Show me one who is sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy. Show him me. By the gods I would fain see a Stoic. Nay you cannot show me a finished Stoic; then show me one in the moulding, one who has set his feet on the path.

— Epictetus

Epictetus Quotes

The Good stands before us like an archer’s target. Evil is not a thing in itself but a missing of the mark, an arrow gone astray.

— Epictetus

For your part, do not adopt any air of superiority. Mind your own business, keep busy with the work you are best suited for, and play well the part the Author has given you.

— Epictetus

If you find yourself acting to impress others, or avoiding action out of fear of what they might think, you have left the path.

— Epictetus

Philosophy’s purpose is to illuminate the ways our soul has been infected by unsound beliefs, untrained tumultuous desires, and dubious life choices and preferences that are unworthy of us. Self-scrutiny applied with kindness is the main antidote.

— Epictetus

Happiness is commonly mistaken for passively experienced pleasure or leisure. That conception of happiness is good only as far as it goes. The only worthy object of all our efforts is a flourishing life. True happiness is a verb. It’s the ongoing dynamic performance of worthy deeds. The flourishing life, whose foundation is virtuous intention, is something we continually improvise, and in doing so our souls mature. Our life has usefulness to ourselves and to the people we touch.

— Epictetus

Your aim should be to view the world as an integrated whole, to faithfully incline your whole being toward the highest good, and to adopt the will of nature as your own.

— Epictetus

If you intend to improve, throw away such thoughts as these: if I neglect my affairs, I shall not have the means of living: unless I chastise my slave, he will be bad. For it is better to die of hunger and so to be released from grief and fear than to live in abundance with perturbation; and it is better for your slave to be bad than for you to be unhappy.

— Epictetus

If you are kissing your child or wife, say that it is a human being whom you are kissing, for when the wife or child dies, you will not be disturbed.

— Epictetus

Show me one who is sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy. Show him me. By the gods I would fain see a Stoic. Nay you cannot show me a finished Stoic; then show me one in the moulding, one who has set his feet on the path.

— Epictetus

I will throw you into prison.’ ‘Correction – it is my body you will throw there.

— Epictetus

People are strange, they neither wish to live nor die.

— Epictetus

If it should ever happen to you to be turned to externals in order to please some person, you must know that you have lost your purpose in life.

— Epictetus

No, I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it – or do I have to die moaning and groaning too?

— Epictetus

We don’t need the victim’s entrails for their own sake, only for the sake of the signs they convey. And we don’t worship the crow or the raven – we worship God who communicates by means of them.

— Epictetus

The reason why I lost my lamp was that the thief was superior to me in vigilance. He paid however this price for the lamp, that in exchange for it he consented to become a thief: in exchange for it, to become faithless.

— Epictetus

Open your eyes: See things for what they really are, thereby sparing yourself the pain of false attachments and avoidable devastation.

— Epictetus

Obstacles Lameness may strike your leg, but not your determination. Sickness may weaken your body, but not your character. Misfortune may drain your bank account, but not your generosity – unless you let it. Each time an obstacle arises, remind yourself of this truth: while it may hurt some part of you, it can’t touch your deepest self. The only person who can truly harm you – that is, make you a worse person – is you.

— Epictetus

When the soul cries out, it is a sign that we have arrived at a necessary, mature stage of self-reflection. The secret is not to get stuck there dithering or wringing your hands, but to move forward by resolving to heal yourself.

— Epictetus

No seas cobarde y evasivo.

— Epictetus

Who exactly are these people that you want to be admired by? Aren’t they the same people you are in the habit of calling crazy? And is this your life ambition, then – to win the approval of lunatics.

— Epictetus
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