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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.

-Epictetus

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Inner Peace Begins When

Epictetus

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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.

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It Is The Act Of An Ill-instructed Man To Blame Others For His Own Bad Condition; It Is The Act Of One Who Has Begun To Be Instructed, To Lay The Blame On Himself; And Of One Whose Instruction Is Completed, Neither To Blame Another, Nor Himself.

People Are Not Disturbed By Things, But By The View They Take Of Them.

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

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

Happiness And Personal Fulfillment Are The Natural Consequences Of Doing The Right Thing.

Doing The Right Thing

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

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.

If Anyone Is Unhappy, Remember That His Unhappiness Is His Own Fault... Nothing Else Is The Cause Of Anxiety Or Loss Of Tranquility Except Our Own Opinion.

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

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.

It Is Better To Advise Than Upbraid, For The One Corrects The Erring; The Other Only Convicts Them.

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

No Greater Thing 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.

We All Carry The Seeds Of Greatness Within Us, But We Need An Image As A Point Of Focus In Order That They May Sprout.

Happiness And Freedom Begin With A Clear Understanding Of One Principle: Some Things Are Within Our Control, And Some Things Are Not.

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

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

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

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.

It's So Simple Really: If You Say You're Going To Do Something, Do It. If You Start Something, Finish It.

All Philosophy Lies In Two Words, Sustain And Abstain.

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

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

Positive Thinking

Power Of Positive Thinking

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

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.

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.

Think Of God Oftener Than You Breathe.

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

You Make Me Happy

From This Instant On, Vow To Stop Disappointing Yourself. Separate Yourself From The Mob. Decide To Be Extraordinary And Do What You Need To Do -- Now.

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

Never Look For Your Work In One Place And Your Progress In Another.

To Live A Life Of Virtue, You Have To Become Consistent, Even When It Isn't Convenient, Comfortable, Or Easy.

Have The Wisdom To Know What Cannot Be Changed, And The Strength To Change What Can.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Everything Has Two Handles; The One Soft And Manageable, The Other Such As Will Not Endure To Be Touched. If Then Your Brother Do You An Injury, Do Not Take It By The Hot Hard Handle, By Representing To Yourself All The Aggravating Circumstances Of The Fact; But Look Rather On The Soft Side, And Extenuate It As Much As Is Possible, By Considering The Nearness Of The Relation, And The Long Friendship And Familiarity Between You--obligations To Kindness Which A Single Provocation Ought Not To Dissolve. And Thus You Will Take The Accident By Its Manageable Handle.

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

Although We Can't Control Which Roles Are Assigned To Us, It Must Be Our Business To Act Our Given Role As Best We Possibly Can And To Refrain From Complaining About It. Where Ever You Find Yourself And In Whatever Circumstances, Give An Impeccable Performance.

Finding Yourself

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

Do Not Try To Seem Wise To Others.

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

Silence Is Safer Than Speech.

Sickness Is A Hindrance To The Body, But Not To Your Ability To Choose, Unless That Is Your Choice. Lameness Is A Hindrance To The Leg, But Not To Your Ability To Choose. Say This To Yourself With Regard To Everything That Happens, Then You Will See Such Obstacles As Hindrances To Something Else, But Not To Yourself.

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.

I Laugh At Those Who Think They Can Damage Me. They Do Not Know Who I Am, They Do Not Know What I Think, They Cannot Even Touch The Things Which Are Really Mine And With Which I Live.

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.

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

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

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.

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

You Are A Principal Work, A Fragment Of [goddess Herself], You Have In Yourself A Part Of [her]. Why Then Are You Ignorant Of Your High Birth?

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.

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

If You Wish To Be A Writer, Write.

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.

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

If You Have Assumed A Character Above Your Strength, You Have Both Acted In This Matter In An Unbecoming Way, And You Have Neglected That Which You Might Have Fulfilled.

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.

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

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.

We Must Ever Bear In Mind --that Apart From The Will There Is Nothing Good Or Bad, And That We Must Not Try To Anticipate Or To Direct Events, But Merely To Accept Them With Intelligence.

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.

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.

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.

Man Is Troubled Not By Events, But By The Meaning He Gives Them.

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

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

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

The Greater The Difficulty The More Glory In Surmounting It. Skillful Pilots Gain Their Reputation From Storms And Tempests.

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

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

Your Master Is He Who Controls That On Which You Have Set Your Heart Or Wish To Avoid.

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.

It Is Impossible To Begin To Learn That Which One Thinks One Already Knows.

I Am Always Content With What Happens; For I Know That What God Chooses Is Better Than What I Choose.

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.

It Is Not He Who Gives Abuse That Affronts, But The View That We Take Of It As Insulting; So That When One Provokes You It Is Your Own Opinion Which Is Provoking.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Every Habit And Faculty Is Preserved And Increased By Correspondent Actions, As The Habit Of Walking, By Walking; Of Running, By Running.

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

Cowardice, The Dread Of What Will Happen.

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

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.

Control Thy Passions Lest They Take Vengence On Thee.

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

If Thou Rememberest That God Standeth By To Behold And Visit All That Thou Doest; Whether In The Body Or In The Soul, Thou Surely Wilt Not Err In Any Prayer Or Deed; And Thou Shalt Have God To Dwell With Thee.

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

Finding Yourself

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

We Are Not To Lead Events, But To Follow Them.

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

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

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. -

The Wise Realize That Some Things Are Within Their Control, And Most Things Are Not. They Learn Early On To Distinguish Between What They Can And Can't Regulate.

Keep Your Attention Focused Entirely On What Is Truly Your Own Concern, And Be Clear That What Belongs To Others Is Their Business And None Of Yours.

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

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

-….when Things Seem To Have Reached That Stage, Merely Say “i Won’t Play Any Longer”, And Take Your Departure; But If You Stay, Stop Lamenting.

Whoever Does Not Regard What He Has As Most Ample Wealth, Is Unhappy, Though He Be Master Of The World.

When A Man Is Proud Because He Can Understand And Explain The Writings Of Chrysippus, Say To Yourself, 'if Chrysippus Had Not Written Obscurely, This Man Would Have Had Nothing To Be Proud Of.'

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

I Have To Die. If It Is Now, Well Then I Die Now; If Later, Then Now I Will Take My Lunch, Since The Hour For Lunch Has Arrived - And Dying I Will Tend To Later.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Don't Seek To Have Events Happen As You Wish, But Wish Them To Happen As They Do Happen, And All Will Be Well With You.

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

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.

Why, Do You Not Know, Then, That The Origin Of All Human Evils, And Of Baseness, And Cowardice, Is Not Death, But Rather The Fear Of Death?

Nothing Great Is Created Suddenly, Any More Than A Bunch Of Grapes Or A Fig.

Greek Philosopher

The Best Place To Get Help Is From Yourself.

The Essence Of Philosophy Is That A Man Should So Live That His Happiness Shall Depend As Little As Possible On External Things.

When Any Person Treats You Ill Or Speaks Ill Of You, Remember That He Does This Or Says This Because He Thinks It Is His Duty. It Is Not Possible, Then, For Him To Follow That Which Seems Right To You, But That Which Seems Right To Himself.

It Is Not My Place In Society That Makes Me Well Off, But My Judgements, And These I Can Carry With Me... These Alone Are My Own And Cannot Be Taken Away.

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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

Not Every Difficult And Dangerous Thing Is Suitable For Training, But Only That Which Is Conducive To Success In Achieving The Object Of Our Effort.

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

No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly.

Inspirational Life

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?

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

Freedom And Happiness

Appearances To The Mind Are Of Four Kinds. Things Either Are What They Appear To Be; Or They Neither Are, Nor Appear To Be; Or They Are, And Do Not Appear To Be; Or They Are Not, And Yet Appear To Be. Rightly To Aim In All These Cases Is The Wise Man's Task.

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.

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.

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

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

It Is Unlikely That The Good Of A Snail Should Reside In Its Shell: So Is It Likely That The Good Of A Man Should?

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).

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

When We Blather About Trivial Things, We Ourselves Become Trivial, For Our Attention Gets Taken Up With Trivialities. You Become What You Give Your Attention To.

Embrace Reality. Think About What Delights You - The Small Luxuries On Which You Depend, The People Whom You Cherish Most. But Remember That They Have Their Own Distinct Character, Which Is Quite A Separate Matter From How We Happen To Regard Them.

It Is Wicked To Withdraw From Being Useful To The Needy, And Cowardly To Give Way To The Worthless.

Liars Are The Cause Of All The Sins And Crimes In The World.

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

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.

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

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

Pain Or Pleasure? I Say Pleasure.

Reason Is Not Measured By Size Or Height, But By Principle.

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

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!’.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Remember That You Ought To Behave In Life As You Would At A Banquet. As Something Is Being Passed Around It Comes To You; Stretch Out Your Hand, Take A Portion Of It Politely. It Passes On; Do Not Detain It. Or It Has Not Come To You Yet; Do Not Project Your Desire To Meet It, But Wait Until It Comes In Front Of You. So Act Toward Children, So Toward A Wife, So Toward Office, So Toward Wealth.

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.

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.

Think Of God More Often Than Thou Breathest.

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

Every Art And Every Faculty Contemplates Certain Things As Its Principal Objects.

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.

Every Difficulty In Life Presents Us With An Opportunity To Turn Inward And To Invoke Our Own Submerged Inner Resources. The Trials We Endure Can And Should Introduce Us To Our Strengths.

What Else Can I Do, A Lame Old Man, But Sing Hymns To God? If I Were A Nightingale, I Would Do The Nightingale's Part; If I Were A Swan, I Would Do As A Swan. But Now I Am A Rational Creature, And I Ought To Praise God. This Is My Work. I Do It, Nor Will I Desert My Post, So Long As I Am Allowed To Keep It. And I Ask You To Join Me In This Same Song.

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.

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.

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.

As You Think, So You Become.....our Busy Minds Are Forever Jumping To Conclusions, Manufacturing And Interpreting Signs That Aren't There.

Envy Is The Antagonist Of The Fortunate.

Authentic Happiness Is Always Independent Of External Conditions.

Authentic Happiness

It Is Not Events That Disturb The Minds Of Men, But The View They Take Of Them.

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

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.

Remember That You Are But An Actor, Acting Whatever Part The Master Has Ordained. It May Be Short Or It May Be Long. If He Wishes You To Represent A Poor Man, Do So Heartily; If A Cripple, Or A Magistrate, Or A Private Man, In Each Case Act Your Part With Honor.

It Is Not So Much What Happens To You As How You Think About What Happens." Epictetus

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

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.

If Thy Brother Wrongs Thee, Remember Not So Much His Wrong-doing, But More Than Ever That He Is Thy Brother.

When You Let Go Of Your Attention For A Little While, Do Not Think You May Recover It Whenever You Please.

When Something Happens, The Only Thing In Your Power Is Your Attitude Toward It; You Can Either Accept It Or Resent It.

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

Since It Is Reason Which Shapes And Regulates All Other Things, It Ought Not Itself To Be Left In Disorder.

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.

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

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.

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

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