Epictetus quotes - page 3

The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going. (Epictetus)
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak. View quote
Epictetus
He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk. View quote
Epictetus
If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated. View quote
Epictetus
Dare to look up to God and say, Deal with me in the future as Thou wilt; I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing that pleases Thee; lead me where Thou wilt; clothe me in any dress Thou choosest. View quote
Epictetus
Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful. View quote
Epictetus
We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope. View quote
Epictetus
To the rational being only the irrational is unendurable, but the rational is endurable. View quote
Epictetus
Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale; were I a swan, the part of a swan. View quote
Epictetus
Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee. View quote
Epictetus
Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account! (Epictetus)
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should? View quote
Epictetus
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? View quote
Epictetus
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. View quote
Epictetus
It is difficulties that show what men are. View quote
Epictetus
In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles. View quote
Epictetus
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. View quote
Epictetus
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. View quote
Epictetus
Let no man think that he is loved by any who loveth none. View quote
Epictetus
Think of God more often than thou breathest. View quote
Epictetus
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. (Epictetus)
Let thy speech of God be renewed day by day, aye, rather than thy meat and drink. View quote
Epictetus
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope. View quote
Epictetus
Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the living, and her eyes they blind. View quote
Epictetus
Every art and every faculty contemplates certain things as its principal objects. View quote
Epictetus