,

805:Torn between violence and disillusionment, I seem to myself a terrorist who, going out in the street to perpetrate some outrage, stops on the way to consult Ecclesiastes or Epictetus. ~ Emil M Cioran,

806:We must ever bear in mind --that apart from the will there is nothing good or bad, and that we must not try to anticipate or to direct events, but merely to accept them with intelligence. ~ Epictetus,

807:Don’t seek that all that comes about should come about as you wish, but wish that everything that comes about should come about just as it does, and then you’ll have a calm and happy life. ~ Epictetus,

808:Here is the beginning of philosophy: a recognition of the conflicts between men, a search for their cause, a condemnation of mere opinion .. . and the discovery of a standard of judgement. ~ Epictetus,

809:In banquets remember that you entertain two guests, body and soul: and whatever you shall have given to the body you soon eject: but what you shall have given to the soul, you keep always. ~ Epictetus,

810:People who are ignorant of philosophy blame others for their own misfortunes. Those who are beginning to learn philosophy blame themselves. Those who have mastered philosophy blame no one. ~ Epictetus,

811:Those who are well constituted in the body endure both heat and cold: and so those who are well constituted in the soul endure both anger and grief and excessive joy and the other affects. ~ Epictetus,

812:Thus, Epictetus advises us to form “a certain character and pattern” for ourselves when we are alone. Then, when we associate with other people, we should remain true to who we are. ~ William B Irvine,

813:Watch yourself as you go about your daily business and later reflect on what you saw, trying to identify the sources of distress in your life and thinking about how to avoid that distress. ~ Epictetus,

814:Whoever chafes at the conditions dealt by fate is unskilled in the art of life; whoever bears with them nobly and makes wise use of the results is a man who deserves to be considered good. ~ Epictetus,

815:Don't concern yourself with other people's business. It's his problem if he receives you badly. And you cannot suffer for another person's fault. So don't worry about the behavior of other. ~ Epictetus,

816:Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you win never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything. ~ Epictetus,

817:Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don't talk how persons ought to eat, but ~ Epictetus,

818:Be free from grief not through insensibility like the irrational animals, nor through want of thought like the foolish, but like a man of virtue by having reason as the consolation of grief. ~ Epictetus,

819:For in this Case, we are not to give Credit to the Many, who say, that none ought to be educated but the Free; but rather to the Philosophers, who say, that the Well-educated alone are free. ~ Epictetus,

820:Here is the primary means of training yourself: as soon as you leave in the morning, subject whatever you see or hear to close study. Then formulate answers as if they were posing questions. ~ Epictetus,

821:Learn to distinguish what you can and can't control. Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, desires and the things that repel us. They are directly subject to our influence. ~ Epictetus,

822:Remember that you are in actor in a play of such a kind that the author chooses...For this is your duty, to act well the part that is given to you; but to select the part belongs to another. ~ Epictetus,

823:Whatever your mission, stick by it as if it were a law and you would be committing sacrilege to betray it. Pay no attention to whatever people might say; this no longer should influence you. ~ Epictetus,

824: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. ~ Epictetus,

825:So what oppresses and scares us? It is our own thoughts, obviously, What overwhelms people when they are about to leaves friends, family, old haunts and their accustomed way of life? Thoughts. ~ Epictetus,

826:Who is there left for me to fear, and over what has he control? Not what is in my power, because no one controls that except myself. As for what is not in my power, in that I take no interest. ~ Epictetus,

827:A soul which is conversant with virtue is like an ever flowing source, for it is pure and tranquil and potable and sweet and communicative (social) and rich and harmless and free from mischief. ~ Epictetus,

828:Rahatsız edici bir sorunun sakin bir şekilde üstesinden gelmek, benim içsel huzurum için ödediğim bedeldir. Kaygı ve endişeden özgür kalmam için ödediğim şeydir; işe yaramaz bir şey için değil. ~ Epictetus,

829:What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. ~ Epictetus,

830:When a man is proud because he can understand and explain the writings of Chrysippus, say to yourself, 'if Chrysippus had not written obscurely, this man would have had nothing to be proud of.' ~ Epictetus,

831:For where you find unrest, grief, fear, frustrated desire, failed aversion, jealousy and envy, happiness has no room for admittance. And where values are false, these passions inevitably follow. ~ Epictetus,

832:If a person had delivered up your body to some passer-by, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in delivering up your own mind to any reviler, to be disconcerted and confounded? ~ Epictetus,

833: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? ~ Epictetus,

834:This is the road that leads to liberty, the only road that delivers us from slavery: finally to be able to say, with meaning: Lead me, Zeus, lead me, Destiny, to the goal I was long ago assigned ~ Epictetus,

835:What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. ~ Epictetus,

836:You do not seem to realize that the mind is subject only to itself. It alone can control it, [13] which shows the force and justice of God’s edict: the strong shall always prevail over the weak. ~ Epictetus,

837:Don't be concerned with other people's impressions of you. They are dazzled and deluded by appearances. Stick with your purpose. This alone will strengthen your will and give your life coherence. ~ Epictetus,

838: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? ~ Epictetus,

839: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. ~ Epictetus,

840:There is only one thing for which God has sent me into the world, and that is to develop every kind of virtue or strength, and there is nothing in all the world that I cannot use for this purpose. ~ Epictetus,

841:To admonish is better than to reproach for admonition is mild and friendly, but reproach is harsh and insulting; and admonition corrects those who are doing wrong, but reproach only convicts them. ~ Epictetus,

842:And have you not received faculties which will enable you to bear all that happens to you? Have you not received greatness of spirit? Have you not received courage? Have you not received endurance? ~ Epictetus,

843:When a man is proud because he can understand and explain the writings of Chrysippus, say to yourself, if Chrysippus had not written obscurely, this man would have had nothing to be proud of. ~ Epictetus,

844:When a youth was giving himself airs in the Theatre and saying, "I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men," Epictetus replied, "I too have conversed with many rich men, yet I am not rich! ~ Epictetus,

845:If you wish it, you are free; if you wish it, you’ll find fault with no one, you’ll cast blame on no one, and everything that comes about will do so in accordance with your own will and that of God. ~ Epictetus,

846: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?    ~ Epictetus,

847:Remember that the divine order is intelligent and fundamentally good. Life is not a series of random, meaningless episodes, but an ordered, elegant whole that follows ultimately comprehensible laws. ~ Epictetus,

848:When the Idea, of any Pleasure strikes your Imagination... let that time be employed in making a just Computation between, the duration of the Pleasure, and that of the Repentance sure to follow it. ~ Epictetus,

849:Law intends indeed to do service to human life, but it is not able when men do not choose to accept her services; for it is only in those who are obedient to her that she displays her special virtue. ~ Epictetus,

850:Now I am being called upon for some purpose. I answer the call determined to observe the right limits; to act with restraint, but also with confidence, devoid of desire or aversion towards externals. ~ Epictetus,

851:Once I was liable to the same mistakes, but, thanks to God, no longer …’ Well, isn’t it just as worthwhile to have devoted and applied yourself to this goal as to have read or written fifty pages? ~ Epictetus,

852:When a youth was giving himself airs in the Theatre and saying, 'I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men,' Epictetus replied, 'I too have conversed with many rich men, yet I am not rich!’. ~ Epictetus,

853:Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature. the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. ~ Epictetus,

854:Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your control. ~ Epictetus,

855:In short, if we observe, we shall find that the animal man is pained by nothing so much as by that which is irrational; and, on the contrary, attracted to nothing so much as to that which is rational. ~ Epictetus,

856:No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. ~ Epictetus,

857:When I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn’t wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, ~ Ryan Holiday,

858: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. ~ Epictetus,

859: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. ~ Epictetus,

860:Never in any case say I have lost such a thing, but I have returned it. Is your child dead? It is a return. Is your wife dead? It is a return. Are you deprived of your estate? Is not this also a return? ~ Epictetus,

861: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.    ~ Epictetus,

862: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. ~ Epictetus,

863:Men are not worried by things, but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves. That is: our ideas about things. ~ Epictetus,

864:If someone irritates you, it is only your own response that is irritating you. Therefore, when anyone seems to be provoking you, remember that it is only your judgment of the incident that provokes you. - ~ Epictetus,

865:I'll show you that I’m master.’ —How will you do that? Zeus has set me free. Do you really suppose that he would allow his own son to be turned into a slave? You’re master of my carcass, take that. ~ Epictetus,

866:Ask yourself: Does this appearance (of events) concern the things that are within my own control or those that are not? If it concerns anything outside your control, train yourself not to worry about it. ~ Epictetus,

867:First off, don’t let the force of the impression carry you away. Say to it, ‘hold up a bit and let me see who you are and where you are from—let me put you to the test’ …” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.18.24 ~ Ryan Holiday,

868:If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it. ~ Epictetus,

869:If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: 'He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.' ~ Epictetus,

870:No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. ~ Epictetus,

871:No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig; if you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. ~ Epictetus,

872:Thus Socrates became perfect, improving himself by everything. attending to nothing but reason. And though you are not yet a Socrates, you ought, however, to live as one desirous of becoming a Socrates. 51. ~ Epictetus,

873:To accuse others for one's own misfortune is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete. ~ Epictetus,

874: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) ~ Epictetus,

875:Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don’t talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought. ~ Epictetus,

876:Our master is anyone who has the power to implement or prevent the things that we want or don’t want. Whoever wants to be free, therefore, should wish for nothing or avoid nothing that is up to other people. ~ Epictetus,

877:Stoic philosopher Epictetus put it best: “The life of wisdom is a life of reason. It is important to learn how to think clearly. Clear thinking is not a haphazard enterprise. It requires proper training. ~ Darius Foroux,

878:To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete. ~ Epictetus,

879:When I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn’t wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.13.1 ~ Ryan Holiday,

880:Don’t look for it in externals; it isn’t in the body, and, if you doubt me, just look at Myron or Ophellius. It isn’t in wealth, look at Croesus, or look at the rich of today: you’ll see how unhappy they are. ~ Epictetus,

881:If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters—don’t wish to seem knowledgeable. And if some regard you as important, distrust yourself.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 13a ~ Ryan Holiday,

882:It is not the events but our viewpoint toward events that is the determining factor. We ought to be more concerned about removing wrong thoughts from the mind than removing tumors and abscesses from the body. ~ Epictetus,

883:No living being is held by anything so strongly as by its own needs. Whatever therefore appears a hindrance to these, be it brother, or father, or child, or mistress, or friend, is hated, abhorred, execrated. ~ Epictetus,

884:Free is the person who lives as he wishes and cannot be coerced, impeded or compelled, whose impulses cannot be thwarted, who always gets what he desires and never has to experience what he would rather avoid. ~ Epictetus,

885:If thou rememberest that God standeth by to behold and visit all that thou doest; whether in the body or in the soul, thou surely wilt not err in any prayer or deed; and thou shalt have God to dwell with thee. ~ Epictetus,

886:Where is Good? In our reasoned choices. Where is Evil? In our reasoned choices. Where is that which is neither Good nor Evil? In the things outside of our own reasoned choice.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.16.1 ~ Ryan Holiday,

887:Against specious appearances we must set clear convictions, bright and ready for use. When death appears as an evil, we ought immediately to remember that evils are things to be avoided, but death is inevitable. ~ Epictetus,

888:Be careful whom you associate with. It is human to imitate the habits of those with whom we interact. We inadvertently adopt their interests, their opinions, their values, and their habit of interpreting events. ~ Epictetus,

889:Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. ~ Epictetus,

890: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. ~ Epictetus,

891:It has been ordained that there be summer and winter, abundance and dearth, virtue and vice, and all such opposites for the harmony of the whole, and (Zeus) has given each of us a body, property, and companions. ~ Epictetus,

892:That is the way things are weighed and disagreements settled — when standards are established. Philosophy aims to test and set such standards. And the wise man is advised to make use of their findings right way. ~ Epictetus,

893: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. ~ Epictetus,

894:Where is Good? In our reasoned choices. Where is Evil? In our reasoned choices. Where is that which is neither Good nor Evil? In the things outside of our own reasoned choice.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.16.1 T ~ Ryan Holiday,

895:You are the one who knows yourself - which is to say, you know how much you are worth in your own estimation, and therefore at what price you will sell yourself; because people sell themselves at different rates. ~ Epictetus,

896: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. ~ Epictetus,

897:The knowledge of what is mine and what is not mine, what I can and cannot do. I must die. But must I die bawling? I must be exiled; but is there anything to keep me from going with a smile, calm and self-composed? ~ Epictetus,

898:Avoid banquets which are given by strangers an ignorant persons. But if there is ever occasion to join them, let your attention be carefully fixed, that you slip not into the manner of the vulgar (the uninstructed). ~ Epictetus,

899:Why do you want to read anyway – for the sake of amusement or mere erudition? Those are poor, fatuous pretexts. Reading should serve the goal of attaining peace; if it doesn’t make you peaceful, what good is it? ~ Epictetus,

900:For my part, I can say, ‘bring what challenge you please and I will turn it to good account: bring illness, death, poverty, slander, a judgement of death: they will all be converted to advantage by my wand of Hermes. ~ Epictetus,

901:It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don’t have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn’t be hunger or thirst.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.24.17 ~ Ryan Holiday,

902:The Beginning of Philosophy is a Consciousness of your own Weakness and inability in necessary things. ~ Epictetus, Discourses, Book II. Ch, XI. St. 1. Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 596-97.,

903:If someone in the street were entrusted with your body, you would be furious. Yet you entrust your mind to anyone around who happens to insult you, and allow it to be troubled and confused. Aren’t you ashamed of that? ~ Epictetus,

904:Dare to look up to God and say, Deal with me in the future as Thou wilt; I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing that pleases Thee; lead me where Thou wilt; clothe me in any dress Thou choosest. ~ Epictetus,

905:If any one trusted your body to the first man he met, you would be indignant, but yet you trust your mind to the chance comer, and allow it to be disturbed and confounded if he revile you; are you not ashamed to do so? ~ Epictetus,

906:If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing; and if you shall seem to someone to be a person of importance, distrust yourself. ~ Epictetus,

907:Jos joku kertoo sinulle, että se ja se panettelee sinua, älä ryhdy puolustautumaan panetteluja vastaan, vaan sano: "Hän ei nähtävästi tiennyt muita vikojani, sillä muutoin hän ei olisi tyytynyt mainitsemaan vain noita. ~ Epictetus,

908:When then any man assents to that which is false, be assured that he did not intend to assent to it as false, for every soul is unwillingly deprived of the truth, as Plato says; but the falsity seemed to him to be true. ~ Epictetus,

909: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. ~ Epictetus,

910:And as proof that he has delivered them to you, bring your preconceptions to bear. Bring the arguments of philosophers. Bring what you’ve often heard, and often said yourself; what you’ve read, and what you’ve practised. ~ Epictetus,

911:If a man has reported to you, that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make any defense to what has been told you: but reply, The man did not know the rest of my faults, for he would not have mentioned these only. ~ Epictetus,

912:If a person gave your body to any stranger he met on is 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? ~ Epictetus,

913:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself. ~ Epictetus,

914:It is the sign of a dull mind to dwell upon the cares of the body, to prolong exercise, eating and drinking and other bodily functions. These things are best done by the way; all your attention must be given to the mind. ~ Epictetus,

915:Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen. ~ Epictetus,

916:When you feel burning desire for something that appears pleasureful, you are like a person under a spell. Instead of acting on impulse, take a step back—wait till the enchantment fades and you can see things as they are. ~ Epictetus,

917: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? ~ Epictetus,

918:If you keep yourself calm, poised and dignified, [10] if you observe rather than are observed, if you don’t envy people with greater success, don’t let externals disconcert you – if you do all this, what more do you need? ~ Epictetus,

919: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. ~ Epictetus,

920:In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices. ~ Epictetus,

921:Never depend on the admiration of others for self-satisfaction. It is a fact of life that other people, even people who love you, will not necessarily agree with your ideas, understand you always, or share your enthusiasms. ~ Epictetus,

922:The unrestricted person, who has in hand what they will in all events, is free. But anyone who can be restricted, coerced, or pushed into something against what they will is a slave.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.128b–129a ~ Ryan Holiday,

923:When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing? ~ Epictetus,

924:28. 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? ~ Epictetus,

925:And yet, while there is only the one thing we can care for and devote ourselves to, we choose instead to care about and attach ourselves to a score of others: to our bodies, to our property, to our family, friends and slaves. ~ Epictetus,

926: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. ~ Epictetus,

927:If what philosophers say of the kinship of God and Man be true, what remains for men to do but as Socrates did:—never, when asked one's country, to answer, "I am an Athenian or a Corinthian," but "I am a citizen of the world. ~ Epictetus,

928:The soul is like a bowl of water, with the soul’s impressions like the rays of light that strike the water. [21] Now, if the water is disturbed, the light appears to be disturbed together with it – though of course it is not. ~ Epictetus,

929:Hãy vứt ngay đi cái gì không phải của ta. Hãy thanh lọc các ý kiến của bạn để cái gì không thuộc về bạn sẽ không bám lấy bạn, đừng có dính vào đó và cũng đừng đau khổ khi người ta tước bỏ của bạn cái thứ không thuộc về bạn đó. ~ Epictetus,

930:We must not believe the many, who say that only free people ought to be educated, but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that only the educated are free. EPICTETUS, Roman philosopher and former slave, Discourses ~ Carl Sagan,

931:What makes for freedom and fluency in the practice of writing? Knowledge of how to write. The same goes for the practice of playing an instrument. It follows that, in the conduct of life, there must be a science to living well. ~ Epictetus,

932: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. ~ Epictetus,

933:We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do not wish to have, or avoid, things that other people control, because then you must serve as their slave. ~ Epictetus,

934:Epictetus, the pagan philosopher, proved in his life the truth of his own words — "A man can be happy without wealth, without family, without office or honor, without health, without anything that the world seeks after. ~ Orison Swett Marden,

935:Fight against yourself, recover yourself to decency, to modesty, to freedom. And, in the first place, condemn your actions; but when you have condemned them, do not despair of yourself. For both ruin and recovery are from within. ~ Epictetus,

936:So when someone assents to a false proposition, be sure that they did not want to give their assent, since, as Plato says, ‘Every soul is deprived of the truth against its will.’47 [5] They simply mistook for true something false. ~ Epictetus,

937:Do you know that disease and death must needs overtake us, no matter what we are doing?... what do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you?... If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, get to work on that. ~ Epictetus,

938:So – a true philosopher is under no obligation to respect vulgar opinion as to what is religious or irreligious, what is just or unjust. What dishonour he brings on philosophers in general if he did! That’s not what you learned here. ~ Epictetus,

939:Before you realize this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair, a notion nicely expressed in this exasperated line from the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus: 'You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,

940:He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. - Epictetus   We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. - Thornton Wilder ~ Rossi Fox,

941:If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, ~ Ryan Holiday,

942:You will do the greatest services to the state, if you shall raise not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens: for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses than for mean slaves to lurk in great houses. ~ Epictetus,

943:Be careful to leave your sons [and daughters] well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant." [in brackets: though I have only sons, I am--of course--someone's daughter] ~ Epictetus,

944:Faced with pain, you will discover the power of endurance. If you are insulted, you will discover patience. In time, you will grow to be confident that there is not a single impression that you will not have the moral means to tolerate. ~ Epictetus,

945:In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices. —EPICTETUS ~ Ryan Holiday,

946:It was the first and most striking characteristic of Socrates never to become heated in discourse, never to utter an injurious or insulting word -- on the contrary, he persistently bore insult from others and thus put an end to the fray. ~ Epictetus,

947:The soul's impurity consists in bad judgements, and purification consists in producing in it right judgements, and the pure soul is one which has right judgements, for this alone is proof against confusion and pollution in its functions. ~ Epictetus,

948:Here are thieves and robbers and tribunals: and they that are called tyrants, who deem that they have after a fashion power over us, because of the miserable body and what appertains to it. Let us show them that they have power over none. ~ Epictetus,

949:If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 28 ~ Ryan Holiday,

950:The manner in which Epictetus, Montaigne, and Salomon de Tultie wrote, is the most usual, the most suggestive, the most remembered, and the oftener quoted; because it is entirely composed of thoughts born from the common talk of life. ~ Blaise Pascal,

951:Remind thyself that he whom thou lovest is mortal — that what thou lovest is not thine own; it is given thee for the present, not irrevocably nor for ever, but even as a fig or a bunch of grapes at the appointed season of the year ~ Epictetus,

952:When any person treats you ill or speaks ill of you, remember that he does this or says this because he thinks it is his duty. It is not possible, then, for him to follow that which seems right to you, but that which seems right to himself. ~ Epictetus,

953:Whenever we do something wrong, then, from now on we will not blame anything except the opinion on which it’s based; and we will try to root out wrong opinions with more determination than we remove tumours or infections from the body. [36] ~ Epictetus,

954: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. ~ Epictetus,

955: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. ~ Epictetus,

956:It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself. ~ Epictetus,

957:You will do the greatest service to the state if you shall raise, not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens: for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses rather than for mean slaves to lurk in great houses. ~ Epictetus,

958:It is the part of an uneducated person to blame others where he himself fares ill; to blame himself is the part of one whose education has begun; to blame neither another nor his own self is the part of one whose education is already complete. ~ Epictetus,

959:There are two things that must be rooted out in human beings - arrogant opinion and mistrust. Arrogant opinion expects that there is nothing further needed, and mistrust assumes that under the torrent of circumstance there can be no happiness. ~ Epictetus,

960:God has entrusted me with myself. No man is free who is not master of himself. A man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going. ~ Epictetus,

961:He is free who lives as he wishes to live; who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance, nor to force; whose movements to action are not impeded, whose desires attain their purpose, and who does not fall into that which he would avoid. ~ Epictetus,

962:He wants what he cannot have, and does not want what he can't refuse — and isn't aware of it. He doesn't know the difference between his own possessions and others'. Because, if he did, he would never be thwarted of disappointed. Or nervous. ~ Epictetus,

963:The Greek philosopher Epictetus said, ‘First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.’ Good old Epictetus. I would be Confident Girl, and that means unplastering myself from the side of this building, for starters. ~ Laini Taylor,

964:It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay the blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself. ~ Epictetus,

965:Whenever distress or displeasure arises in your mind, remind yourself, “This is only my interpretation, not reality itself.” Then ask whether it falls within or outside your sphere of power. And, if it is beyond your power to control, let it go. ~ Epictetus,

966:Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now. ~ Epictetus,

967:It is not a demonstration of kindness or friendship to the people we care about to join them in indulging in wrongheaded, negative feelings. We do a better service to ourselves and others by remaining detached and avoiding melodramatic reactions. ~ Epictetus,

968:God has entrusted me with myself. No man is free who is not master of himself. A man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.    ~ Epictetus,

969:Whatever moral rules you have deliberately proposed to yourself. abide by them as they were laws, and as if you would be guilty of impiety by violating any of them. Don’t regard what anyone says of you, for this, after all, is no concern of yours. ~ Epictetus,

970:Embrace reality. Think about what delights you - the small luxuries on which you depend, the people whom you cherish most. But remember that they have their own distinct character, which is quite a separate matter from how we happen to regard them. ~ Epictetus,

971:Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.    ~ Epictetus,

972:Furthermore the true Cynic must know that he is sent as a Messenger from God to men, to show unto them that as touching good and evil they are in error; looking for these where they are not to be found, nor ever bethinking themselves where they are. ~ Epictetus,

973:If you decide to do something, don't shrink from being seen doing it, even if the majority of people disapprove. If you're wrong to do it, then you should shrink from doing it altogether; but if you're right, then why worry how people will judge you? ~ Epictetus,

974:If you decide to do something, don’t shrink from being seen doing it, even if the majority of people disapprove. If you’re wrong to do it, then you should shrink from doing it altogether; but if you’re right, then why worry how people will judge you? ~ Epictetus,

975:None of these things are foretold to me; but either to my paltry body, or property, or reputation, or children, or wife. But to me all omens are lucky, if I will. For whichever of these things happens, it is in my control to derive advantage from it. ~ Epictetus,

976:Some young women confuse their self-worth with their ability to attract the attention of men, and so pour all their energies into makeup, clothing, and jewelry. If only they realized that virtue, honor, and self-respect are the marks of a true beauty. ~ Epictetus,

977:When you are by yourself you should call it peace and liberty, and consider yourself the gods’ equal. When you’re with a large group you shouldn’t say you’re in a mob or crowd, but a guest at a feast or festival – and in that spirit learn to enjoy it. ~ Epictetus,

978:if anyone should tell you that a particular person has spoken critically of you, don’t bother with excuses or defenses. Just smile and reply, “I guess that person doesn’t know about all my other faults. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have mentioned only these. ~ Epictetus,

979:You see, then, that it is necessary for you to become a student, that creature which every one laughs at, if you really desire to make an examination of your judgements. But this, as you are quite aware, is not the work of a single hour or day ~ Epictetus,

980:If anyone should tell you that a particular person has spoken critically of you, don't bother with excuses or defenses. Just smile and reply, "I guess that person doesn't know about all my other faults. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned only these." ~ Epictetus,

981:Many people who have progressively lowered their personal standards in an attempt to win social acceptance and life’s comforts bitterly resent those of philosophical bent who refuse to compromise their spiritual ideals and who seek to better themselves. ~ Epictetus,

982:Whenever anyone criticizes or wrongs you, remember that they are only doing or saying what they think is right. They cannot be guided by your views, only their own; so if their views are wrong, they are the ones who suffer insofar as they are misguided. ~ Epictetus,

983:But only if I identify with my will can I be someone’s friend – or son, or father – in the true sense, because only then will my self-interest be served by remaining loyal, honest, patient, tolerant and supportive, and by maintaining my social relations. ~ Epictetus,

984: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. ~ Epictetus,

985:O slavish man! will you not bear with your own brother, who has God for his Father, as being a son from the same stock, and of the same high descent? But if you chance to be placed in some superior station, will you presently set yourself up for a tyrant? ~ Epictetus,

986:When men are unhappy, they do not imagine they can ever cease to be so; and when some calamity has fallen on them, they do not see how they can get rid of it. Nevertheless, both arrive; and the gods have ordered it so, in the end men seek it from the gods ~ Epictetus,

987:If someone tried to take control of your body and make you a slave, you would fight for freedom. Yet how easily you hand over your mind to anyone who insults you. When you dwell on their words and let them dominate your thoughts, you make them your master. ~ Epictetus,

988:The condition and characteristic of an uninstructed person is this: he never expects from himself profit (advantage) nor harm, but from externals. The condition and characteristic of a philosopher is this: he expects all advantage and all harm from himself. ~ Epictetus,

989:When we act pugnaciously, and injuriously, and angrily, and rudely, to what level have we degenerated? To the level of the wild beasts. Well, the fact is that some of us are wild beasts of a larger size, while others are little animals, malignant and petty. ~ Epictetus,

990: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. ~ Epictetus,

991:Epictetus say that everything has two handles, one by which it can be borne and one which it cannot. If your brother sins against you, he says, don't take hold of it by the wrong he did you but by the fact that he's your brother. That's how it can be borne. ~ Anne Tyler,

992:It is difficulties that show what men are. For the future, in case of any difficulty, remember that God, like a gymnastic trainer, has pitted you against a rough antagonist. For what end? That you may be an Olympic conqueror; and this cannot be without toil. ~ Epictetus,

993:Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, and desires and the demons that distract us from these goals. Outside of our control are such things as what kind of body we have, whether or not we are born into wealth, and how we are regarded by others. ~ Epictetus,

994:Stop judging the things that fate brings you as “good” or “evil”; only judge your own thoughts, desires, and actions as good or evil. If you suppose events to be good or evil in themselves, when life doesn’t go as you wish you will inevitably blame the Author. ~ Epictetus,

995:Although we can't control which roles are assigned to us, it must be our business to act our given role as best we possibly can and to refrain from complaining about it. Where ever you find yourself and in whatever circumstances, give an impeccable performance. ~ Epictetus,

996:Epictetus says we must discover the missing art of assent and pay special attention to the sphere of our impulses—that they are subject to reservation, to the common good, and that they are in proportion to actual worth.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.37 ~ Ryan Holiday,

997: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. ~ Epictetus,

998:Remember that you are but an actor, acting whatever part the Master has ordained. It may be short or it may be long. If he wishes you to represent a poor man, do so heartily; if a cripple, or a magistrate, or a private man, in each case act your part with honor. ~ Epictetus,

999:Lead me, Zeus, lead me, Destiny, To the goal I was long ago assigned And I will follow without hesitation. Even should I resist, In a spirit of perversity, I will have to follow nonetheless. [2] Whoever yields to necessity graciously We account wise in God’s ways. ~ Epictetus,

1000:that you never be unfortunate or unhappy, but free, unrestricted and unrestrained; in sympathy with God’s rule, which you submit to cheerfully; at odds with no one, no one’s accuser; able in all sincerity to speak Cleanthes’ line: ‘Lead me, Zeus, lead me, Destiny. ~ Epictetus,

1001:When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shrink from being seen to do it, even though the world should misunderstand it; for if you are not acting rightly, shun the action itself; if you are, why fear those who wrongly censure you? ~ Epictetus,

1002:He who is discontented with what he has, and with what has been granted to him by fortune, is one who is ignorant of the art of living, but he who bears that in a noble spirit, and makes reasonable use of all that comes from it, deserves to be regarded as a good man. ~ Epictetus,

1003:I’m in difficulty, lord, and pitiable: no one cares about me, no one helps me; I’m the object of universal scorn.’ [49] Is that the witness you are going to bear, making a mockery of God’s summons, when he honoured you and judged you worthy to be his public spokesman? ~ Epictetus,

1004: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. ~ Epictetus,

1005:Take the example of a public speaker. He is confident that he has written a good speech, he has committed the thing to memory, and can deliver it smoothly. Still he agonizes, [6] because it’s not enough for him to be competent, he also hungers for the crowd’s approval. ~ Epictetus,

1006:What you shun enduring yourself, attempt not to impose on others. You shun slavery- beware enslaving others! If you can endure to do that, one would think you had been once upon a time a slave yourself. For vice has nothing in common with virtue, nor Freedom with slavery. ~ Epictetus,

1007:Above all, remember that the door stands open. Be not more fearful than children; but as they, when they weary of the game, cry, "I will play no more," even so, when thou art in the like case, cry, "I will play no more" and depart. But if thou stayest, make no lamentation. ~ Epictetus,

1008: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. ~ Epictetus,

1009:Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party. Is anything brought around to you? Put out your hand and take your share with moderation. Does it pass by you? Don’t stop it. Is it not yet come? Don’t stretch your desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you. ~ Epictetus,

1010:Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions. ~ Epictetus,

1011:When children stick their hand down a narrow goody jar they can’t get their full fist out and start crying. Drop a few treats and you will get it out! Curb your desire—don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.9.22 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1012:When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it. It is not the things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor are they what they seem to be. They are what they are. ~ Epictetus,

1013:I can’t speak for Aeschylus or Epictetus or Aristotle. But I am convinced of this: they would have hated having their wisdom confined to classrooms and textbooks. This is wisdom about how to live. And it’s your property as much as anyone’s. It is yours. Take it. Use it. ~ Eric Greitens,

1014: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. ~ Epictetus,

1015:When we are guests at a dinner party, we content ourselves with the food on offer; if anyone were to tell the host to put out fish or cake, he would seem rude. In real life, however, we ask the gods for what they do not give, and this though they have provided us with plenty. ~ Epictetus,

1016: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. —Epictetus ~ Karen Marie Moning,

1017:That’s why the philosophers warn us not to be satisfied with mere learning, but to add practice and then training. For as time passes we forget what we learned and end up doing the opposite, and hold opinions the opposite of what we should.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.9.13–14 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1018:Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6b–8 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1019:Philosophy does not claim to secure for us anything outside our control. Otherwise it would be taking on matters that do not concern it. For as wood is the material of the carpenter, and marble that of the sculptor, so the subject matter of the art of life is the life of the self. ~ Epictetus,

1020:When you actively engage in gradually refining yourself, you retreat from your lazy ways of covering yourself or making excuses. Instead of feeling a persistent current of low-level shame, you move forward by using the creative possibilities of this moment, your current situation. ~ Epictetus,

1021:You ought to realize, you take up very little space in the world as a whole—your body, that is; in reason, however, you yield to no one, not even to the gods, because reason is not measured in size but sense. So why not care for that side of you, where you and the gods are equals? ~ Epictetus,

1022:Truth is a thing immortal and perpetual, and it gives to us a beauty that fades not away in time, nor does it take away the freedom of speech which proceeds from justice; but it gives to us the knowledge of what is just and lawful, separating from them the unjust and refuting them. ~ Epictetus,

1023:It is a mark of a mean capacity to spend much time on the things which concern the body, such as much exercise, much eating, much drinking, much easing of the body, much copulation. But these things should be done as subordinate things: and let all your care be directed to the mind. ~ Epictetus,

1024:It was thus an excellent reply that the woman made when she wanted to send a boatload of provisions to the exiled Gratilla;* for when someone said to her, ‘Domitian will merely confiscate them,’ she replied, ‘Better that he should take them away than that I should fail to send them. ~ Epictetus,

1025:Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don't try to pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don't let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes. ~ Epictetus,

1026: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. ~ Epictetus,

1027:This is the true athlete—the person in rigorous training against false impressions. Remain firm, you who suffer, don’t be kidnapped by your impressions! The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.18.27–28 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1028: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. ~ Epictetus,

1029:Sickness is a problem for the body, not the mind — unless the mind decides that it is a problem. Lameness, too, is the body's problem, not the mind's. Say this to yourself whatever the circumstance and you will find without fail that the problem pertains to something else, not to you. ~ Epictetus,

1030:It’s a living soul I want one of you to show me, the soul of a person willing to work with, and never criticize, either God or a fellow human being. One who will never fail, or have experiences he does not want; who will never give in to anger, jealousy or the desire to dominate others. ~ Epictetus,

1031:Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law. And if any instance of pain or pleasure, glory or disgrace, be set before you, remember that now is the combat, now the Olympiad comes on, nor can it be put off; and that by one failure and defeat honor may be lost or—won. ~ Epictetus,

1032:For sheep don’t throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not show theorems to the unlearned, but the actions produced by them after they have been digested. ~ Epictetus,

1033:Freedom isn't the right or ability to do whatever you please. Freedom comes from understanding the limits of our own power and the inherent limits set in place by nature. By accepting life's limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, you become truly free. ~ Epictetus,

1034:Whenever a challenge arises, turn inward and ask what power you can exercise in the situation. If you meet temptation, use self-control; if you meet pain, use fortitude; if you meet revulsion, use patience. In this way, you will overcome life’s challenges, rather than be overcome by them. ~ Epictetus,

1035:No. Instead from school it’s straight off to the theatre, to a gladiatorial game, to an athletic show or the circus. Then from there you come back here, and from here, off you go again, the same people, the same pursuits – [15] you show no serious discipline, concern, or care for yourself. ~ Epictetus,

1036:Nothing outside the will can hinder or harm the will; it can only harm itself. If then we accept this, and, when things go amiss, are inclined to blame ourselves, remembering that judgment alone can disturb our peace and constancy, I swear to you by all the gods that we have made progress. ~ Epictetus,

1037:When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, even though the world should make a wrong supposition about it; for, if you don’t act right, shun the action itself; but, if you do, why are you afraid of those who censure you wrongly? ~ Epictetus,

1038:When you have decided that a thing ought to be done and are doing it, never avoid bein seen doing it, though many shall form an unfavorable opinion about it. For if it is not right to do it, avoid doing the thing; but if it is right, why are you afraid of those who shall find fault wrongly? ~ Epictetus,

1039:Disease is an impediment to the body, but not to the will, unless the will itself chooses. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will. And add this reflection on the occasion of everything that happens; for you will find it an impediment to something else, but not to yourself. ~ Epictetus,

1040:For even sheep do not vomit up their grass and show to the shepherds how much they have eaten; but when they have internally digested the pasture, they produce externally wool and milk. Do you also show not your theorems to the uninstructed, but show the acts which come from their digestion. ~ Epictetus,

1041:Is the child or wife of another dead? There is no one who would not say, “This is an accident of mortality.” But if anyone’s own child happens to die, it is immediately, “Alas! how wretched am I!” It should be always remembered how we are affected on hearing the same thing concerning others. ~ Epictetus,

1042:For sheep don’t throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not show theorems to the unlearned, but the actions produced by them after they have been digested. 47. ~ Epictetus,

1043:Keep this thought at the ready at daybreak, and through the day and night—there is only one path to happiness, and that is in giving up all outside of your sphere of choice, regarding nothing else as your possession, surrendering all else to God and Fortune.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.4.39 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1044:Two elements are combined in our creation, the body, which we have in common with the beasts; and reason and good judgement, which we share with the gods. Most of us tend toward the former connection, miserable and mortal though it is, whereas only a few favour this holy and blessed alliance. ~ Epictetus,

1045:35. When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, even though the world should make a wrong supposition about it; for, if you don’t act right, shun the action itself; but, if you do, why are you afraid of those who censure you wrongly? ~ Epictetus,

1046:As the sun does not wait for prayers and incantations tob e induced to rise, but immediately shines and is saluted by all, so do you also not wait for clappings of hands and shouts of praise tob e induced to do good, but be a doer of good voluntarily and you will be beloved as much as the sun. ~ Epictetus,

1047:Disease is an impediment to the body, but not to the will, unless the will itself chooses. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will. And add this reflection on the occasion of everything that happens; for you will find it an impediment to something else, but not to yourself. X ~ Epictetus,

1048:If you ever happen to turn your attention to externals, for the pleasure of any one, be assured that you have ruined your scheme of life. Be contented, then, in everything, with being a philosopher; and if you with to seem so likewise to any one, appear so to yourself, and it will suffice you. ~ Epictetus,

1049:Philosophy does not promise to secure anything external for man, otherwise it would be admitting something that lies beyond its proper subject-matter. For as the material of the carpenter is wood, and that of statuary bronze, so the subject-matter of the art of living is each person's own life. ~ Epictetus,

1050:I must die. I must be imprisoned. I must suffer exile. But must I die groaning? Must I whine as well? Can anyone hinder me from going into exile with a smile? The master threatens to chain me: what say you? Chain me? My leg you will chain--yes, but not my will--no, not even Zeus can conquer that. ~ Epictetus,

1051:Isn’t reading a kind of preparation for life?’ But life is composed of things other than books. It is as if an athlete, on entering the stadium, were to complain that he’s not outside exercising.This was the goal of your exercise, of your weights, your practice ring and your training partners. ~ Epictetus,

1052:What, for instance, does it mean to be insulted? [29] Stand by a rock and insult it, and what have you accomplished? If someone responds to insult like a rock, what has the abuser gained with his invective? If, however, he has his victim’s weakness to exploit, then his efforts are worth his while. ~ Epictetus,

1053:Do not afflict others with anything that you yourself would not wish to suffer. if you would not like to be a slave, make sure no one is your slave. If you have slaves, you yourself are the greatest slave, for just as freedom is incompatible with slavery, so goodness is incompatible with hypocrisy. ~ Epictetus,

1054:We need to regularly stop and take stock; to sit down and determine within ourselves which things are worth valuing and which things are not; which risks are worth the cost and which are not. Even the most confusing or hurtful aspects of life can be made more tolerable by clear seeing and by choice. ~ Epictetus,

1055:Opportunity beckons more surely when misfortune comes upon a person than it ever does when that person is riding the crest of a wave of success. It sharpens a person's wits, if that person will let it, enabling him or her to see more clearly and evaluate situations with a more knowledgeable judgment. ~ Epictetus,

1056:Thus do the more cautious of travellers act. The road is said to be beset by robbers. The traveller will not venture alone, but awaits the companionship on the road of an ambassador, a quaestor or a proconsul. To him he attaches himself and thus passes by in safety. So doth the wise man in the world. ~ Epictetus,

1057:The man has to learn ‘what each specific thing means’, as Socrates often said, and stop casually applying preconceptions to individual cases. This is the cause of everyone’s troubles, the inability to apply common preconceptions to particulars. Instead the opinions of men as to what is bad diverge. ~ Epictetus,

1058:When I started to get disillusioned with psychoanalysis I reread philosophy and was reminded of the constructivist notion that Epictetus had proposed 2,000 years ago: "People are disturbed not by events that happen to them, but by their view of them." I could see how that applied to many of my clients. ~ Albert Ellis,

1059:What about your beloved Epictetus? Or your beloved Emily Dickinson? You want your Emily, every time she has an urge to write a poem, to just sit down and say a prayer till her nasty, egotistical urge goes away? No, of course you don’t! But you’d like your friend Professor Tupper’s ego taken away from him. ~ J D Salinger,

1060:Some things are up to us [eph' hêmin] and some things are not up to us. Our opinions are up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions–in short, whatever is our own doing. Our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, our reputations, or our public offices, or, that is, whatever is not our own doing. ~ Epictetus,

1061:Then I’ll have you chained up.’ What are you saying, man, chain me up? You can chain my leg, but not even Zeus can overcome my power of choice. [24] ‘I’ll throw you into prison.’ You mean my poor body. ‘I’ll have you beheaded.’ Why, did I ever tell you that I’m the only man to have a neck that can’t be severed? [ ~ Epictetus,

1062:And yet, while there is only the one thing we can care for and devote ourselves to, we choose instead to care about and attach ourselves to a score of others: to our bodies, to our property, to our family, friends and slaves. [15] And, being attached to many things, we are weighed down and dragged along with them. ~ Epictetus,

1063:But it’s not right of Zeus to do this.’ Why? Because he made you tough and proud, removed the stigma of evil from these circumstances and made it possible for you to be happy despite them? Or because he left the door open when things finally don’t agree with you? Friend, take advantage of it, and stop blaming God. ~ Epictetus,

1064:Do not decorate the walls of your house with the valuable stones from Eubœa and Sparta; but adorn the minds (breasts) of the citizens and of those who administer the state with the instruction which comes from Hellas (Greece). For states are well governed by the wisdom (judgment) of men, but not by stone and wood. ~ Epictetus,

1065:When we name things correctly, we comprehend them correctly, without adding information or judgements that aren't there. Does someone bathe quickly? Don't say be bathes poorly, but quickly. Name the situation as it is, don't filter it through your judgments. Give your assent only to that which is actually true. ~ Epictetus,

1066:Consider how we apply the idea of freedom to animals. [25] There are tame lions that people cage, raise, feed and take with them wherever they go. Yet who will call such a lion free? The easier its life, the more slavish it is. No lion endowed with reason and discretion would choose to be one of these pet specimens. ~ Epictetus,

1067:As in walking it is your great care not to run your foot upon a nail, or to tread awry, and strain your leg; so let it be in all the affairs of human life, not to hurt your mind or offend your judgment. And this rule, if observed carefully in all your deportment, will be a mighty security to you in your undertakings. ~ Epictetus,

1068:Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but not to your ability to choose, unless that is your choice. Lameness is a hindrance to the leg, but not to your ability to choose. Say this to yourself with regard to everything that happens, then you will see such obstacles as hindrances to something else, but not to yourself. ~ Epictetus,

1069:Epictetus is not superior to Socrates; but if he is not inferior, this is enough for me; for I shall never be a Milo, and yet I do not neglect my body; nor shall I be a Croesus, and yet I do not neglect my property; nor, in a word, do we neglect looking after anything because we despair of reaching the highest degree. ~ Epictetus,

1070:Transfer caution to the will and the functions of the will, and the mere wish will bring with it the power of avoidance. But if we direct it at what is outside us and is none of our responsibility, wanting instead to avoid what’s in the control of others, we are necessarily going to meet with fear, upset and confusion. ~ Epictetus,

1071:Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit the evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now. You are not some disinterested bystander. Participate. Exert yourself. ~ Epictetus,

1072:Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices me wherever I am or whatever I do. ~ Epictetus,

1073:Epictetus told his students, when they’d quote some great thinker, to picture themselves observing the person having sex. It’s funny, you should try it the next time someone intimidates you or makes you feel insecure. See them in your mind, grunting, groaning, and awkward in their private life—just like the rest of us. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1074:Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can't control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible. ~ Epictetus,

1075:Wherefore it is a shame for man to begin and to leave off where the brutes do. Rather he should begin there, and leave off where Nature leaves off in us: and that is at contemplation, and understanding, and a manner of life that is in harmony with herself. See then that ye die not without being spectators of these things. ~ Epictetus,

1076:A guide, on finding a man who has lost his way, brings him back to the right path—he does not mock and jeer at him and then take himself off. You also must show the unlearned man the truth, and you will see that he will follow. But so long as you do not show it him, you should not mock, but rather feel your own incapacity. ~ Epictetus,

1077:Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents. ~ Epictetus,

1078:What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated—tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.1.21–23a ~ Ryan Holiday,

1079:The beautiful and good person neither fights with anyone nor, as much as they are able, permits others to fight . . . this is the meaning of getting an education—learning what is your own affair and what is not. If a person carries themselves so, where is there any room for fighting?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.5.1; 7b–8a ~ Ryan Holiday,

1080:Rufus43 used to say, ‘If you have nothing better to do than praise me for it, then my speech was a failure.’ He used to address us in such a way as to make everyone sitting there suppose that someone had informed on them – that’s how well he intuited the truth, and how vividly he evoked for each one of us our private faults. ~ Epictetus,

1081:[19] ‘My brother shouldn’t have treated me in this way.’ Indeed he shouldn’t, but it’s for him to see to that. For my part, however he treats me, I should conduct myself towards him as I ought. For that is my business, and the rest is not my concern. In this no one can hinder me, while everything else is subject to hindrance. ~ Epictetus,

1082:Inner peace begins when we stop saying of things, 'I have lost it' and instead say, 'It has been returned to where it came from.' Why should it be any concern of yours who gives your things back to the world that gave them to you? The important thing is to take great care with what you have while the world lets you have it. ~ Epictetus,

1083:When a man kisses his child, said Epictetus, he should whisper to himself, "To-morrow perchance thou wilt die."- But those are words of bad omen.- "No word is a word of bad omen," said Epictetus, "which expresses any work of nature; or if it is so, it is also a word of bad omen to speak of the ears of corn being reaped. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

1084:Of all the things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent lie in between virtue and vice and include wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, and pain.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.19.12b–13 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1085:This World is one great City, and one if the substance whereof it is fashioned: a certain period indeed there needs must be, while these give place to those; some must perish for others to succeed; some move and some abide: yet all is full of friends--first God, then Men, whom Nature hath bound by ties of kindred each to each. ~ Epictetus,

1086:In what then consists progress? He who detaching him self from external things devotes himself entirely to the education and preparation of his faculty of judgment and will in order to put it into accord with Nature and give it elevation, freedom, independence, self-possession,—he it is who is really progressing. ~ Epictetus : Conversations,

1087:Burns points out that the basic idea of cognitive therapy—that our thoughts affect our emotions and mood, not the other way around—goes back a long way: The ancient philosopher Epictetus rested his career on the idea that it is not events that determine your state of mind, but how you decide to feel about the events. This ~ Tom Butler Bowdon,

1088: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. ~ Epictetus,

1089:The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own... ~ Epictetus,

1090:Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control. Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But you are not merely your legs. Your will is bigger than your legs. Your will needn't be affected by an incident unless you let it. ~ Epictetus,

1091:If then all things that grow, nay, our own bodies, are thus bound up with the whole, is not this still truer of our souls? And if our souls are bound up and in contact with God, as being very parts and fragments plucked from Himself, shall He not feel every movement of theirs as though it were His own, and belonging to His own nature? ~ Epictetus,

1092:If what the philosophers say be true, that all men's actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain, so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage. ~ Epictetus,

1093:If you should ever turn your will to things outside your control in order to impress someone, be sure that you have wrecked your whole purpose in life. Be content, then, to be a philosopher in all that you do, and if you wish also to be seen as one, show yourself first that you are and you will succeed.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 23 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1094:Does anyone bathe hastily? Do not say that they do it ill, but hastily. Does anyone drink much wine? Do not say that they do ill, but that they drink a great deal. For unless you perfectly understand their motives, how should you know if they act ill? Thus you will not risk yielding to any appearances except those you fully comprehend. ~ Epictetus,

1095:There is nothing more inspiring than a speaker who makes clear to his audience that he has need of them. [37] Tell me – has anyone who has ever heard you read or discourse felt self-remorse as a result, or experienced self-realization, or afterwards left thinking, ‘The philosopher touched a nerve there; I can’t go on acting as I have’? ~ Epictetus,

1096:If a man, said Epictetus, opposes evident truths, it is not easy to find arguments by which we shall make him change his opinion. But this does not arise either from the man's strength or the teacher's weakness; for when the man, though he has been confuted, is hardened like a stone, how shall we then be able to deal with him by argument? ~ Epictetus,

1097:Our duties naturally emerge form such fundamental relations as our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, our state or nation. Make it your regular habit to consider your roles-parent, child, neighbor, citizen, leader-and the natural duties that arise from them. Once you know who you are and to whom you are linked, you will know what to do. ~ Epictetus,

1098:Remember that in life you ought to behave as at a banquet. Suppose that something is carried round and is opposite to you. Stretch out your hand and take a portion with decency. Suppose that it passes by you. Do not detain it. Suppose that it is not yet come to you. Do not send your desire forward to it, but wait till it is opposite to you. ~ Epictetus,

1099:Neither the victories of the Olympic Games nor those achieved in battles make the man happy. The only victories that make him happy are those achieved against himself. Temptations and tests are combats. You have beaten one, two, many times; still fight. If you defeat at last you will be happy your entire life, as if you have always defeated. ~ Epictetus,

1100:What hurts this person is not the occurrence itself, for another person might not feel oppressed by this situation at all. What is hurting this person is the response he or she has uncritically adopted. It is not a demonstration of kindness or friendship to the people we care about to join them in indulging in wrongheaded, negative feelings. ~ Epictetus,

1101:It is not reasonings that are wanted now for there are books stuffed full of stoical reasonings. What is wanted, then? The man who shall apply them; whose actions may bear testimony to his doctrines. Assume this character for me, that we may no longer make use in the schools of the examples of the ancients, but may have some examples of our own. ~ Epictetus,

1102:Remember that you are an actor in a play, and that the Playwright chooses the manner of it: If he wants you to act a poor man you must act the part with all your powers; and so if your part be a cripple or a magistrate or a plain man. For your business is to act the character that is given you and act it well. The choice of the cast is Another's. ~ Epictetus,

1103:You must realize that death and illness are bound to overtake us whatever it is we’re doing. They overtake the farmer at the plough, the sailor at the helm; [6] what do you want to be doing when they come upon you? Because you have to be doing something when you go; and if you can find anything better than this to be doing, then do it by all means. ~ Epictetus,

1104:If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothin which may tend to its increase. At first, keep quiet and count the days when you were not angry: "I used to be angry every day, then every other day: next, every two, then every three days!" and if you succeed in passing thirty days, sacrifice to the gods in thanksgiving. ~ Epictetus,

1105:Show me someone sick and happy, in danger and happy, dying and happy, exiled and happy, disgraced and happy. Show me! By God, how much I’d like to see a Stoic. But since you can’t show me someone that perfectly formed, at least show me someone actively forming themselves so, inclined in this way…. Show me!” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.19.24–25a, 28 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1106:Dès qu’une image viendra te troubler l’esprit, pense à te dire : « Tu n’es qu’image, et non la réalité dont tu as l’apparence. » Puis, examine-la et soumets-la à l’épreuve des lois qui règlent ta vie : avant tout, vois si cette réalité dépend de nous ou n’en dépend pas ; et si elle ne dépend pas de nous, sois prêt à dire : « Cela ne me regarde pas. » ~ Epictetus,

1107:If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase. At first, keep quiet and count the days when you were not angry: "I used to be angry every day, then every other day: next, every two, then every three days!" and if you succeed in passing thirty days, sacrifice to the gods in thanksgiving. ~ Epictetus,

1108:The gods do not exists, and even if they exist they do not trouble themselves about people, and we have nothing in common with them. The piety and devotion to the gods that the majority of people invoke is a lie devised by swindlers and con men and, if you can believe it, by legislators, to keep criminals in line by putting the fear of God into them. ~ Epictetus,

1109:Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents." Translation by Sharon Lebell ~ Epictetus,

1110:Does a man reproach thee for being proud or ill-natured, envious or conceited, ignorant or detracting? Consider with thyself whether his reproaches are true. If they are not, consider that thou art not the person whom he reproaches, but that he reviles an imaginary being, and perhaps loves what thou really art, though he hates what thou appearest to be. ~ Epictetus,

1111:All human beings seek the happy life, but many confuse the means - for example, wealth and status - with that life itself. This misguided focus on the means to a good life makes people get further from the happy life. The really worthwhile things are the virtuous activities that make up the happy life, not the external means that may seem to produce it. ~ Epictetus,

1112:Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control. ~ Epictetus,

1113: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 part; if I were a swan, I would do as a swan. But now I am a rational creature, and I ought to praise God. This is my work. I do it, nor will I desert my post, so long as I am allowed to keep it. And I ask you to join me in this same song. ~ Epictetus,

1114:For instance, the majority of people are terrified of dying, but, as Epictetus points out, Socrates wasn’t afraid of death. Although he may have preferred to live, he was relatively indifferent to dying as long as he met his death with wisdom and virtue. This used to be known as the ideal of a “good death,” from which our word “euthanasia” derives ~ Donald J Robertson,

1115: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. ~ Epictetus,

1116: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. ~ Epictetus,

1117:It is not reasonings that are wanted now,' he says, 'for there are books stuffed full of stoical reasonings. What is wanted, then? The man who shall apply them; whose actions may bear testimony to his doctrines. Assume this character for me, that we may no longer make use in the schools of the examples of the ancients, but may have some examples of our own. ~ Epictetus,

1118:Remember that you are an actor in a drama of such sort as the Author chooses: if short, then in a short one; if long, then in a long one. If it be His pleasure that you should enact a poor man, or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen, see that you act it well. For this is your business, to act well the given part. But to choose it belongs to Another. ~ Epictetus,

1119:Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it is easier to maintain control. ~ Epictetus,

1120: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 ~ Epictetus,

1121:The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own …” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.5.4–5 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1122:Every event has two handles—one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other—that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold of the handle that carries.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 43 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1123:These reasonings do not cohere: I am richer than you, therefore I am better than you; I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better than you. On the contrary these rather cohere, I am richer than you, therefore my possessions are greater than yours: I am more eloquent than you, therefore my speech is superior to yours. But you are neither possession nor speech. ~ Epictetus,

1124: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. ~ Epictetus,

1125: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. ~ Epictetus,

1126:Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. Once you have determined the spiritual principles you wish to exemplify, abide by these rules as if they were laws, as if it were indeed sinful to compromise them. Don't mind if others don't share your convictions. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. ~ Epictetus,

1127: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. ~ Epictetus,

1128:There is in all this only transformations of things one into another; there is no annihilation: a regulated order, a disposition of the ensemble, that is all. There is nothing else in a departure, it is only a slight change. There is nothing else in death, it is only a great change. The actual being changes, not into a non-existence, but into something it is not at present. ~ Epictetus,

1129:In this body, this universe, this community, it is inevitable that each of us faces some such event. [28] Your job, then, is to appear before the court, say what you have to say and make the best of the situation. [29] Then the judge declares you guilty. ‘I wish you well, judge. I did my part, you can decide if you did yours.’ Because the judge runs a risk too, don’t forget. ~ Epictetus,

1130:When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad,” Epictetus said, “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. ~ Epictetus,

1131:For if a person shifts their caution to their own reasoned choices and the acts of those choices, they will at the same time gain the will to avoid, but if they shift their caution away from their own reasoned choices to things not under their control, seeking to avoid what is controlled by others, they will then be agitated, fearful, and unstable.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.1.12 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1132:What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar – and no savage criminals to rid the world of? [33] What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules. ~ Epictetus,

1133:When, therefore, you see anyone eminent in honors, or power, or in high esteem on any other account, take heed not to be hurried away with the appearance, and to pronounce him happy; for, if the essence of good consists in things in our own control, there will be no room for envy or emulation. But, for your part, don’t wish to be a general, or a senator, or a consul, but to be free; ~ Epictetus,

1134:For if a person shifts their caution to their own reasoned choices and the acts of those choices, they will at the same time gain the will to avoid, but if they shift their caution away from their own reasoned choices to things not under their control, seeking to avoid what is controlled by others, they will then be agitated, fearful, and unstable.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.1.12 T ~ Ryan Holiday,

1135: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. ~ Epictetus,

1136:With every accident, ask yourself what abilities you have for making a proper use of it. If you see an attractive person, you will find that self-restraint is the ability you have against your desire. If you are in pain, you will find fortitude. If you hear unpleasant language, you will find patience. And thus habituated, the appearances of things will not hurry you away along with them. ~ Epictetus,

1137:I, personally, was never kept from something I wanted, nor had forced upon me something I was opposed to. How did I manage it? I submitted my will to God. He wants me to be sick – well, then, so do I. He wants me to choose something. Then I choose it. He wants me to desire something, I desire it. He wants me to get something, I want the same; or he doesn’t want me to get it, and I concur. ~ Epictetus,

1138:You should be especially careful when associating with one of your former friends or acquaintances not to sink to their level; otherwise you will lose yourself. If you are troubled by the idea that ‘He’ll think I’m boring and won’t treat me the way he used to,’ remember that everything comes at a price. It isn’t possible to change your behavior and still be the same person you were before. ~ Epictetus,

1139:When it comes to money, where we feel our clear interest, we have an entire art where the tester uses many means to discover the worth . . . just as we give great attention to judging things that might steer us badly. But when it comes to our own ruling principle, we yawn and doze off, accepting any appearance that flashes by without counting the cost.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.20.8; 11 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1140:Kun korppi koikkuu onnettomuutta ennustaen, älköön se näky sinua säikäyttäkö, vaan heti selitä ja sano itsellesi: tuo ei aavista mitään minulle, vaan ehkä raukalle ruumiilleni tai vähäpätöisille varoilleni tai mukamalle maineelleni tai lapsilleni tai vaimolleni. Minulle ennustaa kaikki onnea, jos minä tahdon, sillä mitä hyvänsä niistä tapahtuneekin, on minun vallassani käyttää sitä hyödykseni. ~ Epictetus,

1141: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. ~ Epictetus,

1142:If you would improve, be content to be thought foolish and dull with regard to externals. Do not desire to be thought to know anything; and though you should appear to others to be somebody, distrust yourself. For be assured, it is not easy at once to keep your will in harmony with nature and to secure externals; but while you are absorbed in the one, you must of necessity neglect the other. XIV ~ Epictetus,

1143:Work, therefore to be able to say to every harsh appearance, “You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be.” And then examine it by those rules which you have, and first, and chiefly, by this: whether it concerns the things which are in our own control, or those which are not; and, if it concerns anything not in our control, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you. ~ Epictetus,

1144:These are not the circumstances that I want.’ Is it up to you to choose them? You have been given that particular body, these particular parents and brothers, this particular social position and place to live. You come to me hoping that I can somehow change these circumstances for you, not even conscious of the assets that are already yours that make it possible to cope with any situation you face. ~ Epictetus,

1145:why act the part of a Jew when you’re Greek? [ 20] Don’t you know why it is that a person is called a Jew, Syrian, or Egyptian? And when we see someone hesitating between two creeds, we’re accustomed to say, ‘He is no Jew, but is merely acting the part.’ But when he assumes the frame of mind of one who has been baptized * and has made his choice, then he really is a Jew, and is called by that name. ~ Epictetus,

1146:The person is free who lives as they wish, neither compelled, nor hindered, nor limited—whose choices aren’t hampered, whose desires succeed, and who don’t fall into what repels them. Who wishes to live in deception—tripped up, mistaken, undisciplined, complaining, in a rut? No one. These are base people who don’t live as they wish; and so, no base person is free.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.1–3a ~ Ryan Holiday,

1147: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 in neither property nor in style. ~ Epictetus,

1148:From the very beginning, make it your practice to say to every harsh impression, ‘you are an impression and not at all what you appear to be.’ Next, examine and test it by the rules you possess, the first and greatest of which is this—whether it belongs to the things in our control or not in our control, and if the latter, be prepared to respond, ‘It is nothing to me.’ ” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 1.5 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1149:Knowest thou not that thou nurturest in thyself a god? It is a god whom thou usest for thy strength, a god whom thou carriest with thee everywhere, and thou knowest it not at all, O unhappy man. And thinkest thou that I speak of a silver or golden idol outside thee? The god of whom I speak, thou carriest within thee and perceivest not that thou pollutest him by thy impure thoughts and infamous actions. ~ Epictetus,

1150:Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say (I. C. 19). 42. It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to subsist in consequence of change. 43. Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

1151:REST.—If a man should be able to assent to this doctrine as he ought, that we are all sprung from God in an especial manner, and that God is the father both of men and of gods, I suppose that he would never have any ignoble or mean thoughts about himself. But if Cæsar (the emperor) should adopt you, no one could endure your arrogance; and if you know that you are the son of Zeus, will you not be elated? ~ Epictetus,

1152:Freedom and happiness come from understanding - and working with - our limits. Begin at once a program of self-mastery. Stick with your purpose. Do not seek external approval. Do not worry about anything outside of your control. The only things you command are your thoughts and actions. We choose our response. Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your control. ~ Epictetus,

1153:We stand in need of such reflections to comfort us for the loss of some illustrious characters, which in our eyes might have seemed the most worthy of the heavenly present. The names of Seneca, of the elder and the younger Pliny, of Tacitus, of Plutarch, of Galen, of the slave Epictetus, and of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, adorn the age in which they flourished, and exalt the dignity of human natures. ~ Edward Gibbon,

1154:The soul is like a bowl of water, and our impressions are like the ray of light falling upon the water. When the water is troubled, it appears that the light itself is moved too, but it isn’t. So, when a person loses their composure it isn’t their skills and virtues that are troubled, but the spirit in which they exist, and when that spirit calms down so do those things.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.3.20–22 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1155:It is one thing to put bread and wine away in a store-room, and quite another to eat them. What is eaten is digested and distributed around the body, to become sinews, flesh, bones, blood, a good complexion, sound breathing. What is stored away is ready at hand, to be sure, to be taken out and displayed whenever you wish, but you derive no benefit from it, except that of having the reputation of possessing it. [ ~ Epictetus,

1156: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. ~ Epictetus,

1157:Getting rid of these, too, requires looking to God for help, trusting him alone, and submitting to his direction. [47] Then if you’re not willing to do this – all tears and agitation – you will serve someone physically more powerful than you, and continue to look outside yourself for happiness, fated never to find it. And that is because you look for it in the wrong place, forgetting to look where it really lies. ~ Epictetus,

1158: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. ~ Epictetus,

1159:And be silent for the most part, or else make only the most necessary remarks, and express these in few words. But rarely, and when occasion requires you to talk, talk, indeed, but about no ordinary topics. Do not talk about gladiators, or horseraces, or athletes, or things to eat or drink - topics that arise on all occasions; but above all, do not talk about people, either blaming, or praising, or comparing them. ~ Epictetus,

1160:Keep in mind that it isn’t the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know that it’s really your own opinion fueling it. Instead, make it your first response not to be carried away by such impressions, for with time and distance self-mastery is more easily achieved.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 20 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1161:And, if anyone tells you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you be sure that you have begun your business. For sheep don't throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not show theorems to the unlearned, but the actions produced by them after they have been digested. ~ Epictetus,

1162:You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' ~ Epictetus,

1163:Nothing important comes into being overnight; even grapes and figs need time to ripen. If you say that you want a fig now, I will tell you to be patient. First, you must allow the tree to flower, then put forth fruit; then you have to wait until the fruit is ripe. So if the fruit of a fig tree is not brought to maturity instantly or in an hour, how do you expect the human mind to come to fruition, so quickly and easily? ~ Epictetus,

1164:Nothing important comes into being overnight; even grapes or figs need time to ripen. If you say that you want a fig now, I will tell you to be patient. First, you must allow the tree to flower, then put forth fruit; then you have to wait until the fruit is ripe. [8] So if the fruit of a fig tree is not brought to maturity instantly or in an hour, how do you expect the human mind to come to fruition, so quickly and easily? ~ Epictetus,

1165:A good person is invincible, for they don’t rush into contests in which they aren’t the strongest. If you want their property, take it—take also their staff, profession, and body. But you will never compel what they set out for, nor trap them in what they would avoid. For the only contest the good person enters is that of their own reasoned choice. How can such a person not be invincible?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.6.5–7 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1166:Muista, että olet näyttelijä näytelmässä, joka on ohjaajan tahdon mukainen. Jos hän haluaa lyhyen näytelmän, se on lyhyt, jos pitkän, se on pitkä. Jos hän haluaa sinun näyttelevän kerjäläistä, pidä huoli, että näyttelet senkin roolin lahjakkaasti. Tee samoin, jos hän haluaa sinun näyttelevän raajarikkoa, virkamiestä tai maallikkoa. Sinun tehtäväsi on näytellä hyvin annettu rooli, mutta roolin valitseminen on toisen tehtävä. ~ Epictetus,

1167:Epictetus would reject this manner of dealing with insults as being woefully counterproductive. He would point out, to begin with, that the political correctness movement has some untoward side effects. One is that the process of protecting disadvantaged individuals from insults will tend to make them hypersensitive to insults: They will, as a result, feel the sting not only of direct insults but of implied insults as well. ~ William B Irvine,

1168:If you pin your hopes on things outside your control, taking upon yourself things which rightfully belong to others, you are liable to stumble, fall, suffer, and blame both gods and men. But if you focus your attention only on what is truly your own concern, and leave to others what concerns them, then you will be in charge of your interior life. No one will be able to harm or hinder you. You will blame no one, and have no enemies. ~ Epictetus,

1169:You would fain be victor at the Olympic Games, you say. Yes, but weigh the conditions, weigh the consequences; then and then only, lay to your hand-if it be for your profit. You must live by rule, submit to diet, abstain from dainty meats, exercise your body perforce at stated hours, in heat or in cold; drink no cold water, nor, it may be, wine. In a word, you must surrender yourself wholly to your trainer, as though to a physician. ~ Epictetus,

1170:And what else can I do, lame old man that I am, than sing the praise of God? If I were a nightingale, I would perform the work of a nightingale, and if I were a swan, that of a swan. But as it is, I am a rational being, and I must sing the praise of God. This is my work, and I accomplish it, and I will never abandon my post for as long as it is granted to me to remain in it; and I invite all of you to join me in this same song. ~ Epictetus,

1171:If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself. For, it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things. But while you are careful about the one, you must of necessity neglect the other ~ Epictetus,

1172:Never depend on the admiration of others. There is no strength in it. Personal merit cannot be derived from an external source. It is not to be found in your personal associations, nor can it be found in the regard of other people. It is a fact of life that other people, even people who love you, will not necessarily agree with your ideas, understand you, or share your enthusiasms. Grow up! Who cares what other people think about you! ~ Epictetus,

1173:As for us, we behave like a herd of deer. When they flee from the huntsman's feathers in affright, which way do they turn? What haven of safety do they make for? Why, they rush upon the nets! And thus they perish by confounding what they should fear with that wherein no danger lies. . . . Not death or pain is to be feared, but the fear of death or pain. Well said the poet therefore:— Death has no terror; only a Death of shame! ~ Epictetus,

1174:The tyrant of Syracuse once went to the slavephilosopher Epictetus and told him, “I’ll pay the ransom for you and you will be liberated ” Epictetus replied, “Why do you care about me? Free yourself.” “But I am a king,” said the amazed tyrant. “This I contest,” was the answer of the philosopher. “He who masters his passions is a king even while in chains. He who is ruled by his passions is a slave even while sitting on a throne. ~ Richard Wurmbrand,

1175:First practice not letting people know who you are—keep your philosophy to yourself for a bit. In just the manner that fruit is produced—the seed buried for a season, hidden, growing gradually so it may come to full maturity. But if the grain sprouts before the stalk is fully developed, it will never ripen…. That is the kind of plant you are, displaying fruit too soon, and the winter will kill you.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.8.35b–37 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1176:The manner in which Epictetus, Montaigne, and Salomon de Tultie wrote, is the most usual, the most suggestive, the most remembered, and the oftener quoted; because it is entirely composed of thoughts born from the common talk of life. ~ Blaise Pascal,

1177:If some pleasure is promised to you and it seductively calls to you, step back and give yourself some time before mindlessly jumping at it. Dispassionately turn the matter over in your mind: Will this pleasure bring but a momentary delight, or real, lasting satisfaction? It makes a difference in the quality of our life and the kind of person we become when we learn how to distinguish between cheap thrills and meaningful, lasting rewards. ~ Epictetus,

1178:Sleepless, obsessed, almost joyful, I reflected on how nothing is less material than money, insamuch as any coin whatsoever (a twenty-centavo piece, let us say) is, strictly speaking, a repertory of possible futures. Money is abstract, I repeated, money is future time. It can be an evening in the suburbs, it can be the music of Brahms, it can be chess, it can be coffee, it can be the words of Epictetus teaching us to despise gold. ~ Jorge Luis Borges,

1179:Because I have no natural gifts, shall I on that account give up my discipline? Far be it from me! Epictetus will not be better than Socrates, but if only I am not worse, that suffices me. For I shall not be a Milo, either, and yet I do not neglect my body, nor a Croesus, and yet I do not neglect my property, nor, in a word, is there any other field in which we give up the appropriate discipline merely from despair of attaining the highest. ~ Epictetus,

1180:Epictetus is reminding you that serenity and stability are results of your choices and judgment, not your environment. If you seek to avoid all disruptions to tranquility—other people, external events, stress—you will never be successful. Your problems will follow you wherever you run and hide. But if you seek to avoid the harmful and disruptive judgments that cause those problems, then you will be stable and steady wherever you happen to be. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1181:Don’t you want to be free of all that? [33] ‘But how can I do it?’ You’ve often heard how – you need to suspend desire completely, and train aversion only on things within your power. You should dissociate yourself from everything outside yourself – the body, possessions, reputation, books, applause, as well as office or lack of office. Because a preference for any of them immediately makes you a slave, a subordinate, and prone to disappointment. ~ Epictetus,

1182:The soul is like the bowl of water, with the soul's impressions like the rays of light that strike the water. Now, if the water is disturbed, the light appears to be disturbed together with it — though of course it is not. So when someone loses consciousness, it is not the person's knowledge and virtues that are impaired, it is the breath that contains them. Once the breath returns to normal, knowledge and the virtues are restored to normal also. ~ Epictetus,

1183:Be happy when you find that doctrines you have learned and analysed are being tested by real events. If you’ve succeeded in removing or reducing the tendency to be mean and critical, or thoughtless, or foul-mouthed, or careless, or nonchalant; if old interests no longer engage you, at least not to the same extent; then every day can be a feast day – today because you acquitted yourself well in one set of circumstances, tomorrow because of another. ~ Epictetus,

1184:When you let your attention slide for a bit, don’t think you will get back a grip on it whenever you wish—instead, bear in mind that because of today’s mistake everything that follows will be necessarily worse. . . . Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person always stretching to avoid error. For we must be content to at least escape a few mistakes by never letting our attention slide.” —EPICTETUS, ~ Ryan Holiday,

1185:If you wish your house to be well managed, imitate the Spartan Lycurgus. For as he did not fence his city with walls, but fortified the inhabitants by virtue and preserved the city always free;35 so do you not cast around (your house) a large court and raise high towers, but strengthen the dwellers by good-will and fidelity and friendship, and then nothing harmful will enter it, not even if the whole band of wickedness shall array itself against it. ~ Epictetus,

1186:Those who receive the bare theories immediately want to spew them, as an upset stomach does its food. First digest your theories and you won’t throw them up. Otherwise they will be raw, spoiled, and not nourishing. After you’ve digested them, show us the changes in your reasoned choices, just like the shoulders of gymnasts display their diet and training, and as the craft of artisans show in what they’ve learned.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.21.1–3 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1187:Look at the matter in this way. Since we can see that a dog is fitted by nature to do one thing, and a horse to do another, and a nightingale, if you like, to do yet another, it wouldn’t be absurd for one to declare overall that each of them is beautiful precisely in so far as it best fulfils its own nature; and since each is different in nature, it would seem to me that each of them is beautiful in a different way. Isn’t that so? The student agreed. ~ Epictetus,

1188:[98]. How is it that a lame man does not annoy us while a lame mind does? Because a lame man recognizes that we are walking straight, while a lame mind says that it is we who are limping. But for that we should feel sorry rather than angry. Epictetus goes much further when he asks: Why do we not lose our temper if someone tells us that we have a headache, while we do lose it if someone says there is anything wrong with our arguments or our choice? ~ Blaise Pascal,

1189:of all things, the greatest, and most important, and most all-embracing, is this society in which human beings and God are associated together. From this are derived the generative forces to which not only my father and grandfather owe their origin, but also all beings that are born and grow on the earth, and especially rational beings, [5] since they alone are fitted by nature to enter into communion with the divine, being bound to God through reason. ~ Epictetus,

1190:Is freedom anything else than the power of living as we choose? Nothing else. Tell me then, you men, do you wish to live in error? We do not. No one who lives in error is free. Do you wish to live in fear? Do you wish to live in sorrow? Do you wish to live in tension? By no means. No one who is in a state of fear or sorrow or tension is free, but whoever is delivered from sorrows or fears or anxieties, he is at the same time also delivered from servitude. ~ Epictetus,

1191:In Discourses II.15, Epictetus gives this parable of men attending a fair: “What then is the universe,” they ask, “and who governs it? No one? Yet how can it be that, while it is impossible for a city or a household to remain even a very short time without someone to govern and care for it, nevertheless this great and beautiful structure should be kept in such orderly arrangement by sheer accident and chance? There must be, therefore, One who governs it.”3 ~ Kevin Vost,

1192:Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning: What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion? What for tranquility? What am I? A mere body, estate-holder, or reputation? None of these things. What, then? A rational being. What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions. How did I steer away from serenity? What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial, or uncaring? What did I fail to do in all these things?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.6.34– ~ Ryan Holiday,

1193:philosophy asserts that virtue (meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things—rather than the things themselves—that cause most of our trouble. Stoicism teaches that we can’t control or rely on anything outside what Epictetus called our “reasoned choice”—our ability to use our reason to choose how we categorize, respond, and reorient ourselves to external events. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1194:What is bad luck? Opinion. What are conflict, dispute, blame, accusation, irreverence, and frivolity? They are all opinions, and more than that, they are opinions that lie outside of our own reasoned choice, presented as if they were good or evil. Let a person shift their opinions only to what belongs in the field of their own choice, and I guarantee that person will have peace of mind, whatever is happening around them.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.3.18b–19 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1195:Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing. We don’t control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing. Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 1.1–2 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1196:The philosophy asserts that virtue (meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things—rather than the things themselves—that cause most of our trouble. Stoicism teaches that we can’t control or rely on anything outside what Epictetus called our “reasoned choice”—our ability to use our reason to choose how we categorize, respond, and reorient ourselves to external events. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1197:If God had created colours, but not the faculty of vision, colours would have been of little use. [4] Or if God had created vision, but not made sure that objects could be seen, vision would have been worthless. [5] And even if he had made them both, but not created light – [6] then neither would have been of any value. So who contrived this universal accommodation of things to one another? Who fitted the sword to the scabbard and the scabbard to the sword? No one? ~ Epictetus,

1198:When you let your attention slide for a bit, don’t think you will get back a grip on it whenever you wish—instead, bear in mind that because of today’s mistake everything that follows will be necessarily worse…. Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person always stretching to avoid error. For we must be content to at least escape a few mistakes by never letting our attention slide.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.12.1; 19 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1199:The philosophy asserts that virtue (meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage , justice , and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things— rather than the things themselves— that cause most of our trouble. Stoicism teaches that we can’t control or rely on anything outside what Epictetus called our “reasoned choice”— our ability to use our reason to choose how we categorize, respond, and reorient ourselves to external events. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1200:Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running … therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it, if you don’t want to do that, don’t, but make a habit of something else instead. The same principle is at work in our state of mind. When you get angry, you’ve not only experienced that evil, but you’ve also reinforced a bad habit, adding fuel to the fire.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.18.1–5 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1201:The ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus taught his students that what happens to them is not as important as what they believe happens to them. In this engaging and provocative book, Eldon Taylor provides his readers with specific ways in which their beliefs can lead to success or failure in their life undertakings. Each chapter provides nuggets of wisdom as well as road maps for guiding them toward greater self-understanding, balance, responsibility, and compassion. ~ Stanley Krippner,

1202:[8] Consider who it is that you praise when you praise people dispassionately: is it those who are just, or unjust?—‘Those who are just.’—The temperate or the intemperate?—‘The temperate.’—The self-controlled or the dissolute?—‘The self-controlled.’ [9] —You should know, then, that if you make yourself a person of that kind, you’ll be making yourself beautiful; but if you neglect these virtues, you’re bound to be ugly, whatever techniques you adopt to make yourself appear beautiful. ~ Epictetus,

1203: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. ~ Epictetus,

1204:When it is time to leave the sun and moon behind, how will you react? [34] Will you sit down and cry, like an infant? Did nothing that you heard and studied in school get through to you? Why did you advertise yourself as a philosopher when you might have told the truth: ‘I made it through a couple of primers, then read a little Chrysippus – but I hardly crossed the threshold of philosophy.’ [35] How can you associate yourself with Socrates, who lived and died as he did, or with Diogenes? ~ Epictetus,

1205:A MORNING RITUAL “Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning: • What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion? • What for tranquility? • What am I? A mere body, estate-holder, or reputation? None of these things. • What, then? A rational being. • What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions. • How did I steer away from serenity? • What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial, or uncaring? • What did I fail to do in all these things?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.6.34–35 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1206:It’s something like going on an ocean voyage. What can I do? Pick the captain, the boat, the date, and the best time to sail. [11] But then a storm hits. Well, it’s no longer my business; I have done everything I could. It’s somebody else’s problem now – namely the captain’s. [12] But then the boat actually begins to sink. What are my options? I do the only thing I am in a position to do, drown – but fearlessly, without bawling or crying out to God, because I know that what is born must also die. ~ Epictetus,

1207:If you set your heart upon philosophy, you must straightway prepare yourself to be laughed at and mocked by many who will say Behold a philosopher arisen among us! or How came you by that brow of scorn? But do you cherish no scorn, but hold to those things which seem to you the best, as one set by God in that place. Remember too, that if you abide in those ways, those who first mocked you, the same shall afterwards reverence you; but if you yield to them, you will be laughed at twice as much as before. ~ Epictetus,

1208:Remember, then, if you deem what is by nature slavish to be free, and what is not your own to be yours, you will be shackled and miserable, blaming both gods and other people. But if you deem as your own only what is yours, and what belongs to others as truly not yours, then no one will ever be able to coerce or to stop you, you will find no one to blame or accuse, you will do nothing against your will, you will have no enemy, no one will harm you, because no harm can affect you.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 1.3 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1209:Consider when, on a voyage, your ship is anchored; if you go on shore to get water you may along the way amuse yourself with picking up a shellfish, or an onion. However, your thoughts and continual attention ought to be bent towards the ship, waiting for the captain to call on board; you must then immediately leave all these things, otherwise you will be thrown into the ship, bound neck and feet like a sheep. So it is with life. If, instead of an onion or a shellfish, you are given a wife or child, that is fine. ~ Epictetus,

1210:If you commit to philosophy, be prepared at once to be laughed at and made the butt of many snide remarks, like, ‘Suddenly there’s a philosopher among us!’ and ‘What makes him so pretentious now?’ Only don’t be pretentious: just stick to your principles as if God had made you accept the role of philosopher. And rest assured that, if you remain true to them, the same people who made fun of you will come to admire you in time; whereas, if you let these people dissuade you from your choice, you will earn their derision twice over. ~ Epictetus,

1211:Concerning the Gods, there are those who deny the very existence of the Godhead; others say that it exists, but neither bestirs nor concerns itself not has forethought far anything. A third party attribute to it existence and forethought, but only for great and heavenly matters, not for anything that is on earth. A fourth party admit things on earth as well as in heaven, but only in general, and not with respect to each individual. A fifth, of whom were Ulysses and Socrates, are those that cry: -- I move not without Thy knowledge! ~ Epictetus,

1212:Concerning the Gods, there are those who deny the very existence of the Godhead; others say that it exists, but neither bestirs nor concerns itself not has forethought far anything. A third party attribute to it existence and forethought, but only for great and heavenly matters, not for anything that is on earth. A fourth party admit things on earth as well as in heaven, but only in general, and not with respect to each individual. A fifth, of whom were Ulysses and Socrates, are those that cry: -- I move not without Thy knowledge! ~ Epictetus,

1213:Is this all the habit you acquired when you studied philosophy, to look to others and to hope for nothing from yourself and your own acts? Lament therefore and mourn, and when you eat be fearful that you will have nothing to eat to-morrow. Tremble for your wretched slaves, lest they should steal, or run away, or die. Live in this spirit, and never cease to live so, you who never came near philosophy, except in name, and disgraced its principles so far as in you lies, by showing them to be useless and unprofitable to those who take them up. ~ Epictetus,

1214:What luck! If the theories of Epictetus, Karen Horney (who first talked about the “tyranny of the shoulds”), Alfred Korzybski (the founder of general semantics), and REBT are correct, you almost always bring on your emotional problems by rigidly adopting one of the basic methods of crooked thinking—musturbation. Therefore, if you understand how you upset yourself by slipping into irrational shoulds, oughts, demands, and commands, unconsciously sneaking them into your thinking, you can just about always stop disturbing yourself about anything. ~ Albert Ellis,

1215:Who are you, and how did you get here? It was God brought you into the world, who showed you the light, gave you the people who support you, gave you reason and perception. And he brought you into the world as a mortal, to pass your time on earth with a little endowment of flesh, to witness his design and share for a short time in his feast and celebration. [105] So why not enjoy the feast and pageant while it’s given you to do so; then, when he ushers you out, go with thanks and reverence for what you were privileged for a time to see and hear. ~ Epictetus,

1216:And yet how can their business compare in importance to ours? If you could see them at Rome, you would find that they do nothing all day but vote on a resolution, then huddle together a while to deliberate about grain, land or some other means to make a living. [10] Is it the same thing to receive a petition that reads, ‘Please allow me to export a bit of grain,’ and ‘Please learn from Chrysippus how the universe is governed, and what place the rational creature has in it; find out, too, who you are, and what constitutes your good and your evil’? ~ Epictetus,

1217:So you wish to conquer in the Olympic Games, my friend? And I, too... But first mark the conditions and the consequences. You will have to put yourself under discipline; to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or not, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and wine at your will. Then, in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, to be severely thrashed, and after all of these things, to be defeated. ~ Epictetus,

1218:We can familiarize ourselves with the will of nature by calling to mind our common experiences. When a friend breaks a glass, we are quick to say, ‘Oh, bad luck.’ It’s only reasonable, then, that when a glass of your own breaks, you accept it in the same patient spirit. Moving on to graver things: when somebody’s wife or child dies, to a man we all routinely say, ‘Well, that’s part of life.’ But if one of our own family is involved, then right away it’s ‘Poor, poor me!’ We would do better to remember how we react when a similar loss afflicts others. ~ Epictetus,

1219:Les feuilles tombent, la figue sèche, remplace la figue fraîche, le raisin sec la grappe mûre, voilà selon toi des paroles de mauvaise augure ! Mais il n’y a là que la transformation d’états antérieurs en d’autres ; il n’y a pas de destruction, mais un aménagement et une disposition bien réglée. L’émigration n’est qu’un petit changement. La mort en est un plus grand, mais il ne va pas de l’être actuel au non-être, mais au non-être de l’être actuel. Alors ne serais-je plus ? Tu ne seras pas ce que tu es mais autre chose dont le monde aura alors besoin. ~ Epictetus,

1220:Supprime donc en toi toute aversion pour ce qui ne dépend pas de nous et, cette aversion, reporte-la sur ce qui dépend de nous et n’est pas en accord avec la nature. Quant au désir, pour le moment, supprime-le complètement. Car si tu désires une chose qui ne dépend pas de nous, tu ne pourras qu’échouer, sans compter que tu te mettras dans l’impossibilité d’atteindre ce qui est à notre portée et qu’il est plus sage de désirer. Borne-toi à suivre tes impulsions, tes répulsions, mais fais-le avec légèreté, de façon non systématique et sans effort excessif. ~ Epictetus,

1221:To Epictetus, all external events are determined by fate, and are thus beyond our control, but we can accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. Individuals, however, are responsible for their own actions which they can examine and control through rigorous self-discipline. Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. As part of the universal city that is the universe, human beings have a duty of care to all fellow humans. The person who followed these precepts would achieve happiness. ~ Epictetus,

1222:Everything has two handles; the one soft and manageable, the other such as will not endure to be touched. If then your brother do you an injury, do not take it by the hot hard handle, by representing to yourself all the aggravating circumstances of the fact; but look rather on the soft side, and extenuate it as much as is possible, by considering the nearness of the relation, and the long friendship and familiarity between you--obligations to kindness which a single provocation ought not to dissolve. And thus you will take the accident by its manageable handle. ~ Epictetus,

1223:Epictetus explained what becoming a Cynic would entail: “You must utterly put away the will to get, and must will to avoid only what lies within the sphere of your will: you must harbour no anger, wrath, envy, pity: a fair maid, a fair name, favourites, or sweet cakes, must mean nothing to you.” A Cynic, he explained, “must have the spirit of patience in such measure as to seem to the multitude as unfeeling as a stone. Reviling or blows or insults are nothing to him.”2 Few people, one imagines, had the courage and endurance to live the life of a Cynic. The ~ William B Irvine,

1224:If you have an earnest desire towards philosophy, prepare yourself from the very first to have the multitude laugh and sneer, and say, "He is returned to us a philosopher all at once; "and "Whence this supercilious look?" Now, for your part, do not have a supercilious look indeed; but keep steadily to those things which appear best to you, as one appointed by God to this particular station. For remember that, if you are persistent, those very persons who at first ridiculed will afterwards admire you. But if you are conquered by them, you will incur a double ridicule. ~ Epictetus,

1225:Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things. Thus death is nothing terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death, that it is terrible. When, therefore, we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved let us never impute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own views. It is the action of an uninstructed person to reproach others for his own misfortunes; of one entering upon instruction, to reproach himself; and of one perfectly instructed, to reproach neither others or himself. ~ Epictetus,

1226:But what is philosophy? Doesn’t it simply mean preparing ourselves for what may come? Don’t you understand that really amounts to saying that if I would so prepare myself to endure, then let anything happen that will? Otherwise, it would be like the boxer exiting the ring because he took some punches. Actually, you can leave the boxing ring without consequence, but what advantage would come from abandoning the pursuit of wisdom? So, what should each of us say to every trial we face? This is what I’ve trained for, for this my discipline!” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.10.6–7 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1227:What would have become of Hercules do you think if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar - and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules. And even if he had, what good would it have done him? What would have been the use of those arms, that physique, and that noble soul, without crises or conditions to stir into him action? ~ Epictetus,

1228:Why are we not angry if we are told that we have a headache, and why are we angry if we are told that we reason badly, or choose wrongly?" The reason is that we are quite certain that we have not a headache, or are not lame, but we are not so sure that we make a true choice. So having assurance only because we see with our whole sight, it puts us into suspense and surprise when another with his whole sight sees the opposite, and still more so when a thousand others deride our choice. For we must prefer our own lights to those of so many others, and that is bold and difficult. ~ Epictetus,

1229:You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is. ~ Epictetus,

1230:What disturbs men's minds is not events but their judgements on events: For instance, death is nothing dreadful, or else Socrates would have thought it so. No, the only dreadful thing about it is men's judgement that it is dreadful. And so when we are hindered, or disturbed, or distressed, let us never lay the blame on others, but on ourselves, that is, on our own judgements. To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education; to accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun; to accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete. ~ Epictetus,

1231:Now there are two kinds of hardening, one of the understanding, the other of the sense of shame, when a man is resolved not to assent to what is manifest nor to desist from contradictions. Most of us are afraid of mortification of the body, and would contrive all means to avoid such a thing, but we care not about the soul's mortification. And indeed with regard to the soul, if a man be in such a state as not to apprehend anything, or understand at all, we think that he is in a bad condition; but if the sense of shame and modesty are deadened, this we call even power (or strength). ~ Epictetus,

1232:No, I want to keep celebrating.’ [106] Yes, just as initiates want the mysteries to continue, or crowds at the Olympic Games want to see more contestants. But the festival is over; leave and move on, grateful for what you’ve seen, with your self-respect intact. Make room for other people, it’s their turn to be born, just as you were born, and once born they need a place to live, along with the other necessities of life. If the first people won’t step aside, what’s going to happen? Don’t be so greedy. Aren’t you ever satisfied? Are you determined to make the world more crowded still? ~ Epictetus,

1233:if you suppose any of the things not in our own control to be either good or evil, when you are disappointed of what you wish, or incur what you would avoid, you must necessarily find fault with and blame the authors. For every animal is naturally formed to fly and abhor things that appear hurtful, and the causes of them; and to pursue and admire those which appear beneficial, and the causes of them. It is impractical, then, that one who supposes himself to be hurt should be happy about the person who, he thinks, hurts him, just as it is impossible to be happy about the hurt itself. Hence, ~ Epictetus,

1234:being attached in this way to any number of things, we’re weighed down by them and dragged down. [16] That is why, if the weather prevents us from sailing, we sit there in a state of anxiety, constantly peering around. ‘What wind is this?’ The North Wind. And what does it matter to us and to him? ‘When will the West Wind blow?’ When it so chooses, my good friend, or rather, when Aeolus chooses; for God hasn’t appointed you to be controller of the winds, he has appointed Aeolus. [17] What are we to do, then? To make the best of what lies within our power, and deal with everything else as it comes. ~ Epictetus,

1235:Just ask whether they put their self-interest in externals or in moral choice. [27] If it’s in externals, you cannot call them friends, any more than you can call them trustworthy, consistent, courageous or free. You cannot even call them human beings, if you think about it. [28] Because it is no human frame of mind that makes people snap at others and insult them, or take to the marketplace the way bandits take to the desert or mountains,∗ and behave like bandits in court; or that turns them into depraved lechers and adulterers; or is responsible for all other crimes that people commit against each other. ~ Epictetus,

1236:Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself from being carried away by it, let it await your action, give yourself a pause. After that, bring to mind both times, first when you have enjoyed the pleasure and later when you will regret it and hate yourself. Then compare to those the joy and satisfaction you’d feel for abstaining altogether. However, if a seemingly appropriate time arises to act on it, don’t be overcome by its comfort, pleasantness, and allure—but against all of this, how much better the consciousness of conquering it.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 34 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1237:If any of you are serious about being a friend, rid yourself of such attitudes, condemn them and drive them out of your mind. [35] That way, you won’t be hard on yourself, or be forever fighting, second-guessing and tormenting yourself. [36] And then you will be in a condition to befriend others – forming easy and natural relationships with like-minded people, but capable too of treating unenlightened souls with sympathy and indulgence, remembering that they are ignorant or mistaken about what’s most important. Never be harsh, remember Plato’s dictum: ‘Every soul is deprived of the truth against its will.’83 ~ Epictetus,

1238:Then what makes a beautiful human being? Isn’t it the presence of human excellence? Young friend, if you wish to be beautiful, then work diligently at human excellence. And what is that? Observe those whom you praise without prejudice. The just or the unjust? The just. The even-tempered or the undisciplined? The even-tempered. The self-controlled or the uncontrolled? The self-controlled. In making yourself that kind of person, you will become beautiful—but to the extent you ignore these qualities, you’ll be ugly, even if you use every trick in the book to appear beautiful.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.1.6b–9 ~ Ryan Holiday,

1239:When any person harms you, or speaks badly of you, remember that he acts or speaks from a supposition of its being his duty. Now, it is not possible that he should follow what appears right to you, but what appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges from a wrong appearance, he is the person hurt, since he too is the person deceived. For if anyone should suppose a true proposition to be false, the proposition is not hurt, but he who is deceived about it. Setting out, then, from these principles, you will meekly bear a person who reviles you, for you will say upon every occasion, "It seemed so to him." .... ~ Epictetus,

1240:Epictetus is never weary of showing how we should deal with what are considered misfortunes, which he does often by means of homely dialogues. Like the Christians, he holds that we should love our enemies. In general, in common with other Stoics, he despises pleasure, but there is a kind of happiness that is not to be despised. 'Athens is beautiful. Yes, but happiness is far more beautiful—freedom from passion and disturbance, the sense that your affairs depend on no one' (p. 428). Every man is an actor in a play, in which God has assigned the parts; it is our duty to perform our part worthily, whatever it may be. ~ Anonymous,

1241:Remember then that if you think the things which are by nature slavish to be free, and the things which are in the power of others to be your own, you will be hindered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, you will blame both gods and men: but if you think that only which is your own to be your own, and if you think that what is another's, as it really is, belongs to another, no man will ever compel you, no man will hinder you, you will never blame any man, you will accuse no man, you will do nothing involuntarily (against your will), no man will harm you, you will have no enemy, for you will not suffer any harm. If ~ Epictetus,

1242:Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap. ~ Epictetus,

1243:Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest. It is the easiest thing in the world to slide imperceptibly into vulgarity. But there's no need for that to happen if you determine not to waste your time and attention on mindless pap.    ~ Epictetus,

1244:It is possible to learn the will of nature from the things in which we do not differ from each other. For example, when someone else's little slave boy breaks his cup we are ready to say, “It's one of those things that just happen.” Certainly, then, when your own cup is broken you should be just the way you were when the other person's was broken. Transfer the same idea to larger matters. Someone else's child is dead, or his wife. There is no one would not say, “It's the lot of a human being.” But when one's own dies, immediately it is, “Alas! Poor me!” But we should have remembered how we feel when we hear of the same thing about others. ~ Epictetus,

1245:Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don't try pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don't let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes. Adopt a similar attitude with regard to children, wife, wealth and status, and in time, you will be entitled to dine with the gods. Go further and decline these goods even when they are on offer and you will have a share in the gods' power as well as their company. That is how Diogenes, Heraclitus and philosophers like them came to be called, and considered, divine. ~ Epictetus,

1246:Every habit and faculty is confirmed and strengthened by the corresponding actions, that of walking by walking, that of running by running. If you wish to be a good reader, read; if you wish to be a good writer, write. If you should give up reading for thirty days one after the other, and be engaged in something else, you will know what happens. So also if you lie in bed for ten days, get up and try to take a rather long walk, and you will see how wobbly your legs are. In general, therefore, if you want to do something, make a habit of it; if you want not to do something, refrain from doing it, and accustom yourself to something else instead. ~ Epictetus,

1247:To-day, when the crisis calls you, will you go off and display your recitation and harp on, 'How cleverly I compose dialogues'? Nay, fellow man, make this your object, 'Look how I fail not to get what I will. Look how I escape what I will to avoid. Let death come and you shall know; bring me pains, prison, dishonour, condemnation.' This is the true field of display for a young man come from school. Leave those other trifles to other men; let no one ever hear you say a word on them, do not tolerate any compliments upon them; assume the air of being no one and of knowing nothing. Show that you know this only, how not to fail and how not to fall. ~ Epictetus,

1248:Epictetus actually says all the enmity between people is down to a single judgement of this kind, they ‘put themselves and what belongs to themselves in the category of things which lie outside the sphere of volition’ (Discourses, 2.22). We see dogs playfully fawning on each other and might say that they ‘love’ one another as ‘friends’ but if we throw a piece of meat between them then a fight breaks out and they are quickly pitted against each other. Throw some land or money between father and son, he says, and we will see how fragile the bond is between them, as long as external things are confused with our ultimate good (Discourses, 3.24). ~ Donald J Robertson,

1249:Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice – now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren’t a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. The longer you wait, the more you’ll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do – now. ~ Epictetus,

1250:Remember that you must behave as at a banquet. Is anything brought round to you? Put out your hand, and take a moderate share. Does it pass you? Do not stop it. Is it not come yet? Do not yearn in desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you. So with regard to children , wife, office, riches; and you will some time or other be worthy to feast with the gods. And if you do not so much as take the things which are set before you, but are able even to forego them, then you will not only be worthy to feast with the gods, but to rule with them also. For, by thus doing, Diogenes and Heraclitus, and others like them, deservedly became divine, and were so recognized. ~ Epictetus,

1251:Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice - now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! You aren't a child anymore. The sooner you set yourself to your spiritual program, the happier you will be. The longer you wait, the more you'll be vulnerable to mediocrity and feel filled with shame and regret, because you know you are capable of better. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do - now.    ~ Epictetus,

1252:26. The will of nature may be learned from those things in which we don’t distinguish from each other. For example, when our neighbor’s boy breaks a cup, or the like, we are presently ready to say, “These things will happen.” Be assured, then, that when your own cup likewise is broken, you ought to be affected just as when another’s cup was broken. Apply this in like manner to greater things. Is the child or wife of another dead? There is no one who would not say, “This is a human accident.” but if anyone’s own child happens to die, it is presently, “Alas I how wretched am I!” But it should be remembered how we are affected in hearing the same thing concerning others. ~ Epictetus,

1253:What is death? A "tragic mask." Turn it and examine it. See, it does not bite. The poor body must be separated from the spirit either now or later, as it was separated from it before. Why, then, are you troubled, if it be separated now? for if it is not separated now, it will be separated afterward. Why? That the period of the universe may be completed, for it has need of the present, and of the future, and of the past. What is pain? A mask. Turn it and examine it. The poor flesh is moved roughly, then, on the contrary, smoothly. If this does not satisfy you, the door is open: if it does, bear. For the door ought to be open for all occasions; and so we have no trouble. ~ Epictetus,

1254:[8] Yet if we place the good in right choice, the preservation of our relationships itself becomes a good. And besides, he who gives up certain external things achieves the good through that. [9] ‘My father’s depriving me of money.’ But he isn’t causing you any harm. ‘My brother is going to get the greater share of the land.’ Let him have as much as he wishes. He won’t be getting any of your decency, will he, or of your loyalty, or of your brotherly love? [10] For who can disinherit you of possessions such as those? Not even Zeus; nor would he wish to, but rather he has placed all of that in my own power, even as he had it himself, free from hindrance, compulsion, and restraint. ~ Epictetus,

1255:I can’t call a person a hard worker just because I hear they read and write, even if working at it all night. Until I know what a person is working for, I can’t deem them industrious. . . . I can if the end they work for is their own ruling principle, having it be and remain in constant harmony with Nature.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.4.41; 43 What are the chances that the busiest person you know is actually the most productive? We tend to associate busyness with goodness and believe that spending many hours at work should be rewarded. Instead, evaluate what you are doing, why you are doing it, and where accomplishing it will take you. If you don’t have a good answer, then stop. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1256:If, on the other hand, we read books entitled On Impulse not just out of idle curiosity, but in order to exercise impulse correctly; books entitled On Desire and On Aversion so as not to fail to get what we desire or fall victim to what we would rather avoid; and books entitled On Moral Obligation in order to honour our relationships and never do anything that clashes or conflicts with this principle; then we wouldn’t get frustrated and grow impatient with our reading. Instead we would be satisfied to act accordingly. And rather than reckon, as we are used to doing, ‘How many lines I read, or wrote, today,’ we would pass in review how ‘I applied impulse today the way the philosophers recommend ~ Epictetus,

1257:FROM GREECE TO ROME TO TODAY Stoicism was a school of philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early third century BC. Its name is derived from the Greek stoa, meaning porch, because that’s where Zeno first taught his students. The philosophy asserts that virtue (meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things—rather than the things themselves—that cause most of our trouble. Stoicism teaches that we can’t control or rely on anything outside what Epictetus called our “reasoned choice”—our ability to use our reason to choose how we categorize, respond, and reorient ourselves to external events. ~ Ryan Holiday,

1258:To the extent that a glamorous ad makes us salivate for the product sold or that a frown from the boss spoils the day, we are not free to determine the content of experience. Since what we experience is reality, as far as we are concerned, we can transform reality to the extent that we influence what happens in consciousness and thus free ourselves from the threats and blandishments of the outside world. “Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them,” said Epictetus a long time ago. And the great emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote: “If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,

1259:Suppose I should say to a wrestler, 'Show me your muscle'. And he should answer me, 'See my dumb-bells'. Your dumb-bells are your own affair; I want to see the effect of them. "Take the treatise 'On Choice', and see how thoroughly I have perused it. I am not asking about this, O slave, but how you act in choosing and refusing, how you manage your desires and aversions, your intentions and purposes, how you meet events -- whether you are in harmony with nature's laws or opposed to them. If in harmony, give me evidence of that, and I will say you are progressing; if the contrary, you may go your way, and not only comment on your books, but write some like them yourself; and what good will it do you? ~ Epictetus,

1260:Such was, and is, and will be the nature of the universe, and it isn’t possible that things should come into being in any other way than they do at present; and not only have human beings participated in the process of change and transformation along with all the other creatures that live on the earth, but also those beings that are divine, and, by Zeus, even the four elements, which are changed and transformed upwards and downwards, as earth becomes water, and water air, and air is transformed in turn into ether. If someone endeavours to turn his mind towards these things, and to persuade himself to accept of his own free will what must necessarily come about, he will live a very balanced and harmonious life. ~ Epictetus,

1261:Consider when, on a voyage, your ship is anchored; if you go on shore to get water you may along the way amuse yourself with picking up a shellish, or an onion. However, your thoughts and continual attention ought to be bent towards the ship, waiting for the captain to call on board; you must then immediately leave all these things, otherwise you will be thrown into the ship, bound neck and feet like a sheep. So it is with life. If, instead of an onion or a shellfish, you are given a wife or child, that is fine. But if the captain calls, you must run to the ship, leaving them, and regarding none of them. But if you are old, never go far from the ship: lest, when you are called, you should be unable to come in time. ~ Epictetus,

1262:That Socrates should ever have been so treated by the Athenians!" Slave! why say "Socrates"? Speak of the thing as it is: That ever then the poor body of Socrates should have been dragged away and haled by main force to prision! That ever hemlock should have been given to the body of Socrates; that that should have breathed its life away!—Do you marvel at this? Do you hold this unjust? Is it for this that you accuse God? Had Socrates no compensation for this? Where then for him was the ideal Good? Whom shall we hearken to, you or him? And what says he? "Anytus and Melitus may put me to death: to injure me is beyond their power." And again:— "If such be the will of God, so let it be. ~ Epictetus,

1263:But in what circumstances does our reason teach us that there is vice or virtue? How does this continual mystery work? Tell me, inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago, Africans, Canadians and you, Plato, Cicero, Epictetus! You all feel equally that it is better to give away the superfluity of your bread, your rice or your manioc to the indigent than to kill him or tear out his eyes. It is evident to all on earth that an act of benevolence is better than an outrage, that gentleness is preferable to wrath. We have merely to use our Reason in order to discern the shades which distinguish right and wrong. Good and evil are often close neighbours and our passions confuse them. Who will enlighten us? We ourselves when we are calm. ~ Voltaire,

1264:For it is indeed pointless and foolish to seek to get from another what one can get from oneself. [32] Since I can get greatness of soul and nobility of mind from myself, shall I seek to get a patch of land from you, or a bit of money, or some public post? Heaven forbid! I won’t overlook my own resources in such a manner. [33] But if someone is abject and cowardly, what on earth can one do for him except write letters for him as though on behalf of a corpse, ‘Do please grant us the corpse of this man and a pint of his miserable blood’; [34] for in truth such a person is merely a corpse and a pint of blood, and nothing more. If he amounted to anything more, he would realize that no one suffers misfortune because of the actions of another. ~ Epictetus,

1265:The first and most important field of philosophy is the application of principles such as “Do not lie.” Next come the proofs, such as why we should not lie. The third field supports and articulates the proofs, by asking, for example, “How does this prove it? What exactly is a proof, what is logical inference, what is contradiction, what is truth, what is falsehood?” Thus, the third field is necessary because of the second, and the second because of the first. The most important, though, the one that should occupy most of our time, is the first. But we do just the opposite. We are preoccupied with the third field and give that all our attention, passing the first by altogether. The result is that we lie – but have no difficulty proving why we shouldn’t. ~ Epictetus,

1266:Epictetus has had a long-standing resonance in the United States; his uncompromising moral rigour chimed in well with Protestant Christian beliefs and the ethical individualism that has been a persistent vein in American culture. His admirers ranged from John Harvard and Thomas Jefferson in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in the nineteenth. More recently, Vice-Admiral James Stockdale wrote movingly of how his study of Epictetus at Stanford University enabled him to survive the psychological pressure of prolonged torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam between 1965 and 1973. Stockdale’s story formed the basis for a light-hearted treatment of the moral power of Stoicism in Tom Wolfe’s novel A Man in Full (1998).52 ~ Epictetus,

1267:we must see things for what they are (here the discipline of perception is relevant) and accept them, by exercising the discipline of will, or what Epictetus calls (in a phrase quoted by Marcus) “the art of acquiescence.” For if we recognize that all events have been foreseen by the logos and form part of its plan, and that the plan in question is unfailingly good (as it must be), then it follows that we must accept whatever fate has in store for us, however unpleasant it may appear, trusting that, in Alexander Pope’s phrase, “whatever is, is right.” This applies to all obstacles and (apparent) misfortunes, and in particular to death—a process that we cannot prevent, which therefore does not harm us, and which accordingly we must accept willingly as natural and proper. ~ Anonymous,

1268:Fragment At Tunbridge-Wells FOR He, that made, must new create us, Ere Seneca, or Epictetus, With all their serious Admonitions, Can, for the Spleen, prove good Physicians. The Heart's unruly Palpitation Will not be laid by a Quotation; Nor will the Spirits move the lighter For the most celebrated Writer. Sweats, Swoonings, and convulsive Motions Will not be cur'd by Words, and Notions. Then live, old Brown! with thy Chalybeats, Which keep us from becoming Idiots. At Tunbridge let us still be Drinking, Though 'tis the Antipodes to Thinking: Such Hurry, whilst the Spirit's flying, Such Stupefaction, when 'tis dying; Yet these, and not sententious Papers, Must brighten Life, and cure the Vapours ~ Anne Kingsmill Finch,

1269:What then, is it not possible to be free from faults? It is not possible; but this is possible: to direct your efforts incessantly to being faultess. For we must be content if by never remitting this attention we shall escape at least a few errors. When you have said "Tomorrow I will begin to attend," you must be told that you are saying this: "Today I will be shameless, disregardful of time and place, mean;it will be in the power of others to give me pain, today I will be passionate and envious. See how many evil things you are permitting yourself to do. If it is good to use attention tomorrow, how much better is it to do so today? If tomorrow it is in your interest to attend, much more is it today, that you may be able to do so tomorrow also, and may not defer it again to the third day. ~ Epictetus,

1270:La conclusión final de esta filosofía es que el bien y el mal se relacionan exclusivamente con nuestra prohairesis, es decir: con nuestro libre albedrío, por lo que no dependen de las cosas externas o circunstanciales. En otras palabras, somos nuestro propio bien y nuestro propio mal, más allá de las circunstancias, puesto que la facultad de elegir en nuestro libre albedrío. Somos nosotros los que elegimos. Tenemos la facultad de elegir entre el bien y el mal y, por lo tanto, somos responsables por nuestro propio Destino ya que el mismo está en nuestras propias manos. No así la Fatalidad, que es lo que "nos sucede" y que responde a causas externas fuera de nuestro control, mientras que al Destino lo vamos construyendo con las cosas que hacemos suceder porque las elegimos. [Prólogo de Denes Martos] ~ Epictetus,

1271:30. *Appropriate actions are largely set by our social relationships. In the case of one’s father, this involves looking after him, letting him have his way in everything, and not making a fuss if he is abusive or violent. “But what if he’s a bad father? ” Do you think you have a *natural affinity only to a good father? “No, just to a father.” Suppose your brother treats you badly. In that case, maintain your fraternal relationship to him. Don’t think about why he behaves that way but about what you need to do to keep your will in harmony with nature. No one else, in fact, will harm you without your consent; you will be harmed only when you think you are being harmed. So make a habit of studying your social relationships – with neighbors, citizens, or army officers – and then you will discover the appropriate thing to do. ~ Epictetus,

1272:the true honour of things; we become alternately merchants and merchandise, and we ask, not what a thing truly is, but what it costs.” –Seneca, c. 4 BC–65 AD “To you, all you have seems small: to me, all I have seems great. Your desire is insatiable, mine is satisfied. See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, and striving to pull out the nuts and figs it contains: if they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out again, and then they fall to tears. Let go a few of them, and then you can draw out the rest!’ You, too, let your desire go! Covet not many things, and you will obtain.” –Epictetus, 55–135 AD “Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.” –Plato, c. 427 BC–c. 347 BC “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” –Marcus Aurelius, 121–180 AD ~ Francine Jay,

1273:[13] But it sometimes comes about that, when we have properly granted certain premisses, certain conclusions are derived from them that, though false, nonetheless follow from them. [14] What am I to do, then? Accept the false conclusion? [15] And how is that possible? Then should I say that I was wrong to accept the premisses? No, this isn’t permissible either. Or say: That doesn’t follow from the premisses? But that again isn’t permissible. [16] So what is one to do in such circumstances? Isn’t it the same as with debts? Just as having borrowed on some occasion isn’t enough to make somebody a debtor, but it is necessary in addition that he continues to owe the money and hasn’t paid off the loan; likewise, our having accepted the premisses isn’t enough to make it necessary for us to accept the inference, but we have to continue to accept the premisses. [ ~ Epictetus,

1274:Struggles among Roman patricians, plebeians, and slaves produced a version of the chordal triad universalized around a notion of libertas. Different notes of the chord were dominant from the Republic to the Empire. The slave’s point of view was made prominent in the figure of Epictetus, one of the few major Roman theorists born a slave. By the Middle Ages, freedom had attained a spiritual dimension but was still linked to the political. With medieval Christendom came the triumph of the sovereignal conception of freedom. That triumph coincided with theocratic societal decadence, the doctrine of heresy, the transformation of mass slavery into the political language of serfdom, and the introduction of the root word Slav to refer to serfs across Europe. Heretics privileged their personal freedom over sovereign orthodoxy. Being burned at the stake was a consequence. ~ Neil Roberts,

1275:You keep talking about ego, my God, it would take Christ himself to decide what's ego and what isn't. This is God's universe, buddy, not yours, and he has the final say about what's ego and what isn't. What about your beloved Epictetus? Or your beloved Emily Dickinson? You want your Emily, every time she has an urge to write a poem, to just sit down and say a prayer till her nasty, egotistical urge goes away? No, of course you don't! But you'd like your friend Professor Tupper's ego taken away from him. That's different. And maybe it is. Maybe it is. But don't go screaming about egos in general. In my opinion, if you really want to know, half the nastiness in the world is stirred up by people who aren't using their true egos. Take your Professor Tupper. From what you say about him, anyway, I'd lay almost any odds that the thing he's using, the thing you think is his ego, isn't his ego at all but some other, much dirtier, much less basic faculty. ~ J D Salinger,

1276:Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our 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. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed. ~ Epictetus,

1277:[24] In a piece of embossed silverware, what is best: the silver or the workmanship? The substance of the hand is mere flesh, but what is important is the works that the hand produces. [25] Now, appropriate actions are of three kinds:* first, those relating to mere existence, secondly, those relating to existence of a particular kind, and thirdly, those that are themselves principal duties. And what are those? [26] Fulfilling one’s role as a citizen, marrying, having children, honouring God, taking care of one’s parents, and, in a word, having our desires and aversions, and our motives to act and or not to act, as each of them ought to be, in accordance with our nature. And what is our nature? [27] To be people who are free, noble-minded, and self-respecting. For what other animal blushes; what other animal has a sense of shame? [28] Pleasure should be subordinated to these duties as a servant, as an attendant,* so as to arouse our zeal, so as to ensure that we consistently act in accord with nature. ~ Epictetus,

1278:He did not say, 'Define me envy', and then, when the man defined it, 'You define it ill, for the terms of the definition do not correspond to the subject defined.' Such phrases are technical and therefore tiresome to the lay mind, and hard to follow, yet you and I cannot get away from them. We are quite unable to rouse the ordinary man's attention in a way which will enable him to follow his own impressions and so arrive at admitting or rejecting this or that. And therefore those of us who are at all cautious naturally give the subject up, when we become aware of this incapacity; while the mass of men, who venture at random into this sort of enterprise, muddle others and get muddled themselves, and end by abusing their opponents and getting abused in return, and so leave the field. But the first quality of all in Socrates, and the most characteristic, was that he never lost his temper in argument, never uttered anything abusive, never anything insolent, but bore with abuse from others and quieted strife. ~ Epictetus,

1279:If you'll cast your mind back to the situation in the early years of the Christian era and imagine the mentality of a Roman aristocrat, a person of power in Roman society. Their physics is drawn from democritean atomism, in other words they are thoroughgoing materialists. Their social theory is drawn from Epictetus and Plato. They are in fact extremely modern people by our own standards. However, among the gardeners and kitchen help and stable boys, there is news of a momentous event in the Middle East - a Jewish rabbi has triumphed over death and risen after three days in the tomb. Should the master of the Roman household have caught wind of this kind of superstitious talk among the help, he would have just dismissed it with a sneer, "What preposterous idea!" And it is a preposterous idea, nevertheless, the fact that an idea is preposterous has never held it back from making zealous converts, and within a 120 years after the annunciation of the birth of Christianity, its missionaries were beating on the gates of Rome attempting to convert the Emperor. ~ Terence McKenna,

1280:Loving your fate and joyful acceptance Epictetus actually describes a three-stage process to his students, which relates to the discipline of desire. He begins by emphasizing the need for Stoics to train themselves rigorously to adhere to their principles, having certain phrases constantly ready-to-hand day and night. These should be written down, read over, analysed and discussed, until they have been memorized and understood. We should then rehearse all the possible catastrophes that can befall us in life, things the majority of people fear, and prepare for them in advance. Then, if one of those things happens which are called ‘undesirable’, immediately the thought that it was not unexpected will be the first thing to lighten the burden. For in every case it is a great help to be able to say, ‘I knew the son whom I had begotten was mortal.’ [A famous saying, attributed to various wise men.] For that is what you will say, and likewise, ‘I knew that I was mortal’, ‘I knew that I was vulnerable to exile’, ‘I knew that I might be sent off to prison.’ (Discourses, 3.24) ~ Donald J Robertson,

1281:The names of Seneca, of the elder and the younger Pliny, of Tacitus, of Plutarch, of Galen, of the slave Epictetus, and of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, adorn the age in which they flourished, and exalt the dignity of human nature. They filled with glory their respective stations, either in active or contemplative life; their excellent understandings were improved by study; philosophy had purified their minds from the prejudices of the popular superstition; and their days were spent in the pursuit of truth and the practice of virtue. Yet all these sages (it is no less an object of surprise than of concern) overlooked or rejected the perfection of the Christian system. Their language or their silence equally discover their contempt for the growing sect which in their time had diffused itself over the Roman empire. Those among them who condescend to mention the Christians consider them only as obstinate and perverse enthusiasts, who exacted an implicit submission to their mysterious doctrines, without being able to produce a single argument that could engage the attention of men of sense and learning. ~ Edward Gibbon,

1282:If I show you, that you lack just what is most important and necessary to happiness, that hitherto your attention has been bestowed on everything rather than that which claims it most; and, to crown all, that you know neither what God nor Man is—neither what Good or Evil is: why, that you are ignorant of everything else, perhaps you may bear to be told; but to hear that you know nothing of yourself, how could you submit to that? How could you stand your ground and suffer that to be proved? Clearly not at all. You instantly turn away in wrath. Yet what harm have I done to you? Unless indeed the mirror harms the ill-favoured man by showing him to himself just as he is; unless the physician can be thought to insult his patient, when he tells him:—"Friend, do you suppose there is nothing wrong with you? why, you have a fever. Eat nothing to-day, and drink only water." Yet no one says, "What an insufferable insult!" Whereas if you say to a man, "Your desires are inflamed, your instincts of rejection are weak and low, your aims are inconsistent, your impulses are not in harmony with Nature, your opinions are rash and false," he forthwith goes away and complains that you have insulted him. ~ Epictetus,

1283:How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary. From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event. That is how Socrates fulfilled himself by attending to nothing except reason in everything he encountered. And you, although you are not yet a Socrates, should live as someone who at least wants to be a Socrates. ~ Epictetus,

1284:You journey to Olympia to see the work of Phidias; and each of you holds it a misfortune not to have beheld these things before you die. Whereas when there is no need even to take a journey, but you are on the spot, with the works before you, have you no care to contemplate and study these? Will you not then perceive either who you are or unto what end you were born: or for what purpose the power of contemplation has been bestowed on you? "Well, but in life there are some things disagreeable and hard to bear." And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched by the heat? Are you not cramped for room? Have you not to bathe with discomfort? Are you not drenched when it rains? Have you not to endure the clamor and shouting and such annoyances as these? Well, I suppose you set all this over against the splendour of the spectacle and bear it patiently. What then? have you not received greatness of heart, received courage, received fortitude? What care I, if I am great of heart, for aught that can come to pass? What shall cast me down or disturb me? What shall seem painful? Shall I not use the power to the end for which I received it, instead of moaning and wailing over what comes to pass? ~ Epictetus,

1285:How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.    From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event. That is how Socrates fulfilled himself by attending to nothing except reason in everything he encountered. And you, although you are not yet a Socrates, should live as someone who at least wants to be a Socrates.    ~ Epictetus, (From Manual 51),

1286:those who advocate politically correct speech think the proper way to deal with some insults is to punish the insulter. What most concerns them are insults directed at the “disadvantaged,” including members of minority groups and people with physical, mental, social, or economic handicaps. Disadvantaged individuals, they argue, are psychologically vulnerable, and if we let people insult them, they will suffer grievous psychological harm. Advocates of politically correct speech therefore petition the authorities—government officials, employers, and school administrators—to punish anyone who insults a disadvantaged individual. Epictetus would reject this manner of dealing with insults as being woefully counterproductive. He would point out, to begin with, that the political correctness movement has some untoward side effects. One is that the process of protecting disadvantaged individuals from insults will tend to make them hypersensitive to insults: They will, as a result, feel the sting not only of direct insults but of implied insults as well. Another is that disadvantaged individuals will come to believe that they are powerless to deal with insults on their own—that unless the authorities intercede on their behalf, they are defenseless. ~ William B Irvine,

1287:We sometimes find ourselves changing our minds without any resistance or heavy emotion, but if we are told we are wrong, we resent the imputation and harden our hearts. We are incredibly heedless in the formation of our beliefs, but find ourselves filled with an illicit passion for them when anyone proposes to rob us of their companionship. It is obviously not the ideas themselves that are dear to us, but our self-esteem which is threatened . . . The little word ‘my’ is the most important one in human affairs, and properly to reckon with it is the beginning of wisdom. It has the same force whether it is ‘my’ dinner, ‘my’ dog, and ‘my’ house, or ‘my’ father, ‘my’ country, and ‘my’ God. We not only resent the imputation that our watch is wrong, or our car shabby, but that our conception of the canals of Mars, of the pronunciation of ‘Epictetus,’ of the medicinal value of salicin, or of the date of Sargon I is subject to revision. We like to continue to believe what we have been accustomed to accept as true, and the resentment aroused when doubt is cast upon any of our assumptions leads us to seek every manner of excuse for clinging to it. The result is that most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believing as we already do. ~ Dale Carnegie,

1288:Aye, but to debase myself thus were unworthy of me." "That," said Epictetus, "is for you to consider, not for me. You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This was why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is. Why, what is it that you ask me? Is death preferable, or life? I reply, Life. Pain or pleasure? I reply, Pleasure." "Well, but if I do not act, I shall lose my head." "Then go and act! But for my part I will not act." "Why?" "Because you think yourself but one among the many threads which make up the texture of the doublet. You should aim at being like men in general—just as your thread has no ambition either to be anything distinguished compared with the other threads. But I desire to be the purple—that small and shining part which makes the rest seem fair and beautiful. Why then do you bid me become even as the multitude? Then were I no longer the purple. ~ Epictetus,

1289:In conformity with this spirit and aim of the Stoa, Epictetus begins with it and constantly returns to it as the kernel of his philosophy, that we should bear in mind and distinguish what depends on us and what does not, and thus should not count on the latter at all. In this way we shall certainly remain free from all pain, suffering, and anxiety. Now what depends on us is the will alone, and here there gradually takes place a transition to a doctrine of virtue, since it is noticed that, as the external world that is independent of us determines good and bad fortune, so inner satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ourselves proceeds from the will. But later it was asked whether we should attribute the names *bonum et malum* to the two former or to the two latter. This was really arbitrary and a matter of choice, and made no difference. But yet the Stoics argued incessantly about this with the Peripatetics and Epicureans, and amused themselves with the inadmissible comparison of two wholly incommensurable quantities and with the contrary and paradoxical judgements arising therefrom, which they cast on one another. An interesting collection of these is afforded us from the Stoic side by the *Paradoxa* of Cicero." —from The World as Will and Representation . Translated from the German by E. F. J. Paye in two volumes: volume I, pp. 88-89 ~ Arthur Schopenhauer,

1290:There is no remedy against this reversal of the natural order. Man cannot escape from his own achievement. He cannot but adopt the conditions of his own life. No longer in a merely physical universe, man lives in a symbolic universe. Language, myth, art, and religion are parts of this universe. They are the varied threads which weave the symbolic net, the tangled web of human experience. All human progress in thought and experience refines and strengthens this net. No longer can man confront reality immediately; he cannot see it, as it were, face to face. Physical reality seems to recede in proportion as man's symbolic activity advances. Instead of dealing with the things themselves man is in a sense constantly conversing with himself. He has so enveloped himself in linguistic forms, in artistic images, in mythical symbols or religious rites that he cannot see or know anything except by the interposition of this artificial medium. His situation is the same in the theoretical as in the practical sphere. Even here man does not live in a world of hard facts, or according to his immediate needs and desires. He lives rather in the midst of imaginary emotions, in hopes and fears, in illusions and disillusions, in his fantasies and dreams. 'What disturbs and alarms man,' said Epictetus, 'are not the things, but his opinions and fantasies about the things. ~ Ernst Cassirer,

1291:Instead, he (and Epictetus and Seneca) focused on a series of questions not unlike the ones we continue to ask ourselves today: “What is the best way to live?” “What do I do about my anger?” “What are my obligations to my fellow human beings?” “I’m afraid to die; why is that?” “How can I deal with the difficult situations I face?” “How should I handle the success or power I hold?” These weren’t abstract questions. In their writings—often private letters or diaries—and in their lectures, the Stoics struggled to come up with real, actionable answers. They ultimately framed their work around a series of exercises in three critical disciplines: The Discipline of Perception (how we see and perceive the world around us) The Discipline of Action (the decisions and actions we take—and to what end) The Discipline of Will (how we deal with the things we cannot change, attain clear and convincing judgment, and come to a true understanding of our place in the world) By controlling our perceptions, the Stoics tell us, we can find mental clarity. In directing our actions properly and justly, we’ll be effective. In utilizing and aligning our will, we will find the wisdom and perspective to deal with anything the world puts before us. It was their belief that by strengthening themselves and their fellow citizens in these disciplines, they could cultivate resilience, purpose, and even joy. Born in the tumultuous ancient world, ~ Ryan Holiday,

1292:The Yogic path is about disentangling the built-in glitches of the human condition, which I'm going to over-simply define here as the heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment. Different schools of thought over the centuries have found different explanation for man's apparently inherently flawed state. Taoists call it imbalance, Buddism calls it ignorance, Islam blames our misery on rebellion against God, and the Judeo-Christian tradition attributes all our suffering to original sin. Freudians say that unhappiness is the inevitable result of the clash between our natural drives and civilization's needs. (As my friend Deborah the psychologist explains it: "Desire is the design flaw.") The Yogis, however, say that human discontentment is a simple case of mistaken identity. We're miserable because we think that we are mere individuals, alone with our fears and flaws and resentments and mortality. We wrongly believe that our limited little egos constitute our whole entire nature. We have failed to recognize our deeper divine character. We don't realize that, somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme Self who is eternally at peace. That supreme Self is our true identity, universal and divine. Before you realize this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair, a notion nicely expressed in this exasperated line from the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus: "You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,

1293:In just a second, in just a second. You keep talking about ego. My God, it would take Christ himself to decide what’s ego and what isn’t. This is God’s universe, buddy, not yours, and he has the final say about what’s ego and what isn’t. What about your beloved Epictetus? Or your beloved Emily Dickinson? You want your Emily, every time she has an urge to write a poem, to just sit down and say a prayer till her nasty, egotistical urge goes away? No, of course you don’t! But you’d like your friend Professor Tupper’s ego taken away from him. That’s different. And maybe it is. Maybe it is. But don’t go screaming about egos in general. In my opinon, if you really want to know, half of the nastiness in the world is stirred up by people who aren’t using their true egos. Take your Professor Tupper. From what you say about him, anyway, I’d lay almost any odds that this thing he’s using, the thing you think is his ego, isn’t his ego at all but some other, much dirtier, much less basic faculty. My God, you’ve been around schools long enough to know the score. Scratch an incompetent schoolteacher-or, for that matter, college professor-and half the time you find a displaced first-class automobile mechanic or a goddam stonemason. Take LeSage, for instance-my friend, my employer, my Rose of Madison Avenue. You think it was his ego that got him into television? Like hell it was! He has no ego any more-if ever he had one. He’s split it up into hobbies. he has at least three hobbies I know of-and they all have to do with a big ten-thousand-dollar workroom in his basement, full of power tools and vises and God knows what else. Nobody who’s really using his ego, his real ego, has anytime for any goddam hobbies. ~ J D Salinger,

1294:The third discipline, the discipline of will, is in a sense the counterpart to the second, the discipline of action. The latter governs our approach to the things in our control, those that we do; the discipline of will governs our attitude to things that are not within our control, those that we have done to us (by others or by nature). We control our own actions and are responsible for them. If we act wrongly, then we have done serious harm to ourselves (though not, it should be emphasized, to others, or to the logos). By contrast, things outside our control have no ability to harm us. Acts of wrongdoing by a human agent (torture, theft, or other crimes) harm the agent, not the victim. Acts of nature such as fire, illness, or death can harm us only if we choose to see them as harmful. When we do so, we question the benevolence and providence of the logos, and thereby degrade our own logos. This, of course, we must not do. Instead we must see things for what they are (here the discipline of perception is relevant) and accept them, by exercising the discipline of will, or what Epictetus calls (in a phrase quoted by Marcus) “the art of acquiescence.” For if we recognize that all events have been foreseen by the logos and form part of its plan, and that the plan in question is unfailingly good (as it must be), then it follows that we must accept whatever fate has in store for us, however unpleasant it may appear, trusting that, in Alexander Pope’s phrase, “whatever is, is right.” This applies to all obstacles and (apparent) misfortunes, and in particular to death—a process that we cannot prevent, which therefore does not harm us, and which accordingly we must accept willingly as natural and proper. ~ Marcus Aurelius,

1295:[23] Our situation is like that at a festival.* Sheep and cattle are driven to it to be sold, and most people come either to buy or to sell, while only a few come to look at the spectacle of the festival, to see how it is proceeding and why, and who is organizing it, and for what purpose. [24] So also in this festival of the world. Some people are like sheep and cattle and are interested in nothing but their fodder; for in the case of those of you who are interested in nothing but your property, and land, and slaves, and public posts, all of that is nothing more than fodder. [25] Few indeed are those who attend the fair for love of the spectacle, asking, ‘What is the universe, then, and who governs it? No one at all? [26] And yet when a city or household cannot survive for even a very short time without someone to govern it and watch over it, how could it be that such a vast and beautiful structure could be kept so well ordered by mere chance and good luck? [27] So there must be someone governing it. What sort of being is he, and how does he govern it? And we who have been created by him, who are we, and what were we created for? Are we bound together with him in some kind of union and interrelationship, or is that not the case?’ [28] Such are the thoughts that are aroused in this small collection of people; and from then on, they devote their leisure to this one thing alone, to finding out about the festival before they have to take their leave. [29] What comes about, then? They become an object of mockery for the crowd, just as the spectators at an ordinary festival are mocked by the traders; and even the sheep and cattle, if they had sufficient intelligence, would laugh at those who attach value to anything other than fodder! ~ Epictetus,

1296:Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are 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. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed. Aiming therefore at such great things, remember that you must not allow yourself to be carried, even with a slight tendency, towards the attainment of lesser things. Instead, you must entirely quit some things and for the present postpone the rest. But if you would both have these great things, along with power and riches, then you will not gain even the latter, because you aim at the former too: but you will absolutely fail of the former, by which alone happiness and freedom are achieved. Work, therefore to be able to say to every harsh appearance, “You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be.” And then examine it by those rules which you have, and first, and chiefly, by this: whether it concerns the things which are in our own control, or those which are not; and, if it concerns anything not in our control, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you. ~ Epictetus,

1297:Put Off The Wedding Five Times And Nobody Comes To It (Handbook for Quarreling Lovers)I THOUGHT of offering you apothegms. I might have said, 'Dogs bark and the wind carries it away.' I might have said, 'He who would make a door of gold must knock a nail in every day.' So easy, so easy it would have been to inaugurate a high impetuous moment for you to look on before the final farewells were spoken. You who assumed the farewells in the manner of people buying newspapers and reading the headlines-and all peddlers of gossip who buttonhole each other and wag their heads saying, 'Yes, I heard all about it last Wednesday.' I considered several apothegms. 'There is no love but service,' of course, would only initiate a quarrel over who has served and how and when. 'Love stands against fire and flood and much bitterness,' would only initiate a second misunderstanding, and bickerings with lapses of silence. What is there in the Bible to cover our case, or Shakespere? What poetry can help? Is there any left but Epictetus? Since you have already chosen to interpret silence for language and silence for despair and silence for contempt and silence for all things but love, Since you have already chosen to read ashes where God knows there was something else than ashes, Since silence and ashes are two identical findings for your eyes and there are no apothegms worth handing out like a hung jury's verdict for a record in our own hearts as well as the community at large, I can only remember a Russian peasant who told me his grandfather warned him: If you ride too good a horse you will not take the straight road to town. It will always come back to me in the blur of that hokku: The heart of a woman of thirty is like the red ball of the sun seen through a mist. Or I will remember the witchery in the eyes of a girl at a barn dance one winter night in Illinois saying: Put off the wedding five times and nobody comes to it. ~ Carl Sandburg,

1298:Thus Epicurus also, when he designs to destroy the natural fellowship of mankind, at the same time makes use of that which he destroys. For what does he say? ‘Be not deceived, men, nor be led astray, nor be mistaken: there is no natural fellowship among rational animals; believe me. But those who say otherwise, deceive you and seduce you by false reasons.’—What is this to you? Permit us to be deceived. Will you fare worse, if all the rest of us are persuaded that there is a natural fellowship among us, and that it ought by all means to be preserved? Nay, it will be much better and safer for you. Man, why do you trouble yourself about us? Why do you keep awake for us? Why do you light your lamp? Why do you rise early? Why do you write so many books, that no one of us may be deceived about the gods and believe that they take care of men; or that no one may suppose the nature of good to be other than pleasure? For if this is so, lie down and sleep, and lead the life of a worm, of which you judged yourself worthy: eat and drink, and enjoy women, and ease yourself, and snore. And what is it to you, how the rest shall think about these things, whether right or wrong? For what have we to do with you? You take care of sheep because they supply us with wool and milk, and last of all with their flesh. Would it not be a desirable thing if men could be lulled and enchanted by the Stoics, and sleep and present themselves to you and to those like you to be shorn and milked? For this you ought to say to your brother Epicureans: but ought you not to conceal it from others, and particularly before every thing to persuade them, that we are by nature adapted for fellowship, that temperance is a good thing; in order that all things may be secured for you? Or ought we to maintain this fellowship with some and not with others? With whom then ought we to maintain it? With such as on their part also maintain it, or with such as violate this fellowship? And who violate it more than you who establish such doctrines? What then was it that waked Epicurus from his sleepiness, and compelled him to write what he did write? ~ Epictetus,

1299:De Amicitiis Though care and strife Elsewhere be rife, Upon my word I do not heed 'em; In bed I lie With books hard by, And with increasing zest I read 'em. Propped up in bed, So much I've read Of musty tomes that I've a headful Of tales and rhymes Of ancient times, Which, wife declares, are "simply dreadful!" They give me joy Without alloy; And isn't that what books are made for? And yet--and yet-(Ah, vain regret!) I would to God they all were paid for! No festooned cup Filled foaming up Can lure me elsewhere to confound me; Sweeter than wine This love of mine For these old books I see around me! A plague, I say, On maidens gay; I'll weave no compliments to tell 'em! Vain fool I were, Did I prefer Those dolls to these old friends in vellum! At dead of night My chamber's bright Not only with the gas that's burning, But with the glow 106 Of long ago,-Of beauty back from eld returning. Fair women's looks I see in books, I see them, and I hear their laughter,-Proud, high-born maids, Unlike the jades Which men-folk now go chasing after! Herein again Speak valiant men Of all nativities and ages; I hear and smile With rapture while I turn these musty, magic pages. The sword, the lance, The morris dance, The highland song, the greenwood ditty, Of these I read, Or, when the need, My Miller grinds me grist that's gritty! When of such stuff We've had enough, Why, there be other friends to greet us; We'll moralize In solemn wise With Plato or with Epictetus. Sneer as you may, I'm proud to say That I, for one, am very grateful To Heaven, that sends These genial friends To banish other friendships hateful! And when I'm done, I'd have no son Pounce on these treasures like a vulture; Nay, give them half 107 My epitaph, And let them share in my sepulture. Then, when the crack Of doom rolls back The marble and the earth that hide me, I'll smuggle home Each precious tome, Without a fear my wife shall chide me! ~ Eugene Field,

1300:Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates? Was he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus? In what respect was he the superior of Zoroaster? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze, more universal than Confucius? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of Zeno? Did he express grander truths than Cicero? Was his mind subtler than Spinoza’s? Was his brain equal to Kepler’s or Newton’s? Was he grander in death – a sublimer martyr than Bruno? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of Shakespeare, the greatest of the human race? ~ Robert G Ingersoll,

1301:[14] It is in accordance with this plan of action above all that one should train oneself. As soon as you leave the house at break of day, examine everyone whom you see, everyone whom you hear, and answer as if under questioning. What did you see? A handsome man or beautiful woman? Apply the rule. Does this lie within the sphere of choice, or outside it? Outside. Throw it away. [15] What did you see? Someone grieving over the death of his child? Apply the rule. Death is something that lies outside the sphere of choice. Away with it. You met a consul? Apply the rule. What kind of thing is a consulship? One that lies outside the sphere of choice, or inside? Outside. Throw that away too, it doesn’t stand the test. Away with it; it is nothing to you. [16] If we acted in such a way and practised this exercise from morning until night, we would then have achieved something, by the gods. [17] But as things are, we’re caught gazing open-mouthed at every impression that comes along, and it is only in the schoolroom that we wake up a little, if indeed we ever do. Afterwards, when we go outside, if we see someone in distress, we say, ‘He’s done for,’ or if we see a consul, exclaim, ‘A most fortunate man’; if an exile, ‘Poor wretch!’; if someone in poverty, ‘How terrible for him; he hasn’t money enough to buy a meal.’ [18] These vicious judgements must be rooted out, then; that is what we should concentrate our efforts on. For what is weeping and groaning? A judgement. What is misfortune? A judgement. What is civil strife, dissension, fault-finding, accusation, impiety, foolishness? [19] All of these are judgements and nothing more, and judgements that are passed, moreover, about things that lie outside the sphere of choice, under the supposition that such things are good or bad. Let someone transfer these judgements to things that lie within the sphere of choice, and I guarantee that he’ll preserve his peace of mind, regardless of what his circumstances may be. [20] The mind is rather like a bowl filled with water, and impressions are like a ray of light that falls on that water. [21] When the water is disturbed, the ray of light gives the appearance of being disturbed, but that isn’t really the case. [22] So accordingly, whenever someone suffers an attack of vertigo, it isn’t the arts and virtues that are thrown into confusion, but the spirit in which they’re contained; and when the spirit comes to rest again, so will they too. ~ Epictetus,

1302:reading :::    50 Spiritual Classics: List of Books Covered:    Muhammad Asad - The Road To Mecca (1954)    St Augustine - Confessions (400)    Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)    Black Elk Black - Elk Speaks (1932)    Richard Maurice Bucke - Cosmic Consciousness (1901)    Fritjof Capra - The Tao of Physics (1976)    Carlos Castaneda - Journey to Ixtlan (1972)    GK Chesterton - St Francis of Assisi (1922)    Pema Chodron - The Places That Scare You (2001)    Chuang Tzu - The Book of Chuang Tzu (4th century BCE)    Ram Dass - Be Here Now (1971)    Epictetus - Enchiridion (1st century)    Mohandas Gandhi - An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth (1927)    Al-Ghazzali - The Alchemy of Happiness (1097)    Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet (1923)    GI Gurdjieff - Meetings With Remarkable Men (1960)    Dag Hammarskjold - Markings (1963)    Abraham Joshua Heschel - The Sabbath (1951)    Hermann Hesse - Siddartha (1922)    Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception (1954)    William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)    Carl Gustav Jung - Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1955)    Margery Kempe - The Book of Margery Kempe (1436)    J Krishnamurti - Think On These Things (1964)    CS Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (1942)    Malcolm X - The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964)    Daniel C Matt - The Essential Kabbalah (1994)    Dan Millman - The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1989)    W Somerset Maugham - The Razor's Edge (1944)    Thich Nhat Hanh - The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975)    Michael Newton - Journey of Souls (1994)    John O'Donohue - Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (1998)    Robert M Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)    James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy (1994)    Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements (1997)    Helen Schucman & William Thetford - A Course in Miracles (1976)    Idries Shah - The Way of the Sufi (1968)    Starhawk - The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979)    Shunryu Suzuki - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)    Emanuel Swedenborg - Heaven and Hell (1758)    Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle (1570)    Mother Teresa - A Simple Path (1994)    Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now (1998)    Chogyam Trungpa - Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973)    Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations With God (1998)    Rick Warren - The Purpose-Driven Life (2002)    Simone Weil - Waiting For God (1979)    Ken Wilber - A Theory of Everything (2000)    Paramahansa Yogananda - Autobiography of a Yogi (1974)    Gary Zukav - The Seat of the Soul (1990)    ~ Tom Butler-Bowdon, 50 Spirital Classics (2017 Edition),

1303:Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer – Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus – Tragedies 4. Sophocles – Tragedies 5. Herodotus – Histories 6. Euripides – Tragedies 7. Thucydides – History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates – Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes – Comedies 10. Plato – Dialogues 11. Aristotle – Works 12. Epicurus – Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid – Elements 14. Archimedes – Works 15. Apollonius of Perga – Conic Sections 16. Cicero – Works 17. Lucretius – On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil – Works 19. Horace – Works 20. Livy – History of Rome 21. Ovid – Works 22. Plutarch – Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus – Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa – Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus – Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy – Almagest 27. Lucian – Works 28. Marcus Aurelius – Meditations 29. Galen – On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus – The Enneads 32. St. Augustine – On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njál 36. St. Thomas Aquinas – Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri – The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer – Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci – Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli – The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus – The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus – On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More – Utopia 44. Martin Luther – Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais – Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin – Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne – Essays 48. William Gilbert – On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes – Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser – Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon – Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare – Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei – Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler – Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey – On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan 57. René Descartes – Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton – Works 59. Molière – Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal – The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens – Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza – Ethics 63. John Locke – Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine – Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton – Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67. Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift – A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve – The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley – Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope – Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu – Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire – Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding – Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson – The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets ~ Mortimer J Adler,

1304:Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer - Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus - Tragedies 4. Sophocles - Tragedies 5. Herodotus - Histories 6. Euripides - Tragedies 7. Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates - Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes - Comedies 10. Plato - Dialogues 11. Aristotle - Works 12. Epicurus - Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid - Elements 14.Archimedes - Works 15. Apollonius of Perga - Conic Sections 16. Cicero - Works 17. Lucretius - On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil - Works 19. Horace - Works 20. Livy - History of Rome 21. Ovid - Works 22. Plutarch - Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus - Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa - Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus - Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy - Almagest 27. Lucian - Works 28. Marcus Aurelius - Meditations 29. Galen - On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus - The Enneads 32. St. Augustine - On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njal 36. St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer - Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci - Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus - The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus - On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More - Utopia 44. Martin Luther - Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin - Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne - Essays 48. William Gilbert - On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser - Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon - Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare - Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei - Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler - Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey - On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan 57. René Descartes - Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton - Works 59. Molière - Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal - The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens - Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza - Ethics 63. John Locke - Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine - Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67.Daniel Defoe - Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift - A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve - The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley - Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope - Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu - Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire - Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding - Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson - The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets    ~ Mortimer J Adler,