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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

You lose only the things you have