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If We Are Not Stupid Or Insincere When We Say That The Good Or Ill Of Man Lies Within His Own Will, And That All Beside Is Nothing To Us, Why Are We Still Troubled?

-Epictetus

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If We Are Not

Epictetus

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If We Are Not Stupid Or Insincere When We Say That The Good Or Ill Of Man Lies Within His Own Will, And That All Beside Is Nothing To Us, Why Are We Still Troubled?

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All Religions Must Be Tolerated For Every Man Must Get To Heaven In His Own Way.

You Ought To Choose Both Physician And Friend, Not The Most Agreeable, But The Most Useful.

By Accepting Life's Limits And Inevitabilities And Working With Them Rather Than Fighting Them, We Become Free.

There Is Only One Thing For Which God Has Sent Me Into The World, And That Is To Develop Every Kind Of Virtue Or Strength, And There Is Nothing In All The World That I Cannot Use For This Purpose.

It Is Not A Demonstration Of Kindness Or Friendship To The People We Care About To Join Them In Indulging In Wrongheaded, Negative Feelings. We Do A Better Service To Ourselves And Others By Remaining Detached And Avoiding Melodramatic Reactions.

Do Not Laugh Much Or Often Or Unrestrainedly.

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.

If We Are Not Stupid Or Insincere When We Say That The Good Or Ill Of Man Lies Within His Own Will, And That All Beside Is Nothing To Us, Why Are We Still Troubled?

If You Wish To Be Good, First Believe That You Are Bad.

Let Death And Exile, And All Other Things Which Appear Terrible Be Daily Before Your Eyes, But Chiefly Death, And You Win Never Entertain Any Abject Thought, Nor Too Eagerly Covet Anything.

Any One Thing In The Creation Is Sufficient To Demonstrate A Providence To A Humble And Grateful Mind.

Let No Man Think That He Is Loved By Any Who Loveth None.

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.

No Man Is Free Who Is Not Master Of Himself.

The Cause Of All Human Evils Is The Not Being Able To Apply General Principles To Special Cases.

Men Are Not Troubled By Things Themselves, But By Their Thoughts About Them

Books Are The Training Weights Of The Mind.

Things True And Evident Must Of Necessity Be Recognized By Those Who Would Contradict Them.

No Matter Where You Find Yourself, Comport Yourself As If You Were A Distinguished Person.

Finding Yourself

What Is It That Every Man Seeks? To Be Secure, To Be Happy, To Do What He Pleases Without Restraint And Without Compulsion.

Now Is The Time To Get Serious About Living Your Ideals. Once You Have Determined The Spiritual Principles You Wish To Exemplify, Abide By These Rules As If They Were Laws, As If It Were Indeed Sinful To Compromise Them. Don't Mind If Others Don't Share Your Convictions. How Long Can You Afford To Put Off Who You Really Want To Be? Your Nobler Self Cannot Wait Any Longer.

Appear To Know Only This--never To Fail Nor Fall.

No Man Is Free Who Is Not Master Of Himself... Is Freedom Anything Else Than The Power Of Living As We Choose?

The Appearance Of Things To The Mind Is The Standard Of Every Action To Man.

Whatever You Would Make Habitual, Practice It; And If You Would Not Make A Thing Habitual, Do Not Practice It, But Accustom Yourself To Something Else.

He Who Laughs At Himself Never Runs Out Of Things To Laugh At.

We Have Two Ears And One Mouth So That We Can Listen Twice As Much As We Speak.

If A Person Had Delivered Up Your Body To Some Passer-by, You Would Certainly Be Angry. And Do You Feel No Shame In Delivering Up Your Own Mind To Any Reviler, To Be Disconcerted And Confounded?

Asked, Who Is The Rich Man? Epictetus Replied, �he Who Is Content.

Authentic Happiness Is Always Independent Of External Conditions. Vigilantly Practice Polite Indifference To That Which We Can't Control. Your Happiness Can Only Be Found Within.

If You See Anybody Wail And Complain, Call Him A Slave, Though He Be Clad In Purple.

Never Call Yourself A Philosopher, Nor Talk A Great Deal Among The Unlearned About Theorems, But Act Conformably To Them. Thus, At An Entertainment, Don't Talk How Persons Ought To Eat, But Eat As You Ought. For Remember That In This Manner Socrates Also Universally Avoided All Ostentation.

Practice Yourself, For Heaven's Sake, In Little Things, And Thence Proceed To Greater.

Happiness And Freedom Begin With A Clear Understanding Of One Principle: Some Things Are Within Our Control, And Some Things Are Not. It Is Only After You Have Faced Up To This Fundamental Rule And Learned To Distinguish Between What You Can And Can't Control That Inner Tranquility And Outer Effectiveness Become Possible.

No Living Being Is Held By Anything So Strongly As Its Own Needs.

Of Pleasures, Those Which Occur Most Rarely Give The Most Delight.

Remember That You Are In Actor In A Play Of Such A Kind That The Author Chooses...for This Is Your Duty, To Act Well The Part That Is Given To You; But To Select The Part Belongs To Another.

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.

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.

You Bear God Within You, Poor Wretch, And Know It Not.

The World Turns Aside To Let Any Man Pass Who Knows Where He Is Going.

Give Yourself Fully To Your Endeavors. Decide To Construct Your Character Through Excellent Actions And Determine To Pay The Price Of A Worthy Goal. The Trials You Encounter Will Introduce You To Your Strengths.

In Theory There Is Nothing To Hinder Our Following What We Are Taught;but In Life There Are Many Things To Draw Us Aside.

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.

The Essence Of Good And Evil Is A Certain Disposition Of The Will.

Nothing Truly Stops You. Nothing Truly Holds You Back. For Your Own Will Is Always Within Your Control.

Positive Thinking

Power Of Positive Thinking

He Is Free Who Lives As He Wishes To Live; Who Is Neither Subject To Compulsion Nor To Hindrance, Nor To Force; Whose Movements To Action Are Not Impeded, Whose Desires Attain Their Purpose, And Who Does Not Fall Into That Which He Would Avoid.

What Disturbs And Alarms Man Are Not The Things, But His Opinions And Fancies About The Things.

You Are A Little Soul Carrying Around A Corpse.

Don'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.

You Are But An Appearance, And Not Absolutely The Thing You Appear To Be.

If You Have Anything Better To Be Doing When Death Overtakes You, Get To Work On That.

Man Is Not Fully Free Unless He Is Master Of Himself.

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.

Do Not Give Sentence In Another Tribunal Till You Have Been Yourself Judged In The Tribunal Of Justice.

There Is Nothing Good Or Evil Save In The Will.

Imagine For Yourself A Character, A Model Personality, Whose Example You Determine To Follow, In Private As Well As In Public.

Follow Your Heart

So You Wish To Conquer In The Olympic Games, My Friend? And I, Too... But First Mark The Conditions And The Consequences. 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 Not, In Cold And Heat; To Abstain From Cold Drinks And Wine At Your Will. Then, In The Conflict Itself You Are Likely Enough To Dislocate Your Wrist Or Twist Your Ankle, To Swallow A Great Deal Of Dust, To Be Severely Thrashed, And After All Of These Things, To Be Defeated.

Be Free From Grief Not Through Insensibility Like The Irrational Animals, Nor Through Want Of Thought Like The Foolish, But Like A Man Of Virtue By Having Reason As The Consolation Of Grief.

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.

We Tell Lies, Yet It Is Easy To Show That Lying Is Immoral.

If You Do Not Wish To Be Prone To Anger, Do Not Feed The Habit; Give It Nothing Which May Tend To Its Increase. At First, Keep Quiet And Count The Days When You Were Not Angry: "i Used To Be Angry Every Day, Then Every Other Day: Next, Every Two, Then Every Three Days!" And If You Succeed In Passing Thirty Days, Sacrifice To The Gods In Thanksgiving.

You May Fetter My Leg, But Zeus Himself Cannot Get The Better Of My Free Will.

It Was The First And Most Striking Characteristic Of Socrates Never To Become Heated In Discourse, Never To Utter An Injurious Or Insulting Word -- On The Contrary, He Persistently Bore Insult From Others And Thus Put An End To The Fray.

Characteristics

The Best Place To Get Help Is From Yourself.

Truth Is A Thing Immortal And Perpetual, And It Gives To Us A Beauty That Fades Not Away In Time, Nor Does It Take Away The Freedom Of Speech Which Proceeds From Justice; But It Gives To Us The Knowledge Of What Is Just And Lawful, Separating From Them The Unjust And Refuting Them.

Authentic Happiness Is Always Independent Of External Conditions.

Authentic Happiness

What Disturbs People's Minds Are Not Events But Their Judgments On Events.

To A Reasonable Creature, That Alone Is Insupportable Which Is Unreasonable; But Everything Reasonable May Be Supported.

Any Person Capable Of Angering You Becomes Your Master.

And Be Silent For The Most Part, Or Else Make Only The Most Necessary Remarks, And Express These In Few Words. But Rarely, And When Occasion Requires You To Talk, Talk, Indeed, But About No Ordinary Topics. Do Not Talk About Gladiators, Or Horseraces, Or Athletes, Or Things To Eat Or Drink - Topics That Arise On All Occasions; But Above All, Do Not Talk About People, Either Blaming, Or Praising, Or Comparing Them.

Whoever Is Going To Listen To The Philosophers Needs A Considerable Practice In Listening.

No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly.

Inspirational Life

Were I A Nightingale, I Would Act The Part Of A Nightingale; Were I A Swan, The Part Of A Swan.

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.

To The Rational Being Only The Irrational Is Unendurable, But The Rational Is Endurable.

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.

When 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.

You Lose Only The Things You Have

Neither The Victories Of The Olympic Games Nor Those Achieved In Battles Make The Man Happy. The Only Victories That Make Him Happy Are Those Achieved Against Himself. Temptations And Tests Are Combats. You Have Beaten One, Two, Many Times; Still Fight. If You Defeat At Last You Will Be Happy Your Entire Life, As If You Have Always Defeated.

Whoever Wants To Be Free, Therefore, Let Him Not Want Or Avoid Anything That Is Up To Others. Otherwise He Will Necessarily Be A Slave.

What Concerns Me Is Not The Way Things Are, But Rather The Way People Think Things Are.

Freedom And Happiness Come From Understanding - And Working With - Our Limits. Begin At Once A Program Of Self-mastery. Stick With Your Purpose. Do Not Seek External Approval. Do Not Worry About Anything Outside Of Your Control. The Only Things You Command Are Your Thoughts And Actions. We Choose Our Response. Stop Aspiring To Be Anyone Other Than Your Own Best Self: For That Does Fall Within Your Control.

In Prosperity It Is Very Easy To Find A Friend; But In Adversity It Is The Most Difficult Of All Things.

The Pleasure Which We Most Rarely Experience Gives Us Greatest Delight.

You Make Me Happy

If You Want To Improve, Be Content To Be Thought Foolish And Stupid.

When The Idea, Of Any Pleasure Strikes Your Imagination... Let That Time Be Employed In Making A Just Computation Between, The Duration Of The Pleasure, And That Of The Repentance Sure To Follow It.

No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly. There Must Be Time. Give Your Best And Always Be Kind.

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.

We Do Not Choose Our Own Parts In Life, And Have Nothing To Do With Those Parts. Our Duty Is Confined To Playing Them Well.

What Is Death? A Scary Mask. Take It Off-see, It Doesn't Bite.

He Who Exercises Wisdom Exercises The Knowledge Which Is About God.

If You Wish To Write, Write.

When We Act Pugnaciously, And Injuriously, And Angrily, And Rudely, To What Level Have We Degenerated? To The Level Of The Wild Beasts. Well, The Fact Is That Some Of Us Are Wild Beasts Of A Larger Size, While Others Are Little Animals, Malignant And Petty.

Contentment, As It Is A Short Road And Pleasant, Has Great Delight And Little Trouble.

We Need To Regularly Stop And Take Stock; To Sit Down And Determine Within Ourselves Which Things Are Worth Valuing And Which Things Are Not; Which Risks Are Worth The Cost And Which Are Not. Even The Most Confusing Or Hurtful Aspects Of Life Can Be Made More Tolerable By Clear Seeing And By Choice.

Men Are Disturbed Not By The Things That Happen, But By Their Opinion Of The Things That Happen.

Other People's Views And Troubles Can Be Contagious. Don't Sabotage Yourself By Unwittingly Adopting Negative, Unproductive Attitudes Through Your Associations With Others.

Any Person Capable Of Angering You Becomes Your Master; He Can Anger You Only When You Permit Yourself To Be Disturbed By Him.

Every Place Is Safe To Him Who Lives With Justice.

If You Think You Control Things That Are In The Control Of Others, You Will Lament. You Will Be Disturbed And You Will Blame Both Gods And Men.

All Philosophy Lies In Two Words, Sustain And Abstain.

A Half-hearted Spirit Has No Power. Tentative Efforts Lead To Tentative Outcomes. Average People Enter Into Their Endeavors Headlong And Without Care.

It Doesn't Take Much To Lose Everything, Just A Little Departure From Reason

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?

We Should Not Have Either A Blunt Knife Or A Freedom Of Speech Which Is Ill-managed.

Freedom Of Speech

The Universe Is But One Great City, Full Of Beloved Ones, Divine And Human, By Nature Endeared To Each Other.

Contentment Comes Not So Much From Great Wealth As From Few Wants.

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.

Suffering Arises From Trying To Control What Is Uncontrollable, Or From Neglecting What Is Within Our Power.

Progress Is Not Achieved By Luck Or Accident, But By Working On Yourself Daily.

Working On Yourself

Is Freedom Anything Else Than The Power Of Living As We Choose? Nothing Else. Tell Me Then, You Men, Do You Wish To Live In Error? We Do Not. No One Who Lives In Error Is Free. Do You Wish To Live In Fear? Do You Wish To Live In Sorrow? Do You Wish To Live In Tension? By No Means. No One Who Is In A State Of Fear Or Sorrow Or Tension Is Free, But Whoever Is Delivered From Sorrows Or Fears Or Anxieties, He Is At The Same Time Also Delivered From Servitude.

Attach Yourself To What Is Spiritually Superior, Regardless Of What Other People Think Or Do. Hold To Your True Aspirations No Matter What Is Going On Around You.

We Can't Control The Impressions Others Form About Us, And The Effort To Do So Only Debases Our Character.

First Learn The Meaning Of What You Say, And Then Speak.

When Our Friends Are Present We Ought To Treat Them Well; And When They Are Absent, To Speak Of Them Well.

Pleasure, Like A Kind Of Bait, Is Thrown Before Everything Which Is Really Bad, And Easily Allures Greedy Souls To The Hook Of Perdition.

It Is No Easy Thing For A Principle To Become A Man's Own Unless Each Day He Maintains It And Works It Out In His Life.

Do Not So Much Be Ashamed Of That Disgrace Which Proceeds From Men's Opinion As Fly From That Which Comes From The Truth.

Bear In Mind That You Should Conduct Yourself In Life As At A Feast.

Wherever Any One Is Against His Will, That Is To Him A Prison.

Freedom Is Not Procured By A Full Enjoyment Of What Is Desired, But By Controlling The Desire.

Some Things Are In Our Control And Others Not. Things In Our Control Are Opinion, Pursuit, Desire, Aversion, And, In A Word, Whatever Are Our Own Actions. Things Not In Our Control Are Body, Property, Reputation, Command, And, In One Word, Whatever Are Not Our Own Actions.

We Cannot Choose Our External Circumstances, But We Can Always Choose How We Respond To Them.

You Will Do The Greatest Service To The State If You Shall Raise, Not The Roofs Of The Houses, But The Souls Of The Citizens: For It Is Better That Great Souls Should Dwell In Small Houses Rather Than For Mean Slaves To Lurk In Great Houses.

Desire And Happiness Cannot Live Together.

What Disturbs People, These Are Not Things, But The Judgments Relating To Things

Envy Is The Antagonist Of The Fortunate.

What Will The World Be Quite Overturned When You Die?

Never Say About Anything, "i Have Lost It," But Only "i Have Given It Back." Is Your Child Dead? It Has Been Given Back. Is Your Wife Dead? She Has Been Returned.

When You Are Offended At Any Man's Fault, Turn To Yourself And Study Your Own Failings. Then You Will Forget Your Anger.

When Something Happens, The Only Thing In Your Power Is Your Attitude Toward It. It Is Not The Things That Disturb Us, But Our Interpretation Of Their Significance. Things And People Are Not What We Wish Them To Be Nor Are They What They Seem To Be. They Are What They Are.

Nothing Outside The Will Can Hinder Or Harm The Will; It Can Only Harm Itself. If Then We Accept This, And, When Things Go Amiss, Are Inclined To Blame Ourselves, Remembering That Judgment Alone Can Disturb Our Peace And Constancy, I Swear To You By All The Gods That We Have Made Progress.

We Ought To Flee The Friendship Of The Wicked, And The Enmity Of The Good.

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.

In Theory It Is Easy To Convince An Ignorant Person; In Actual Life, Men Not Only Object To Offer Themselves To Be Convinced, But Hate The Man Who Has Convinced Them.

If You Want To Improve, Be Content To Be Thought Foolish And Stupid With Regard To External Things. Don't Wish To Be Thought To Know Anything; And Even If You Appear To Be Somebody Important To Others, Distrust Yourself. For, It Is Difficult To Both Keep Your Faculty Of Choice In A State Conformable To Nature, And At The Same Time Acquire External Things. But While You Are Careful About The One, You Must Of Necessity Neglect The Other

Fortune Is An Evil Chain To The Body, And Vice To The Soul.

It Is Better By Assenting To Truth To Conquer Opinion, Than By Assenting To Opinion To Be Conquered By Truth.

What Is It To Be A Philosopher? Is It Not To Be Prepared Against Events?

To Be Getting An Education Means This: To Be Learning What Is Your Own, And What Is Not Your Own.

One Of The Best Ways To Elevate Your Character Is To Emulate Worthy Role Models

If You Desire To Be Good, Begin By Believing That You Are Wicked.

What Is Learned Without Pleasure Is Forgotten Without Remorse.

Freedom And Happiness Are Won By Disregarding Things That Lie Beyond Our Control.

Freedom And Happiness

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.

Avoid Banquets Which Are Given By Strangers An Ignorant Persons. But If There Is Ever Occasion To Join Them, Let Your Attention Be Carefully Fixed, That You Slip Not Into The Manner Of The Vulgar (the Uninstructed).

Fortify Yourself With Contentment, For This Is An Impregnable Fortress.

At Every Occasion In Your Life, Do Not Forget To Commune With Yourself And Ask Of Yourself How You Can Profit By It.

Things Themselves Don't Hurt Or Hinder Us. Things Simply Are What They Are. How We View These Things Is Another Matter.people Think What They Will Think; It Is Of No Concern To Us.

If You Would Be Good, First Believe That You Are Bad.

Dare To Look Up To God And Say, Deal With Me In The Future As Thou Wilt; I Am Of The Same Mind As Thou Art; I Am Thine; I Refuse Nothing That Pleases Thee; Lead Me Where Thou Wilt; Clothe Me In Any Dress Thou Choosest.

Know, First, Who You Are, And Then Adorn Yourself Accordingly.

On The Occasion Of Every Accident That Befalls You, Remember To Turn To Yourself And Inquire What Power You Have For Turning It To Use.

Nature Hath Given Men One Tongue But Two Ears, That We May Hear From Others Twice As Much As We Speak.

You Can Be Happy If You Know This Secret: Some Things Are Within Your Power To Control And Some Things Are Not.

Everything Has Two Handles,-one By Which It May Be Borne; Another By Which It Cannot.

O Slavish Man! Will You Not Bear With Your Own Brother, Who Has God For His Father, As Being A Son From The Same Stock, And Of The Same High Descent? But If You Chance To Be Placed In Some Superior Station, Will You Presently Set Yourself Up For A Tyrant?

In The Long Run, Every Man Will Pay The Penalty For This Own Misdeeds.

In Life Our First Job Is This, To Divide And Distinguish Things Into Two Categories: Externals I Cannot Control, But The Choices I Make With Regard To Them I Do Control. Where Will I Find Good And Bad? In Me, In My Choices.

A Guide, On Finding A Man Who Has Lost His Way, Brings Him Back To The Right Path—he Does Not Mock And Jeer At Him And Then Take Himself Off. You Also Must Show The Unlearned Man The Truth, And You Will See That He Will Follow. But So Long As You Do Not Show It Him, You Should Not Mock, But Rather Feel Your Own Incapacity.

In Order To Please Others, We Loose Our Hold On Our Life's Purpose.

I Must Die. I Must Be Imprisoned. I Must Suffer Exile. But Must I Die Groaning? Must I Whine As Well? Can Anyone Hinder Me From Going Into Exile With A Smile? The Master Threatens To Chain Me: What Say You? Chain Me? My Leg You Will Chain--yes, But Not My Will--no, Not Even Zeus Can Conquer That.

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."

As A Man, Casting Off Worn Out Garments Taketh New Ones, So The Dweller In The Body, Entereth Into Ones That Are New.

It Is My Business, To Manage Carefully And Dexterously Whatever Happens

Whatever Happens

Do You Know That Disease And Death Must Needs Overtake Us, No Matter What We Are Doing?... What Do You Wish To Be Doing When It Overtakes You?... If You Have Anything Better To Be Doing When You Are So Overtaken, Get To Work On That.

Disease And Death

What Thou Avoidest Suffering Thyself Seek Not To Impose On Others.

Happiness Is An Equivalent For All Troublesome Things.

It 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.

Who 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?

To Adorn Our Characters By The Charm Of An Amiable Nature Shows At Once A Lover Of Beauty And A Lover Of Man.

We Should Do Everything Both Cautiously And Confidently At The Same Time.

Try To Enjoy The Great Festival Of Life With Other Men!

The Two Powers Which In My Opinion Constitute A Wise Man Are Those Of Bearing And Forbearing.

From Now On Practice Saying To Everything That Appears Unpleasant: You Are Merely An Appearance And Not What You Appear To Be.

It's Not What Happens To You, But How You React To It That Matters.

Unless We Place Our Religion And Our Treasure In The Same Thing, Religion Will Always Be Sacrificed.

To Epictetus, All External Events Are Determined By Fate, And Are Thus Beyond Our Control, But We Can Accept Whatever Happens Calmly And Dispassionately. Individuals, However, Are Responsible For Their Own Actions Which They Can Examine And Control Through Rigorous Self-discipline. Suffering Arises From Trying To Control What Is Uncontrollable, Or From Neglecting What Is Within Our Power. As Part Of The Universal City That Is The Universe, Human Beings Have A Duty Of Care To All Fellow Humans. The Person Who Followed These Precepts Would Achieve Happiness.

Don't Just Say You Have Read Books. Show That Through Them You Have Learned To Think Better, To Be A More Discriminating And Reflective Person. Books Are The Training Weights Of The Mind. They Are Very Helpful, But It Would Be A Bad Mistake To Suppose That One Has Made Progress Simply By Having Internalized Their Contents." Translation By Sharon Lebell

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.

It Is Not Things In Themselves Which Trouble Us, But Our Opinions Of Things.

If Someone Irritates You, It Is Only Your Own Response That Is Irritating You. Therefore, When Anyone Seems To Be Provoking You, Remember That It Is Only Your Judgment Of The Incident That Provokes You. -

We Must Be Afraid Of Neither Poverty Nor Exile Nor Imprisonment; Of Fear Itself Only Should We Be Afraid.

If What Charms You Is Nothing But Abstract Principles, Sit Down And Turn Them Over Quietly In Your Mind: But Never Dub Yourself A Philosopher.

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.

Seek Not The Good In External Things;seek It In Yourselves.

Silence Is Safer Than Speech.

Bid A Singer In A Chorus, Know Thyself; And Will He Not Turn For The Knowledge To The Others, His Fellows In The Chorus, And To His Harmony With Them?

The Foolish And The Uneducated Have Little Use For Freedom. Only The Educated Are Free.

An Ignorant Person Is Inclined To Blame Others For His Own Misfortune. To Blame Oneself Is Proof Of Progress. But The Wise Man Never Has To Blame Another Or Himself.

Events Do Not Just Happen, But Arrive By Appointment.

Act Well Your Given Part; The Choice Rests Not With You.

Fight 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.

To Pay Homage To Beauty Is To Admire Nature; To Admire Nature Is To Worship God

Make It Your Business To Draw Out The Best In Others By Being An Exemplar Yourself.

Exceed Due Measure, And The Most Delightful Things Become The Least Delightful.

Delightful Things

Not Things, But Opinions About Things, Trouble Men.

He Is A Drunkard Who Takes More Than Three Glasses Though He Be Not Drunk.

It Is Not The Events But Our Viewpoint Toward Events That Is The Determining Factor. We Ought To Be More Concerned About Removing Wrong Thoughts From The Mind Than Removing Tumors And Abscesses From The Body.

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