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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.

-Epictetus

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These Reasonings Are Unconnected:

Epictetus

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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.

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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.

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

Freedom Of Speech

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

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.

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

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.

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

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. -

Every Place Is Safe To Him Who Lives With Justice.

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

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.

The Origin Of Sorrow Is This: To Wish For Something That Does Not Come To Pass.

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

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.

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.

Events Do Not Just Happen, But Arrive By Appointment.

Who Is Not Attracted By Bright And Pleasant Children, To Prattle, To Creep, And To Play With Them?

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.

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

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.

The Good Or Ill Of A Man Lies Within His Own Will.

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.

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.

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

Men Are Not Afraid Of Things, But Of How They View Them.

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

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

There Are Some Things Which Men Confess With Ease, And Others With Difficulty.

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.

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.

Remember That You Are An Actor In A Play, And That The Playwright Chooses The Manner Of It: If He Wants You To Act A Poor Man You Must Act The Part With All Your Powers; And So If Your Part Be A Cripple Or A Magistrate Or A Plain Man. For Your Business Is To Act The Character That Is Given You And Act It Well. The Choice Of The Cast Is Another's.

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

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

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

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.

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 Trying To Please Other People, We Find Ourselves Misdirected Toward What Lies Outside Our Sphere Of Influence. In Doing So, We Lose Our Hold On Our Lifes Purpose.

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?"

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 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.

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

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

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?

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.

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.

The Soul Is Unwillingly Deprived Of Truth.

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

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

Confidence In Nonsense Is A Requirement For The Creative Process.

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God Has Made All Men To Be Happy.

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

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Wisdom Means Understanding Without Any Doubt That Circumstances Do Not Rise To Meet Our Expectations. Events Happen As They May. People Behave As They Will.

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

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

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

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.

Wish That Everything Should Come About Just As It Does.

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

If You Hear That Someone Is Speaking Ill Of You, Instead Of Trying To Defend Yourself You Should Say: 'he Obviously Does Not Know Me Very Well, Since There Are So Many Other Faults He Could Have Mentioned.'

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.

Any Person Capable Of Angering You Becomes Your Master.

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

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

Be Not Diverted From Your Duty By Any Idle Reflections The Silly World May Make Upon You, For Their Censures Are Not In Your Power And Should Not Be At All Your Concerns.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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?

Freedom Is The Only Worthy Goal In Life. It Is Won By Disregarding Things That Lie Beyond Our Control. Stop Aspiring To Be Anyone Other Than Your Own Best Self: For That Does Fall Within Your Control.

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.

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

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

The Key Is To Keep Company Only With People Who Uplift You, Whose Presence Calls Forth Your Best.

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

"but To Be Hanged - Is That Not Unendurable?" Even So, When A Man Feels That It Is Reasonable, He Goes Off And Hangs Himself.

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.

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

All Human Beings Seek The Happy Life, But Many Confuse The Means - For Example, Wealth And Status - With That Life Itself. This Misguided Focus On The Means To A Good Life Makes People Get Further From The Happy Life. The Really Worthwhile Things Are The Virtuous Activities That Make Up The Happy Life, Not The External Means That May Seem To Produce It.

Preach Not To Others What They Should Eat, But Eat As Becomes You And Be Silent.

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

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?

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

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.

I Am Not Eternity, But A Man; A Part Of The Whole, As An Hour Is Of The Day.

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.

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

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

Working On Yourself

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

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 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.

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.

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

Opportunity Beckons More Surely When Misfortune Comes Upon A Person Than It Ever Does When That Person Is Riding The Crest Of A Wave Of Success. It Sharpens A Person's Wits, If That Person Will Let It, Enabling Him Or Her To See More Clearly And Evaluate Situations With A More Knowledgeable Judgment.

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

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

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

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

If I Can Acquire Money And Also Keep Myself Modest And Faithful And Magnanimous, Point Out The Way, And I Will Acquire It.

If You Wish To Be A Writer, Write.

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

Greek Philosopher

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

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.

What Is Yours Is To Play The Assigned Part Well. But To Choose It Belongs To Someone Else

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.

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.

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.

In Every Affair Consider What Precedes And What Follows, And Then Undertake It

Seek To Be The Purple Thread In The Long White Gown.

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.

The Best Place To Get Help Is From Yourself.

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.

Do Not Try To Seem Wise To Others.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

No Living Being Is Held By Anything So Strongly As By Its Own Needs. Whatever Therefore Appears A Hindrance To These, Be It Brother, Or Father, Or Child, Or Mistress, Or Friend, Is Hated, Abhorred, Execrated.

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.

Seek Not That The Things Which Happen Should Happen As You Wish; But Wish The Things Which Happen To Be As They Are, And You Will Have A Tranquil Flow Of Life.

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

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

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

Survey And Test A Prospective Action Before Undertaking It. Before You Proceed, Step Back And Look At The Big Picture, Lest You Act Rashly On Raw Impulse.

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.

Learn To Distinguish What You Can And Can't Control. Within Our Control Are Our Own Opinions, Aspirations, Desires And The Things That Repel Us. They Are Directly Subject To Our Influence.

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

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

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

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

Desire And Happiness Cannot Live Together.

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.

If You Do Not Wish To Be Prone To Anger, Do Not Feed The Habit; Give It Nothing Which May Tend To Its Increase.

With Ills Unending Strives The Putter Off.

No Man Is Disturbed By Things, But By His Opinion About Things.

You Know Yourself What You Are Worth In Your Own Eyes; And At What Price You Will Sell Yourself. For Men Sell Themselves At Various Prices. This Is Why, When Florus Was Deliberating Whether He Should Appear At Nero's Shows, Taking Part In The Performance Himself, Agrippinus Replied, 'appear By All Means.' And When Florus Inquired, 'but Why Do Not You Appear?' He Answered, 'because I Do Not Even Consider The Question.'

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!’.

If You Wish To Write, Write.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Nothing Great Comes Into Being All At Once.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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."

Pain Or Pleasure? I Say Pleasure.

Envy Is The Antagonist Of The Fortunate.

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.

Man Is Not Worried By Real Problems So Much As By His Imagined Anxieties About Real Problems

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?

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.

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.

There Is But One Way To Tranquility Of Mind And Happiness, And That Is To Account No External Things Thine Own, But To Commit All To God.

Never Say Of Anything I Have Lost It, Only Say That I Have Given It Back.

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

Think Of God Oftener Than You Breathe.

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

Unremarkable Lives Are Marked By The Fear Of Not Looking Capable When Trying Something New.

Trying Something New

There Is Only One Way To Happiness And That Is To Cease Worrying About Things Which Are Beyond The Power Of Our Will.

The People Have A Right To The Truth As They Have A Right To Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness.

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

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.

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?

Don't Explain Your Philosophy. Embody It.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

What Is Learned Without Pleasure Is Forgotten Without Remorse.

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

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

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Delphine De Girardin

Zack De La Rocha

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