It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
Epictetus
We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
No man is free who is not master of himself.
Only the educated are free.
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.
Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.
Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.
When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.
It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.
All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain.
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.
The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.
If you wish to be a writer, write.
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way.
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.
Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.
Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.
God has entrusted me with myself.
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.
Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
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.
No great thing is created suddenly.
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?
We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope.
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.
If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.
If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting.
No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.
If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.
Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.
