Τίς εἶναι θέλεις, σαυτῷ πρῶτον εἰπέ: εἶθ' οὕτως ποίει ἃ ποιεῖς. (<i>First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do</i>.) - Epictetus

First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

First say to yourself what you would be;and then do what you have to do.

First, say to yourself what you would be; then do what you have to do

Τίς εἶναι θέλεις, σαυτῷ πρῶτον εἰπέ: εἶθ' οὕτως ποίει ἃ ποιεῖς.

The man has to learn ‘what each specific thing means’, as Socrates often said, and stop casually applying preconceptions to individual cases.
This is the cause of everyone’s troubles, the inability to apply common preconceptions to particulars. Instead the opinions of men as to what is bad diverge.

We ought neither to fasten our ship to one small anchor nor our life to a single hope.

It is difficult circumstances that show real men.