Epictetus Quotes

1.First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

2.Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

3.Freedom is the right to live as we wish.

4.Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.

5.If you wish to be a writer, write.

6.Practice yourself, for heavens sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.

7.Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.

8.Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.

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

10.There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.

11.If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonourable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.

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

13.Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

14.Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.

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

16.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.

17.No man is free who is not master of himself.

18.It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

19.The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.

20.Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.

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

22.One that desires to excel should endeavour in those things that are in themselves most excellent.

23.Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things.

24.Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.

25.Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; from them proceed to greater.

26.Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.

27.No great thing is created suddenly.

28.First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.

29.If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

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

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

32.Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.

33.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.

34.Do not say of anything that 'I have lost it,' but that 'I have given it back.'

35.Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself.

36.Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee.

37.It is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.