Wherefore it is a shame for man to begin and to leave off where the brutes do. Rather he should begin there, and leave off where Nature leaves off in us: and that is at contemplation, and understanding, and a manner of life that is in harmony with herself. See then that ye die not without being spectators of these things.

— Epictetus

Epictetus Quotes

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

We control our reasoned choice and all acts that depend on that moral will. What’s not under our control are the body and any of its parts, our possessions, parents, siblings, children, or country – anything with which we might associate.

— Epictetus
Stoic Philosophy

The proper work of the mind is the exercise of choice, refusal, yearning, repulsion, preparation, purpose, and assent. What then can pollute and clog the mind’s proper functioning? Nothing but its own corrupt decisions.

— Epictetus
Stoic Philosophy

If you wish to become proficient in the art of living with wisdom, do you think that you can eat and drink to excess?

— Epictetus

Don’t mistake your assumptions for the truth.

— Epictetus

Some things are up to us and some 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. The things that are up to us are by nature free, unhindered, and unimpeded; the things that are not up to us are weak, enslaved, hindered, not our own.

— Epictetus
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