Epictetus on Stoicism Quotes

"Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things."

"Carefully leave the things which are not in your power."

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

"If you wish to be a writer, write."

"I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament?"

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

"It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well."

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

"People are not disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of them."

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

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

"Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life."

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

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

"Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well."

"Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens."

"If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses, but answer: 'He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.'"

"No great thing is created suddenly."

"Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative attitudes."

"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them."

"People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them."