Epictetus Quotes

Greek Stoic philosopher (c. 50–c. 138)

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Epictetus (c. 55 – c. 135 AD), born a slave, was a Greek Stoic philosopher. His words were recorded by his student Arrian in the Discourses and Enchiridion written in the early 2nd-century.

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Native Name: ΕΠΙΚΤΗΤΟΣ

Alternative Names: Epictetus of Hierapolis • Epiktetos

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The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?

How long are you going to wait before you demand the best of yourself?

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will.

Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems

We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.

CIRCUMSTANCES DON’T MAKE THE MAN, THEY ONLY REVEAL HIM TO HIMSELF

Everything that you throw at me I will transform into a blessing, a boon.

Whenever you are offended, understand that you are complicit in taking offense.

Even if I lack the talent, I will not abandon the effort on that account...We do not abandon any discipline for despair of ever being the best in it.

If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.

Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.

Don’t let the force of an impression when it first hit you knock you off your feet; just say to it: Hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent. Let me put you to the test.