Epictetus Quotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

OUR MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE in life, according to Epictetus, is whether to concern ourselves with things external to us or things internal. Most people choose the former because they think harms and benefits come from outside themselves. ~ William Irvine

- ... .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

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

A half-hearted spirit has no power. Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Average people enter into their endeavors headlong and without care. ~ Epictetus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Stoics taught a life of restraint and control, the personal cultivation of learning, beauty, and reason. The Stoics asked the Romans to realize that much that is encountered in life is beyond the individual's control. Make the best of what can be humanly cultivated. It is a kind of Platonism shrunk to a pursuit of private feelings and thoughts: Do the best with what you can control and refine, and let the rest go.
"The world is rational, but it is only amenable to active intervention within the limits of the individual's capacity. Do not try to be an overachiever. Do not dream of social transformation. Private cultivation rather than social action makes for the good life. Although the slave Epictetus was one of the principal Stoic writers, the emperor Marcus Aurelius's upper-class background is more typical of its devotees.
"Stoicism is a narrow ethic, one suitable to the emotional and intellectual needs of aristocrat and slave alike, but less useful for the ambitious middle class. ~ Norman F. Cantor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The willing are led by fate, the reluctant are dragged. ~ Cleanthes Of Assos

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

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

If you wish to write, write. ~ Epictetus

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

Getting distracted by trifles is the easiest thing in the world ... Focus on your main duty ~ Epictetus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do not try to seem wise to others. ~ Epictetus

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

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

Happiness is an equivalent for all troublesome things. ~ Epictetus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At every occasion in your life, do not forget to commune with
yourself and ask of yourself how you can profit by it. ~ Epictetus

Only the educated are free. ~ Epictetus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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