Epictetus on Courage Quotes

"To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete."

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

"Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are."

"True instruction is this: learning to will that things should happen just as they do happen."

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

"Every habit and faculty is confirmed and strengthened by the corresponding actions."

"I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment?"

"Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do."

"Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will."

"To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun."

"Keep your will in harmony with nature."

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."

"Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but not to your ability to choose, unless that is your choice."

"What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit."

"It is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death."

"Hold fast to your true aspirations no matter what is happening around you."

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."

"The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things."

"A philosopher's school is a clinic; you ought not to walk out of it with pleasure, but with pain."

"If you would be a good reader, read; if a writer, write."

"Difficulties are things that show what men are."

"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."

"Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen."

"Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater."

"No man is free who is not master of himself."

"To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education."

"You are a little soul carrying around a corpse."

"I must die. Must I then die complaining?"

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

"Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control."

"If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply; 'He surely doesn't know my other faults, or he would have mentioned these too.'"

"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests."

"If you are ever tempted to look for outside approval, realize that you have compromised your integrity."