Quotation Explorer - 'Epictetus'

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. - Epictetus
What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows. - Epictetus
If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, "He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone. - Epictetus
The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things. - Epictetus
It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows. - Epictetus
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. - Epictetus
As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new. - Epictetus
When a youth was giving himself airs in the Theatre and saying, 'I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men,' replied, 'I too have conversed with many rich men, yet I am not rich!’. - Epictetus
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will. - Epictetus
First say to yourself what you would be;and then do what you have to do. - Epictetus
What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. - Epictetus
Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly. - Epictetus
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. - Epictetus
The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forebearing. - Epictetus
We have two ears and one mouth so we may listen more and talk the less. - Epictetus
You only have to doze a moment, and all is lost. For ruin and salvation both have their source inside you. - Epictetus
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. - Epictetus
Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you, and be silent. - Epictetus
If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to its increase. - Epictetus
No man is free who is not master of himself. - Epictetus
I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment? - Epictetus
It is our attitude toward events, not events themselves, which we can control. Nothing is by its own nature calamitous -- even death is terrible only if we fear it. - Epictetus
It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens." - Epictetus
Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening. - Epictetus
Difficulties show men what they are. In case of any difficulty remember that God has pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil. - Epictetus
It is the action of an uninstructed person to reproach others for his own misfortune; of one entering instruction, to reproach himself; and one perfectly instructed, to reproach neither others nor himself. - Epictetus
It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body; for it is better to die than to live badly. - Epictetus
Men are not afraid of things, but of how they view them. - Epictetus
Kein Mensch, der in Furcht oder Sorge oder Chaos lebt, ist frei, aber wer sich von Sorgen, Furcht und Chaos befreit, wird dadurch auch aus der Sklaverei befreit. - Epictetus
If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: 'I used to be angry every day; then every other day; now only every third or fourth day.' When you reach thirty days offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods. - Epictetus
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. - Epictetus
Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right? - Epictetus
Epictetus say that everything has two handles, one by which it can be borne and one which it cannot. If your brother sins against you, he says, don't take hold of it by the wrong he did you but by the fact that he's your brother. That's how it can be borne. - Anne Tyler
Philosophy does not promise to secure anything external for man, otherwise it would be admitting something that lies beyond its proper subject-matter. For as the material of the carpenter is wood, and that of statuary bronze, so the subject-matter of the art of living is each person's own life. - Epictetus
It is much better to die of hunger unhindered by grief and fear than to live affluently beset with worry, dread, suspicion and unchecked desire. - Epictetus
Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems - Epictetus
Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it. - Epictetus
The good or ill of a man lies within his own will. - Epictetus
Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast. - Epictetus
Very little is needed for everything to be upset and ruined, only a slight lapse in reason. - Epictetus
When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing? - Epictetus
A wise man is he who does not grieve for the thing which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. - Epictetus
Control thy passions, lest they take vengeance on thee. - Epictetus
Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. - Epictetus
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. - Epictetus
What you shun enduring yourself, attempt not to impose on others. You shun slavery- beware enslaving others! If you can endure to do that, one would think you had been once upon a time a slave yourself. For vice has nothing in common with virtue, nor Freedom with slavery. - Epictetus
Only the educated are free. - Epictetus
If you wish to be a writer, write. - Epictetus
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