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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.

-Epictetus

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When Something Happens, The

Epictetus

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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.

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

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.

-….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.

God Has Entrusted Me With Myself.

Self Improvement

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

The Soul Is Unwillingly Deprived Of Truth.

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.

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

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!

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

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.

Books Are The Training Weights Of The Mind.

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

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

Doing The Right Thing

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.

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

Watch Yourself As You Go About Your Daily Business And Later Reflect On What You Saw, Trying To Identify The Sources Of Distress In Your Life And Thinking About How To Avoid That Distress.

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.

You Are A Little Soul Carrying Around A Corpse.

Difficulty Shows What Men Are.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Trying Something New

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Caretake This Moment. Immerse Yourself In Its Particulars. Respond To This Person, This Challenge, This Deed. Quit Evasions. Stop Giving Yourself Needless Trouble. It Is Time To Really Live; To Fully Inhabit The Situation You Happen To Be In Now.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Freedom And Happiness

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Never In Any Case Say I Have Lost Such A Thing, But I Have Returned It. Is Your Child Dead? It Is A Return. Is Your Wife Dead? It Is A Return. Are You Deprived Of Your Estate? Is Not This Also A Return?

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

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

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

No Man Is Free Who Is Not Master Of Himself.

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

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

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

Make The Best Use Of What Is In Your Power, And Take The Rest As It Happens.

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.

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

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.

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.'

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.

Try Not To React Merely In The Moment. Pull Back From The Situation. Take A Wider View. Compose Yourself.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

There Is Nothing Good Or Evil Save In The Will.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Nothing Great Comes Into Being All At Once.

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.

It Is Not Death Or Pain That Is To Be Dreaded, But The Fear Of Pain Or Death.

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.

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

These Are The Signs Of A Wise Man: To Reprove Nobody, To Praise Nobody, To Blame Nobody, Nor Even To Speak Of Himself Or His Own Merits.

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.

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

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

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

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

Don't Explain Your Philosophy. Embody It.

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.

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

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

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."

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.

Anything Worth Putting Off Is Worth Abandoning Altogether.

Procrastination

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?

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

Do Not Strive For Things Occurring To Occur As You Wish, But Wish The Things Occurring As They Occur, And You Will Flow Well.

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.

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.

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.

No Great Thing Is Created Suddenly.

Inspirational Life

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

Think Of God More Often Than Thou Breathest.

Control Thy Passions Lest They Take Vengence On Thee.

With Ills Unending Strives The Putter Off.

To Get Or Not To Get What We Desire Can Be Equally Disappointing.

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

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.

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

God Has Made All Men To Be Happy.

Circumstances Don't Make The Man, They Only Reveal Him To Himself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

When You Want To Hear A Philosopher, Do Not Say, 'you Say Nothing To Me'; Only Show Yourself Worthy Or Fit To Hear, And Then You Will See How You Will Move The Speaker.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Freedom Of Speech

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

Do Not Try To Seem Wise To Others.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Within Our Control Are Our Own Opinions, Aspirations, And Desires And The Demons That Distract Us From These Goals. Outside Of Our Control Are Such Things As What Kind Of Body We Have, Whether Or Not We Are Born Into Wealth, And How We Are Regarded By Others.

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

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.

Whoever Then Wishes To Be Free, Let Him Neither Wish For Anything Nor Avoid Anything Which Depends On Others: If He Does Not Observe This Rule, He Must Be A Slave.

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

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