Top 472 Quotes & Sayings by Epictetus - Page 7

A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.

The soul's impurity consists in bad judgements, and purification consists in producing in it right judgements, and the pure soul is one which has right judgements, for this alone is proof against confusion and pollution in its functions.

It has been ordained that there be summer and winter, abundance and dearth, virtue and vice, and all such opposites for the harmony of the whole, and (Zeus) has given each of us a body, property, and companions.

Inner peace begins when we stop saying of things, 'I have lost it' and instead say, 'It has been returned to where it came from.' Why should it be any concern of yours who gives your things back to the world that gave them to you? The important thing is to take great care with what you have while the world lets you have it.

Survey and test a prospective action before undertaking it. Before you proceed, step back and look at the big picture, lest you act rashly on raw impulse.

Let thy speech of God be renewed day by day, aye, rather than thy meat and drink.

When you want to hear a philosopher, do not say, 'You say nothing to me'; only show yourself worthy or fit to hear, and then you will see how you will move the speaker.

Fortune is an evil chain to the body, and vice to the soul.

It is the part of an uneducated person to blame others where he himself fares ill; to blame himself is the part of one whose education has begun; to blame neither another nor his own self is the part of one whose education is already complete.

Pain or pleasure? I say pleasure.

Confidence in nonsense is a requirement for the creative process.

Two principles we should always have ready — that there is nothing good or evil save in the will; and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them.

Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.

We ought to flee the friendship of the wicked, and the enmity of the good.

The universe is but one great city, full of beloved ones, divine and human, by nature endeared to each other.

It is wicked to withdraw from being useful to the needy, and cowardly to give way to the worthless.

Of pleasures, those which occur most rarely give the most delight.

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?

If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.

Crows 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.

As it is pleasant to see the sea from the land, so it is pleasant for him who has escaped from troubles to think of them.

Think of God oftener than you breathe.

What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others.

Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.

You can be invincible, if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer.

What disturbs and alarms man are not the things, but his opinions and fancies about the things.

Men are not worried by things, but by their ideas about things. When we meet with difficulties, become anxious or troubled, let us not blame others, but rather ourselves. That is: our ideas about things.

Wherever I go it will be well with me, for it was well with me here, not on account of the place, but of my judgments which I shall carry away with me, for no one can deprive me of these; on the contrary, they alone are my property, and cannot be taken away, and to possess them suffices me wherever I am or whatever I do.

Focus not on what he or she does, but on keeping to your higher purpose. Your own purpose should seek harmony with nature itself. For this is the true road to freedom.

It is better to advise than upbraid, for the one corrects the erring; the other only convicts them.

Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, ?He who is content.

If anyone should tell you that a particular person has spoken critically of you, don't bother with excuses or defenses. Just smile and reply, "I guess that person doesn't know about all my other faults. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned only these."

Your master is he who controls that on which you have set your heart or wish to avoid.

Let no man think that he is loved by any who loveth none.

I am not eternity, but a man; a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day.

Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature. the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.

In every affair consider what precedes and what follows, and then undertake it

What will the world be quite overturned when you die?

When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself.

You ought to choose both physician and friend, not the most agreeable, but the most useful.

Some of their faults men readily admit, but others not so readily.

The materials are indifferent, but the use we make of them is not a matter of indifference.

If 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.

Even as the Sun doth not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so thou also wait not for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do thy duty; nay, do good of thine own accord, and thou wilt be loved like the Sun.

Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for anything nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave.

Remember that you are an actor in a drama of such sort as the Author chooses: if short, then in a short one; if long, then in a long one. If it be His pleasure that you should enact a poor man, or a cripple, or a ruler, or a private citizen, see that you act it well. For this is your business, to act well the given part. But to choose it belongs to Another.

Do not so much be ashamed of that disgrace which proceeds from men's opinion as fly from that which comes from the truth.

The soul that companies with virtue is like an ever-flowing source. It is a pure, clear, and wholesome draught, sweet, rich and generous of its store, that injures not, neither destroys.

Wherever any one is against his will, that is to him a prison.

Act well your given part; the choice rests not with you.

Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.

Think of God more often than thou breathest.

Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to.

Difficulty shows what men are.

If what the philosophers say be true, that all men's actions proceed from one source; that as they assent from a persuasion that a thing is so, and dissent from a persuasion that it is not, and suspend their judgment from a persuasion that it is uncertain, so likewise they seek a thing from a persuasion that it is for their advantage.

Against specious appearances we must set clear convictions, bright and ready for use. When death appears as an evil, we ought immediately to remember that evils are things to be avoided, but death is inevitable.

If you would be well spoken of, learn to be well-spoken; and having learnt to be well- spoken, strive also to be well-doing; so shall you succeed in being well spoken of.

It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united.

It is better by assenting to truth to conquer opinion, than by assenting to opinion to be conquered by truth.