It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.

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.

Any one thing in the creation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence to a humble and grateful mind.

Never say of anything I have lost it, only say that I have given it back.

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

Men are not troubled by things themselves, but by their thoughts about them

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.