Epictetus Quotes (129 Quotes)

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

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

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

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.

Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, 'Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you.'

What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are.

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.

It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

If you desire to be good, begin by believing that you are wicked.

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

When you have closed your doors, and darkened your room, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone God is within, and your genius is withinand what need have they of light to see what you are doing.

Who is not attracted by bright and pleasant children, to prattle, to creep, and to play with them.

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.

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

Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.

God has delivered yourself to your care, and says I had no fitter to trust than you

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

It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.

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

Freedom is the right to live as we wish.

If you set your heart upon philosophy, you must straightway prepare yourself to be laughed at and mocked by many who will say Behold a philosopher arisen among us or How came you by that brow of scorn But do you cherish no scorn, but hold to those things which seem to you the best, as one set by God in that place. Remember too, that if you abide in those ways, those who first mocked you, the same shall afterwards reverence you but if you yield to them, you will be laughed at twice as much as before.

The soul's impurity consists in bad judgments, and purification consists in producing in it right judgments, and the pure soul is one which has right judgments.

If you would be good, first believe you are bad.

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

If anyone tells you a person speaks ill of you, do not make excuse about what is said but answer, 'He was ignorant of my other faults else he would not have mentioned these alone.'

If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.

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

Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher 'What sinews are those' A will undisappointed evils avoided powers daily exercised careful resolutions unerring decisions.

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

It is the sign of a dull mind to dwell upon the cares of the body, to prolong exercise, eating and drinking, and other bodily functions. These things are best done by the way all your attention must be given to the mind.

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

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

So you wish to conquer in the Olympic games, my friend And I too, by the Gods, and a fine thing it would be But first mark the conditions and the consequences, and then set to work. You will have to put yourself under discipline to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or no, in cold and heat to abstain from cold drinks and from wine at your will in a word, to give yourself over to the trainer as to a physician. Then in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, or to be severely thrashed, and, after all these things, to be defeated.

Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

Envy is the adversary of the fortunate.

When you have shut your doors, and darkened your room, remember, never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone, but God is within, and your genius is within

There is nothing good or evil save in the will.

Nothing is in reality either pleasant or unpleasant by nature but all things become so through habit

If you wish to be a writer, write.

We are not to give credit to the many, who say that none ought to be educated but the free; but rather to the philosophers, who say that the well-educated alone are free.

The materials of action are variable, but the use we make of them should be constant.

Lameness is an impediment to the body but not to the will.

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.

We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral.

God has made all men to be happy.

As the touchstone which tries gold, but is not itself tried by the gold such is he, who has the standard of judgment.

Man is not fully free unless he is master of himself.

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

If you wish to be good, first believe that you are bad.

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