Epictetus Quotes

If anything except the honourable is good, we shall be hounded by greed for life, and by greed for the things which provide life with its furnishings, – an intolerable state, subject to no limits, unstable. The only good, therefore, is that which is honourable, that which is subject to bounds.

لا تقل أبدًا إني فيلسوف، ولا تكثر الحديث بين الجُهَّال عن نظرياتك، بل بيِّنها بالأفعال. فإذا كنت في وليمة فلا تقل كيف ينبغي الأكل بل كُل كما ينبغي.
وإذا دار أي حديث بين الجهَّال حول أي نظرياتٍ فلسفية فالزم الصمت دائمًا؛ فثَمة خطرٌ كبيرٌ بأن تقيء في الحال ما لم تهضمه.
ذلك أنه حتى الخِراف لا تقيء عشبها لكي تُريَ الرعاةَ كم أكلَت، بل عندما تهضم الكلأ داخلها فإنها تُخرِجه صوفًا ولبنًا.

It all amounts to nothing - and I was expecting to be overwhelmed

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.

O senhor de si mesmo é aquele que possui o poder de conservar ou repelir as coisas desejadas ou não desejadas.

For I am not everlasting, but a human being, a part of the whole as an hour is a part of the day. Like an hour I must come, and like an hour pass away.

Be the same person in public as in private. Speak only what is useful and beneficial. In conversation, avoid idle chatter about horse races, athletes, celebrities, food, and drink. Refuse to participate in gossip — tearing down, inflating, and judging other people. Among friends, shift the conversation to worthy topics; among strangers, stay silent.

Consider how we apply the idea of freedom to animals. [25] There are tame lions that people cage, raise, feed and take with them wherever they go. Yet who will call such a lion free? The easier its life, the more slavish it is. No lion endowed with reason and discretion would choose to be one of these pet specimens.

Outside our control, however, are such things as what kind of body we have, whether we’re born into wealth or strike it rich, how we are regarded by others, and our status in society. We must remember that those things are externals and are therefore not our concern. Trying to control or to change what we can’t only results in torment.

Before I became old I tried to live well; now that I am old, I shall try to die well; but dying well means dying gladly.

It isn't death, pain, exile or anything else you care to mention that accounts for the way we act, only our opinion about death, pain and the rest.

Continually remind yourself that you are a mortal being, and someday will die. This will inspire you not to waste precious time in fruitless activities, like stewing over grievances and striving after possessions.

You can always win if you only enter competitions where winning is up to you.

It is not things that trouble us, but our judgements about things.