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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.

-Epictetus

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If You Set Your

Epictetus

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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.

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When A Youth Was Giving Himself Airs In The Theatre And Saying, 'i Am Wise, For I Have Conversed With Many Wise Men,' Epictetus Replied, 'i Too Have Conversed With Many Rich Men, Yet I Am Not Rich!’.

A Ship Should Not Be Held By A Single Anchor; Neither Should Life Depend Upon A Single Hope.

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

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

Whatever Happens

Books Are The Training Weights Of The Mind.

We Should Not Moor A Ship With One Anchor, Or Our Life With One Hope.

You Are A Little Soul Carrying Around A Corpse.

First Tell Yourself What You Want To Be, Then Do What You Need To Do.

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.

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

If You Wish To Live A Life Free From Sorrow, Think Of What Is Going To Happen As If It Had Already Happened.

Ask Yourself, "how Are My Thoughts, Words And Deeds Affecting My Friends, My Spouse, My Neighbour, My Child, My Employer, My Subordinates, My Fellow Citizens?"

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.

No Matter What Happens, It Is Within My Power To Turn It To My Advantage.

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

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

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.

When Men Are Unhappy, They Do Not Imagine They Can Ever Cease To Be So; And When Some Calamity Has Fallen On Them, They Do Not See How They Can Get Rid Of It. Nevertheless, Both Arrive; And The Gods Have Ordered It So, In The End Men Seek It From The Gods

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

You May Be Always Victorious If You Will Never Enter Into Any Contest Where The Issue Does Not Wholly Depend Upon Yourself.

It Is Not He Who Reviles Or Strikes You Who Insults You, But Your Opinion That These Things Are Insulting.

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

Control Thy Passions Lest They Take Vengence On Thee.

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.

If You Can Make Music With Someone You Don't Need Words. If You Wish To Be A Writer, Write.

It Takes More Than Just A Good Looking Body. You've Got To Have The Heart And Soul To Go With It.

Don't Be Prideful With Any Excellence That Is Not Your Own

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

Follow Your Heart

To Make Anything A Habit, Do It; To Not Make It A Habit, Do Not Do It; To Unmake A Habit, Do Something Else In Place Of It.

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

No Man Is Free Who Is Not Master Of Himself.

Envy Is The Antagonist Of The Fortunate.

If Someone Speaks Badly Of You, Do Not Defend Yourself Against The Accusations, But Reply; "you Obviously Don't Know About My Other Vices, Otherwise You Would Have Mentioned These As Well

At This Time Is Freedom Anything But The Right To Live As We Wish? Nothing Else.

You Can Be Invincible, If You Enter Into No Contest In Which It Is Not In Your Power To Conquer.

Never Depend On The Admiration Of Others For Self-satisfaction. It Is A Fact Of Life That Other People, Even People Who Love You, Will Not Necessarily Agree With Your Ideas, Understand You Always, Or Share Your Enthusiasms.

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.

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

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

No Man Is Able To Make Progress When He Is Wavering Between Opposite Things.

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

A Soul That Makes Virtue Its Companion Is Like An Over-flowing Well, For It Is Clean And Pellucid, Sweet And Wholesome, Open To All, Rich, Blameless And Indestructible.

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.

Do Nothing In A Depressed Mood, Nor As One Afflicted, Nor As Thinking That You Are In Misery, For No One Compels You To That.

Freedom Isn't The Right Or Ability To Do Whatever You Please. Freedom Comes From Understanding The Limits Of Our Own Power And The Inherent Limits Set In Place By Nature. By Accepting Life's Limits And Inevitabilities And Working With Them Rather Than Fighting Them, You Become Truly Free.

Anything Worth Putting Off Is Worth Abandoning Altogether.

Procrastination

If Evil Be Spoken Of You And It Be True, Correct Yourself, If It Be A Lie, Laugh At It.

Do Not Laugh Much Or Often Or Unrestrainedly.

Keep Silence For The Most Part, And Speak Only When You Must, And Then Briefly.

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

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

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

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.

Tentative Efforts Lead To Tentative Outcome.

It Is The Nature Of The Wise To Resist Pleasures, But The Foolish To Be A Slave To Them.

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One That Desires To Excel Should Endeavor In Those Things That Are In Themselves Most Excellent.

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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.

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

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

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.

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

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

A Vulgar Man, In Any Ill That Happens To Him, Blames Others; A Novice In Philosophy Blames Himself; And A Philosopher Blames Neither, The One Nor The Other.

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

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.

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

The Materials Are Indifferent, But The Use We Make Of Them Is Not A Matter Of Indifference.

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Cowardice, The Dread Of What Will Happen.

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

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.

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

Neither Should A Ship Rely On One Small Anchor, Nor Should Life Rest On A Single Hope.

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.

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 A Word, Neither Death, Nor Exile, Nor Pain, Nor Anything Of This Kind Is The Real Cause Of Our Doing Or Not Doing Any Action, But Our Inward Opinions And Principles.

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

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

Don't Be Concerned Who Is Watching You. The Triumphs And Merits Of Others Belong To Them - As Do Yours To You. Make The Most Of What You've Got.

If A Man Is Unhappy, Remember That His Unhappiness Is His Own Fault, For God Made All Men To Be Happy.

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.

What Is A Child? Ignorance. What Is A Child? Want Of Instruction.

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.

Confident Because Of Our Caution

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.

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

Wealth Consists Not In Having Great Possessions, But In Having Few Wants.

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

When You Actively Engage In Gradually Refining Yourself, You Retreat From Your Lazy Ways Of Covering Yourself Or Making Excuses. Instead Of Feeling A Persistent Current Of Low-level Shame, You Move Forward By Using The Creative Possibilities Of This Moment, Your Current Situation.

What Will The World Be Quite Overturned When You Die?

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

Working On Yourself

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

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.

If You Would Improve, Submit To Be Considered Wihout Sense And Foolish With Respect To Externals. Wish To Be Considered To Know Nothing; And If You Shall Seem To Someone To Be A Person Of Importance, Distrust 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.

He Who Is Not Happy With Little Will Never Be Happy With Much.

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

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

Whenever You Are Angry, Be Assured That It Is Not Only A Present Evil, But That You Have Increased A Habit.

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.

Freedom Is Secured Not By The Fulfillment Of One's Desires, But By The Removal Of Desire.

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

Living A Good Life Leads To Enduring Happiness. Goodness In And Of Itself Is The Practice And The Reward.

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

Finding Yourself

What Hurts This Person Is Not The Occurrence Itself, For Another Person Might Not Feel Oppressed By This Situation At All. What Is Hurting This Person Is The Response He Or She Has Uncritically Adopted. It Is Not A Demonstration Of Kindness Or Friendship To The People We Care About To Join Them In Indulging In Wrongheaded, Negative Feelings.

Nothing Is In Reality Either Pleasant Or Unpleasant By Nature But All Things Become So Through Habit

Don't Regard What Anyone Says Of You, For This, After All, Is No Concern Of Yours.

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.

You Have Been Given Your Own Work To Do. Get To It Right Now, Do Your Best At It, And Don't Be Concerned With Who Is Watching You. Create Your Own Merit.

What Matters Most Is What Sort Of Person You Are Becoming. Wise Individuals Care Only About Whom They Are Today And Who They Can Be Tomorrow.

It Is Unreasonable To Think We Can Earn Rewards Without Being Willing To Pay Their True Price. It Is Always Our Choice Whether Or Not We Wish To Pay The Price For Life's Rewards.

Don’t Consent To Be Hurt And You Won’t Be Hurt – This Is A Choice Over Which You Have Control

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.

Be Careful Whom You Associate With. It Is Human To Imitate The Habits Of Those With Whom We Interact. We Inadvertently Adopt Their Interests, Their Opinions, Their Values, And Their Habit Of Interpreting Events.

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.

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 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.

These Reasonings Are Unconnected: "i Am Richer Than You, Therefore I Am Better"; "i Am More Eloquent Than You, Therefore I Am Better." The Connection Is Rather This: "i Am Richer Than You, Therefore My Property Is Greater Than Yours;" "i Am More Eloquent Than You, Therefore My Style Is Better Than Yours." But You, After All, Are Neither Property Nor Style.

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.

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

Either God Wants To Abolish Evil, And Cannot; Or He Can, But Does Not Want To.

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

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.

Covetousness Like Jealousy, When It Has Taken Root, Never Leaves A Person, But With Their Life. Cowardice Is The Dread Of What Will Happen.

Silence Is Safer Than Speech.

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.

No One Who Is In A State Of Fear Or Sorrow Or Tension Is Free, But Whosoever Is Delivered From Sorrows Or Fears Or Anxieties Is At The Same Time Delivered From Servitude.

And Have You Not Received Faculties Which Will Enable You To Bear All That Happens To You? Have You Not Received Greatness Of Spirit? Have You Not Received Courage? Have You Not Received Endurance?

The Flourishing Life Cannot Be Achieved Until We Moderate Our Desires And See How Superficial And Fleeting They Are.

Do Not Try To Seem Wise To Others.

Wish That Everything Should Come About Just As It Does.

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

Positive Thinking

Power Of Positive Thinking

If One Oversteps The Bounds Of Moderation, The Greatest Pleasures Cease To Please.

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

Freedom Of Speech

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

It’s Time To Stop Being Vague. If You Wish To Be An Extraordinary Person, If You Wish To Be Wise, Then You Should Explicitly Identify The Kind Of Person You Aspire To Become.

Extraordinary Person

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.

Nothing Truly Stops You. Nothing Truly Holds You Back. For Your Own Will Is Always Within Your Control. Sickness May Challenge Your Body. But Are You Merely Your Body? Lameness May Impede Your Legs. But You Are Not Merely Your Legs. Your Will Is Bigger Than Your Legs. Your Will Needn't Be Affected By An Incident Unless You Let It.

First Say To Yourself What You Would Be; And Then Do What You Have To Do.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Common And Vulgar People Ascribe All Ills That They Feel To Others; People Of Little Wisdom Ascribe To Themselves; People Of Much Wisdom, To No One.

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.

Don't Explain Your Philosophy. Embody It.

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

Let Silence Be Your General Rule; Or Say Only What Is Necessary And In Few Words.

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.

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.

The Beginning Of Philosophy Is The Recognition Of The Conflict Between Opinions.

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 Strive For Things Occurring To Occur As You Wish, But Wish The Things Occurring As They Occur, And You Will Flow Well.

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

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

If You Wish To Be A Writer, Write.

Our Duties Naturally Emerge Form Such Fundamental Relations As Our Families, Neighborhoods, Workplaces, Our State Or Nation. Make It Your Regular Habit To Consider Your Roles-parent, Child, Neighbor, Citizen, Leader-and The Natural Duties That Arise From Them. Once You Know Who You Are And To Whom You Are Linked, You Will Know What To Do.

If I Was A Nightingale I Would Sing Like A Nightingale; If A Swan, Like A Swan. But Since I Am A Rational Creature My Role Is To Praise God.

To Know That You Do Not Know And To Be Willing To Admit That You Do Not Know Without Sheepishly Apologizing Is Real Strength And Sets The Stage For Learning And Progress In Any Endeavor.

Every Place Is Safe To Him Who Lives With Justice.

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

Lampis The Ship Owner, On Being Asked How He Acquired His Great Wealth, Replied, My Great Wealth Was Acquired With No Difficulty, But My Small Wealth, My First Gains, With Much Labor.

Some Things Are Up To Us [eph' Hêmin] And Some Things Are Not Up To Us. Our Opinions Are Up To Us, And Our Impulses, Desires, Aversions–in Short, Whatever Is Our Own Doing. Our Bodies Are Not Up To Us, Nor Are Our Possessions, Our Reputations, Or Our Public Offices, Or, That Is, Whatever Is Not Our Own Doing.

It Is Difficulties That Show What Men Are. For The Future, In Case Of Any Difficulty, Remember That God, Like A Gymnastic Trainer, Has Pitted You Against A Rough Antagonist. For What End? That You May Be An Olympic Conqueror; And This Cannot Be Without Toil.

No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly.

Inspirational Life

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.

If You Seek Truth, You Will Not Seek To Gain A Victory By Every Possible Means; And When You Have Found Truth, You Need Not Fear Being Defeated.

He Is A Wise Man Who Does Not Grieve For The Things Which He Has Not, But Rejoices For Those Which He Has.

Does A Man Reproach Thee For Being Proud Or Ill-natured, Envious Or Conceited, Ignorant Or Detracting? Consider With Thyself Whether His Reproaches Are True. If They Are Not, Consider That Thou Art Not The Person Whom He Reproaches, But That He Reviles An Imaginary Being, And Perhaps Loves What Thou Really Art, Though He Hates What Thou Appearest To Be.

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.

Each Man's Life Is A Kind Of Campaign, And A Long And Complicated One At That. You Have To Maintain The Character Of A Soldier, And Do Each Separate Act At The Bidding Of The General.

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

Some Of Their Faults Men Readily Admit, But Others Not So Readily.

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

It Is Impossible For A Man To Learn What He Thinks He Already Knows.

To A Longer And Worse Life, A Shorter And Better Is By All Means To Be Preferred.

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

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

Delightful Things

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.

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

It Is Hard To Combine And Unite These Two Qualities, The Carefulness Of One Who Is Affected By Circumstances, And The Intrepidity Of One Who Heeds Them Not. But It Is Not Impossible: Else Were Happiness Also Impossible.

It Is Impossible That Happiness, And Yearning For What Is Not Present, Should Ever Be United.

Seek Not Good From Without; Seek It Within Yourselves, Or You Will Never Find It.

Choose The Life That Is Noblest, For Custom Can Make It Sweet To Thee.

Consider First The Nature Of The Business In Hand; Then Examine Thy Own Nature, Whether Thou Hast Strength To Undertake It.

If You Seek Truth You Will Not Seek Victory By Dishonorable Means, And If You Find Truth You Will Become Invincible.

Let Thy Speech Of God Be Renewed Day By Day, Aye, Rather Than Thy Meat And Drink.

Who Exactly Do You Want To Be? What Kind Of Person Do You Want To Be? What Are Your Personal Ideals? Whom Do You Admire? What Are Their Special Traits That You Would Make Your Own It's Time To Stop Being Vague. If You Wish To Be An Extraordinary Person, If You Wish To Become Wise, Then You Should Explicitly Identify The Kind Of Person You Aspire To Become. If You Have A Daybook, Write Down Who You're Trying To Be, So That You Can Refer To This Self-determination. Precisely Describe The Demeanor You Want To Adopt So That You May Preserve It When You Are By Yourself Or With Other People.

Renew Every Day Your Conversation With God: Do This Even In Preference To Eating. Think More Often Of God Than You Breathe.

We All Dread A Bodily Paralysis, And Would Make Use Of Every Contrivance To Avoid It; But None Of Us Is Troubled About A Paralysis Of The Soul.

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

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