When our friends are present we ought to treat them well; and when they are absent, to speak of them well.
EpictetusDon'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.
EpictetusTo 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.
EpictetusOther people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.
EpictetusTo 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.
EpictetusBe 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.
EpictetusIt is better to advise than upbraid, for the one corrects the erring; the other only convicts them.
EpictetusWhen 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.
EpictetusNever 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?
EpictetusIt 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.
EpictetusCovetousness like jealousy, when it has taken root, never leaves a person, but with their life. Cowardice is the dread of what will happen.
EpictetusDon'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.
EpictetusGod 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.
EpictetusThe key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
EpictetusCrows 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.
EpictetusTo a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable; but everything reasonable may be supported.
EpictetusYou can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer.
EpictetusNature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.
EpictetusThe materials are indifferent, but the use we make of them is not a matter of indifference.
EpictetusThe people have a right to the truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
EpictetusIf 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.
EpictetusFight 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.
EpictetusIf 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.
EpictetusShall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? What sinews are those? - A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolutions; unerring decisions.
EpictetusEach 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.
EpictetusOn the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.
EpictetusLearn 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.
EpictetusWhat disturbs and alarms man are not the things, but his opinions and fancies about the things.
EpictetusYou 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.
EpictetusSuffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.
EpictetusWho 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?
EpictetusThe universe is but one great city, full of beloved ones, divine and human, by nature endeared to each other.
EpictetusIf your heart is quite set upon a crown, make and put on one of roses, for it will make the prettier appearance.
Epictetus