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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.
-Epictetus
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We All Dread A

Epictetus
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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.

Understanding the Quote: "we all dread a bodily paralysis, and would make use of every..."

This quote by Epictetus reflects deeply on the theme of soul. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Soul, Use, Dread, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Epictetus interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Epictetus

Epictetus is celebrated for insightful thoughts on soul and use. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Soul
Use
Dread
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The Origin Of Sorrow Is This: To Wish For Something That Does Not Come To Pass.
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The Appearance Of Things To The Mind Is The Standard Of Every Action To Man.
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What Concerns Me Is Not The Way Things Are, But Rather The Way People Think Things Are.
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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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Things True And Evident Must Of Necessity Be Recognized By Those Who Would Contradict Them.
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The Key Is To Keep Company Only With People Who Uplift You, Whose Presence Calls Forth Your Best.
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If One Oversteps The Bounds Of Moderation, The Greatest Pleasures Cease To Please.
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Choose The Life That Is Noblest, For Custom Can Make It Sweet To Thee.
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Circumstances Don't Make The Man, They Only Reveal Him To Himself.
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When Something Happens, The Only Thing In Your Power Is Your Attitude Toward It; You Can Either Accept It Or Resent It.
Life
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You Can Be Invincible, If You Enter Into No Contest In Which It Is Not In Your Power To Conquer.
Power
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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.
Wish
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He Who Laughs At Himself Never Runs Out Of Things To Laugh At.
Running
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If You Would Be A Reader, Read; If A Writer, Write.
Writing
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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.
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You Can Be Happy If You Know This Secret: Some Things Are Within Your Power To Control And Some Things Are Not.
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Happiness And Personal Fulfillment Are The Natural Consequences Of Doing The Right Thing.
Natural
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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.
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Law Intends Indeed To Do Service To Human Life, But It Is Not Able When Men Do Not Choose To Accept Her Services; For It Is Only In Those Who Are Obedient To Her That She Displays Her Special Virtue.
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Everything Has Two Handles,-one By Which It May Be Borne; Another By Which It Cannot.
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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
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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.
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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.
Men
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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.
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Concerning The Gods, There Are Those Who Deny The Very Existence Of The Godhead; Others Say That It Exists, But Neither Bestirs Nor Concerns Itself Not Has Forethought Far Anything. A Third Party Attribute To It Existence And Forethought, But Only For Great And Heavenly Matters, Not For Anything That Is On Earth. A Fourth Party Admit Things On Earth As Well As In Heaven, But Only In General, And Not With Respect To Each Individual. A Fifth, Of Whom Were Ulysses And Socrates, Are Those That Cry: -- I Move Not Without Thy Knowledge!
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Moving
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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.
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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.
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Don't Regard What Anyone Says Of You, For This, After All, Is No Concern Of Yours.
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Men Are Not Troubled By Things Themselves, But By Their Thoughts About 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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Consider The Bigger Picture.....think Things Through And Fully Commit!
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It Is Not He Who Reviles Or Strikes You Who Insults You, But Your Opinion That These Things Are Insulting.
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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.
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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.
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If Virtue Promises Happiness, Prosperity And Peace, Then Progress In Virtue Is Progress In Each Of These For To Whatever Point The Perfection Of Anything Brings Us, Progress Is Always An Approach Toward It.
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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.
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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?
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Only The Educated Are Free.
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"but To Be Hanged - Is That Not Unendurable?" Even So, When A Man Feels That It Is Reasonable, He Goes Off And Hangs Himself.
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Never Look For Your Work In One Place And Your Progress In Another.
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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?
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Give Me By All Means The Shorter And Nobler Life, Instead Of One That Is Longer But Of Less Account!
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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.
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As It Is Pleasant To See The Sea From The Land, So It Is Pleasant For Him Who Has Escaped From Troubles To Think Of Them.
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You Bear God Within You, Poor Wretch, And Know It Not.
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Unless We Place Our Religion And Our Treasure In The Same Thing, Religion Will Always Be Sacrificed.
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Freedom And Happiness Are Won By Disregarding Things That Lie Beyond Our Control.
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Asked, Who Is The Rich Man? Epictetus Replied, �he Who Is Content.
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All Religions Must Be Tolerated For Every Man Must Get To Heaven In His Own Way.
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Act Well Your Given Part; The Choice Rests Not With You.
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It Is Impossible For A Man To Learn What He Thinks He Already Knows.
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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.
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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.
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Fortune Is An Evil Chain To The Body, And Vice To The Soul.
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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.
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Desire And Happiness Cannot Live Together.
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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?
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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.
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No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly.
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What Is The First Business Of One Who Practices Philosophy? To Get Rid Of Self-conceit. For It Is Impossible For Anyone To Begin To Learn That Which He Thinks He Already Knows.
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We Should Not Moor A Ship With One Anchor, Or Our Life With One Hope.
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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. -
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If You Desire To Be Good, Begin By Believing That You Are Wicked.
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What Is Death? A Scary Mask. Take It Off-see, It Doesn't Bite.
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When You Let Go Of Your Attention For A Little While, Do Not Think You May Recover It Whenever You Please.
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You Are A Little Soul Carrying Around A Corpse.
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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.
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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.
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If Evil Be Spoken Of You And It Be True, Correct Yourself, If It Be A Lie, Laugh At It.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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No Man Is Free Who Is Not Master Of Himself.
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Bear In Mind That You Should Conduct Yourself In Life As At A Feast.
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When One Maintains His Proper Attitude In Life, He Does Not Long After Externals.
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It Were No Slight Attainment Could We Merely Fulfil What The Nature Of Man Implies.
Men
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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.'
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Confident Because Of Our Caution
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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.
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Difficulty Shows What Men Are.
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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!’.
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No Man Is Able To Make Progress When He Is Wavering Between Opposite Things.
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Seek Not The Good In External Things;seek It In Yourselves.
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If You Can Make Music With Someone You Don't Need Words. If You Wish To Be A Writer, Write.
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In The Long Run, Every Man Will Pay The Penalty For This Own Misdeeds.
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We Cannot Choose Our External Circumstances, But We Can Always Choose How We Respond To Them.
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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.
Men
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Blame
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.
Drinking
Food
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We Should Not Have Either A Blunt Knife Or A Freedom Of Speech Which Is Ill-managed.
Knives
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Blunt
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.
Principles
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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.
Love You
Ideas
Self
We Can't Control The Impressions Others Form About Us, And The Effort To Do So Only Debases Our Character.
Character
Effort
Tourism
When You Have Decided That A Thing Ought To Be Done And Are Doing It, Never Avoid Bein Seen Doing It, Though Many Shall Form An Unfavorable Opinion About It. For If It Is Not Right To Do It, Avoid Doing The Thing; But If It Is Right, Why Are You Afraid Of Those Who Shall Find Fault Wrongly?
Done
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-….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.
Inspirational
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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.
Taken
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Confidence In Nonsense Is A Requirement For The Creative Process.
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Creative
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He Is A Drunkard Who Takes More Than Three Glasses Though He Be Not Drunk.
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We Ought To Flee The Friendship Of The Wicked, And The Enmity Of The Good.
Wicked
Enmity
Ought
At This Time Is Freedom Anything But The Right To Live As We Wish? Nothing Else.
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Philosophical
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Don’t Consent To Be Hurt And You Won’t Be Hurt – This Is A Choice Over Which You Have Control
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Cowardice, The Dread Of What Will Happen.
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Dread
Happens
Every Place Is Safe To Him Who Lives With Justice.
Justice
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To Be Getting An Education Means This: To Be Learning What Is Your Own, And What Is Not Your Own.
Mean
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.
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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.
Life
Prayer
Hands
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.
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Understanding
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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.
Life
Names
Giving
It Is Better To Die Of Hunger Having Lived Without Grief And Fear, Than To Live With A Troubled Spirit, Amid Abundance
Grief
Spirit
Hunger
It Is Your Own Convictions Which Compels You; That Is, Choice Compels Choice.
Inspirational
Choices
Conviction
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.
Sacrifice
Two
Giving
Let No Man Think That He Is Loved By Any Who Loveth None.
Life
Thinking
Men
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.
Wise
What Matters
Care
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.
Death
Evil
Use
Whoever Is Going To Listen To The Philosophers Needs A Considerable Practice In Listening.
Practice
Listening
Needs
What Disturbs People, These Are Not Things, But The Judgments Relating To Things
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Judgment
Appear To Know Only This--never To Fail Nor Fall.
Failure
Fall
Failing
Every Art And Every Faculty Contemplates Certain Things As Its Principal Objects.
Art
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Certain
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.
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Giving
Justice
What Disturbs People's Minds Are Not Events But Their Judgments On Events.
People
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Events
There Are Some Things Which Men Confess With Ease, And Others With Difficulty.
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Ease
The Pleasure Which We Most Rarely Experience Gives Us Greatest Delight.
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You Ought To Choose Both Physician And Friend, Not The Most Agreeable, But The Most Useful.
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The Flourishing Life Cannot Be Achieved Until We Moderate Our Desires And See How Superficial And Fleeting They Are.
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Desire
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Reason Is Not Measured By Size Or Height, But By Principle.
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Height
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Freedom Is Not Procured By A Full Enjoyment Of What Is Desired, But By Controlling The Desire.
Military
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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.
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Use
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As A Man, Casting Off Worn Out Garments Taketh New Ones, So The Dweller In The Body, Entereth Into Ones That Are New.
Men
Casting Off
Body
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.
Thinking
Who I Am
Laughing
The Two Powers Which In My Opinion Constitute A Wise Man Are Those Of Bearing And Forbearing.
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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.
Carpe Diem
Disease And Death
Wish
Seek To Be The Purple Thread In The Long White Gown.
Purple
White
Long
What Is Yours Is To Play The Assigned Part Well. But To Choose It Belongs To Someone Else
Play
Wells
No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly. There Must Be Time. Give Your Best And Always Be Kind.
Giving
Be Kind
Kind
People Are Not Disturbed By Things, But By The View They Take Of Them.
Inspirational
Positive
Attitude
To A Longer And Worse Life, A Shorter And Better Is By All Means To Be Preferred.
Mean
Aging
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.
Art
Hate
Conceited
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.
Responsibility
Choices
Body
With Ills Unending Strives The Putter Off.
Strive
Strife
Unending
If Anyone Should Tell You That A Particular Person Has Spoken Critically Of You, Don't Bother With Excuses Or Defenses. Just Smile And Reply, "i Guess That Person Doesn't Know About All My Other Faults. Otherwise, He Wouldn't Have Mentioned Only These."
Motivational
Faults
Defense
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.
Thinking
Misery
Mood
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.
Motivational
Giving
Finding Yourself
It Is Better By Assenting To Truth To Conquer Opinion, Than By Assenting To Opinion To Be Conquered By Truth.
Truth
Opinion
Conquer
The Soul Is Unwillingly Deprived Of Truth.
Truth
Soul
Deprived
Think Of God Oftener Than You Breathe.
God
Thinking
Breathe
Ruin And Recovering Are Both From Within.
Ruins
Recovering
It Is Not Things In Themselves Which Trouble Us, But Our Opinions Of Things.
Opinion
Trouble
To Adorn Our Characters By The Charm Of An Amiable Nature Shows At Once A Lover Of Beauty And A Lover Of Man.
Character
Men
Lovers
Men Are Disturbed Not By The Things That Happen, But By Their Opinion Of The Things That Happen.
Inspirational
Attitude
Humor
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.
Attitude
People
Wish
If You Set Your Heart Upon Philosophy, You Must Straightway Prepare Yourself To Be Laughed At And Mocked By Many Who Will Say Behold A Philosopher Arisen Among Us! Or How Came You By That Brow Of Scorn? But Do You Cherish No Scorn, But Hold To Those Things Which Seem To You The Best, As One Set By God In That Place. Remember Too, That If You Abide In Those Ways, Those Who First Mocked You, The Same Shall Afterwards Reverence You; But If You Yield To Them, You Will Be Laughed At Twice As Much As Before.
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Heart
Yield
The Universe Is But One Great City, Full Of Beloved Ones, Divine And Human, By Nature Endeared To Each Other.
Compassion
Cities
Brotherhood
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.
Motivational
Real
Progress
First Tell Yourself What You Want To Be, Then Do What You Need To Do.
Needs
Want
Firsts
What Is It To Be A Philosopher? Is It Not To Be Prepared Against Events?
Philosophy
Events
Philosopher
God Has Entrusted Me With Myself. No Man Is Free Who Is Not Master Of Himself. A Man Should So Live That His Happiness Shall Depend As Little As Possible On External Things. The World Turns Aside To Let Any Man Pass Who Knows Where He Is Going.
Men
World
Littles
Any Person Capable Of Angering You Becomes Your Master.
Anger
Emotional
Masters
Of Pleasures, Those Which Occur Most Rarely Give The Most Delight.
Giving
Delight
Pleasure
You Are But An Appearance, And Not Absolutely The Thing You Appear To Be.
Appearance
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?
Lying
Stupid
Men
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.
Motivational
Kindness
People
What Is Learned Without Pleasure Is Forgotten Without Remorse.
Learning
Forgotten
Pleasure
If You Wish To Be A Writer, Write.
Philosophical
Writing
Wish
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.
Men
Blame
Instruction
It Is Better To Advise Than Upbraid, For The One Corrects The Erring; The Other Only Convicts Them.
Advice
Upbraid
Erring
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.
Practice
Habitual
Ifs
The People Have A Right To The Truth As They Have A Right To Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness.
Happiness
Truth
Honesty
Nothing Truly Stops You. Nothing Truly Holds You Back. For Your Own Will Is Always Within Your Control.
Positive Thinking
Power Of Positive Thinking
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.
Self
Blame
Ill
If You Do Not Wish To Be Prone To Anger, Do Not Feed The Habit; Give It Nothing Which May Tend To Its Increase.
Anger
Giving
Wish
Whenever You Are Angry, Be Assured That It Is Not Only A Present Evil, But That You Have Increased A Habit.
Evil
Betrayed
Libertarian
Do Not Try To Seem Wise To Others.
Wise
Trying
Seems
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.
Life
Duty
Wells
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.
Needs
Disappointing
Vow
Nothing Great Is Produced Suddenly, Since Not Even The Grape Or The Fig Is. If You Say To Me Now That You Want A Fig, I Will Answer To You That It Requires Time: Let It Flower First, Then Put Forth Fruit, And Then Ripen.
Flower
Answers
Want
God Has Entrusted Me With Myself.
Inspirational
Responsibility
Self Improvement
Pleasure, Like A Kind Of Bait, Is Thrown Before Everything Which Is Really Bad, And Easily Allures Greedy Souls To The Hook Of Perdition.
Soul
Bait
Hook
From Now On Practice Saying To Everything That Appears Unpleasant: You Are Merely An Appearance And Not What You Appear To Be.
Wisdom
Fun
Practice
We Tell Lies, Yet It Is Easy To Show That Lying Is Immoral.
Lying
Philosophical
Honor
Every Habit And Faculty Is Preserved And Increased By Correspondent Actions, As The Habit Of Walking, By Walking; Of Running, By Running.
Running
Action
Habit
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.
Drama
Men
Long
The Beginning Of Philosophy Is The Recognition Of The Conflict Between Opinions.
Respect
Philosophy
Tolerance
God Has Made All Men To Be Happy.
Happiness
Men
Made
What Is A Good Person? One Who Achieves Tranquillity By Having Formed The Habit Of Asking On Every Occasion, "what Is The Right Thing To Do Now?"
Life
Asking
Good Person
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.
Jobs
Two
Choices
Here Is The Beginning Of Philosophy: A Recognition Of The Conflicts Between Men, A Search For Their Cause, A Condemnation Of Mere Opinion .. . And The Discovery Of A Standard Of Judgement.
Philosophy
Men
Discovery
He Who Is Not Happy With Little Will Never Be Happy With Much.
Littles
Not Happy
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.
Life
Desire
Opinion
We Are Not Disturbed By What Happens To Us, But By Our Thoughts About What Happens To Us.
Inspirational
Wisdom
Disturbed
Tentative Efforts Lead To Tentative Outcome.
Exercise
Effort
Outcomes
Wealth Consists Not In Having Great Possessions, But In Having Few Wants.
Positive
Uplifting
Money
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.
Fate
Self
Cities
Ask Yourself: Does This Appearance (of Events) Concern The Things That Are Within My Own Control Or Those That Are Not? If It Concerns Anything Outside Your Control, Train Yourself Not To Worry About It.
Life
Worry
Events
If You Wish To Write, Write.
Writing
Wish
Ifs
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.
Wise
Determination
Writing
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