Author
Epictetus
Born into slavery, later a teacher. The Discourses were taken down by a student; the Enchiridion is the short handbook drawn from them.
152 passages
- Temperance A fine and good person neither quarrels nor, as far as possible, permits quarrelling. Education teaches what belongs…
- Wisdom A good person's material for work is their governing reason, as a physician works on bodies and a farmer on land.
- Acceptance A philosopher brings the will into accord with events, so that nothing arrives wholly against it and no wish is…
- Wisdom A philosopher's school is a clinic, not a pleasure hall. We should leave it challenged, because we arrive unwell.
- Courage A public platform and a cell are both places, one elevated and one lowly; yet in either your power of choice can…
- Wisdom A sound beginning in philosophy is to recognize clearly one's own governing mind.
- Wisdom Among all things, some are good, some bad, and some indifferent. Virtue and what shares in it are good; vice and what…
- Courage As a mark is not set up for the sake of missing the aim, so neither does the nature of evil exist in the world.
- Wisdom Ask yourself at first light: What do I lack for freedom from passion and for peace? What am I: merely body, owner, or…
- Wisdom At the first impression, do not be swept away. Tell it: wait, let me learn what you are and test you.
- Acceptance Be assured that the essential property of piety towards the gods is to form right opinions concerning them, as…
- Acceptance Begin therefore from little things. Is a little oil spilt? A little wine stolen? Say to yourself, "This is the price…
- Wisdom Cast off conceit: no one can learn what they suppose they already know.
- Control Consider what you are: before all else, a human being whose greatest power is reasoned choice, governing all else and…
- Temperance Consider when, on a voyage, your ship is anchored; if you go on shore to get water you may along the way amuse…
- Purpose Decide first what sort of person you intend to be; then do what follows from that decision. Athletes choose their…
- Courage Difficulties reveal character. When a trial meets you, think of it as a younger training partner sent by a coach.…
- Courage Do not cling so tightly to old companions that they pull you downward. Choose: remain as you were and be liked, or…
- Acceptance Do not demand events follow your preference; prefer events as they occur, and life will go more smoothly.
- Courage Don't allow such considerations as these distress you. "I will live in dishonor, and be nobody anywhere." For, if…
- Wisdom Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own. If a horse should be prideful and say, " I am handsome,"…
- Acceptance Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.
- Wisdom Don't say that he does it ill, but in a mighty little time. Does anyone drink a great quantity of wine? Don't say that…
- Temperance Don't stop it. Is it not yet come? Don't stretch your desire towards it, but wait till it reaches you. Do this with…
- Temperance Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust…
- Justice Duties are universally measured by relations. Is anyone a father? If so, it is implied that the children should take…
- Justice Eat, drink, dress, marry, raise children, take part in civic life, and bear difficult relatives and neighbors. Show by…
- Discipline Endure a demanding winter of training; do not rush into work for which you have made no preparation.
- Control Events make us fearful when we judge that others control them. A stronghold falls not chiefly to fire or steel, but to…
- Discipline Every capacity is strengthened by the actions that match it: walking by walking, running by running. Anger likewise…
- Wisdom Every matter has two handles: one by which it can be carried, another by which it cannot. When a brother wrongs you,…
- Discipline Every strong capacity is risky for the beginner; use such powers only as you can, and in accord with nature.
- Justice Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be carried, the other by which it cannot. If your brother acts…
- Discipline For a time, do not advertise your philosophy. Let it grow like seed hidden in the soil until it is mature; fruit shown…
- Courage For remember that, if you adhere to the same point, those very persons who at first ridiculed will afterwards admire…
- Control Free is the one who lives without compulsion or obstruction in their choices, whose aims are sound and whose aversions…
- Temperance Freedom is gained not by satisfying every desire, but by diminishing desire itself.
- Control Good and bad lie in our deliberate choices. Things outside choice are neither good nor bad in themselves.
- Wisdom Good lies in a certain use of rational choice, and evil in another. Externals are merely material for that choice,…
- Control Guard the good that is yours in every action. With all else, use what comes as reason allows; otherwise you will be…
- Courage Guard your impressions constantly. What you defend is no minor possession: your dignity, reliability, steadiness,…
- Discipline Habit has great force. Since we are accustomed to chasing and avoiding what lies beyond our choice, we must build the…
- Gratitude Happiness cannot live with craving what is absent. The happy person has what is needed, like one well fed, without…
- Acceptance He was imprisoned; the claim that he suffered evil is something you added.
- Purpose I do not call someone diligent merely because they stay up reading or writing. I must first know the aim of their…
- Discipline I teach and you learn in my school. I seek to make you whole: unimpeded, free of compulsion, unashamed, flourishing,…
- Control If a person gave your body to any stranger he met on his way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame…
- Temperance If you are able, then, by your own conversation bring over that of your company to proper subjects; but, if you happen…
- Discipline If you are defeated and say you will overcome, yet continue exactly as before, you will grow so weak that eventually…
- Temperance If you are struck by the appearance of any promised pleasure, guard yourself against being hurried away by it; but let…
- Control If you call what is servile free, or claim as yours what belongs to another, you will be frustrated and accusing.…
- Control If you cherish anything outside your reasoned choice, you endanger your freedom of choice.
- Discipline If you do not want to be quick-tempered, stop feeding the practice. Begin by staying calm and counting the days; as…
- Control If you ever happen to turn your attention to externals, so as to wish to please anyone, be assured that you have…
- Wisdom If you have assumed any character above your strength, you have both made an ill figure in that and quitted one which…
- Mortality If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be…
- Control If you seek something good, draw it from yourself.
- Courage If you turn your will toward what is outside your control merely to impress another, you have ruined your purpose. Be…
- Wisdom If you want to improve, accept appearing uninformed or foolish in matters that do not concern you. Do not seek the…
- Acceptance If you wish your children, and your wife, and your friends to live for ever, you are stupid; for you wish to be in…
- Justice In company, do not dwell too often or at length on your achievements and misfortunes; your own stories delight you…
- Temperance It is a mark of want of genius to spend much time in things relating to the body, as to be long in our exercises, in…
- Wisdom It is absurd to demand, ‘Tell me exactly what to do.’ Ask instead to train your mind to meet every circumstance, so…
- Acceptance It is not only longing for money or rank that makes us dependent. Longing for quiet, leisure, travel, or learning can…
- Control It is not the person who insults or strikes that injures you, but your judgment that you have been injured. When anger…
- Temperance It is sold for praise; it is sold for attendance. Give him then the value, if it is for your advantage. But if you…
- Mortality Keep death, exile, and every feared thing before you daily; then you will avoid base thoughts and excessive desire.
- Control Keep this ready at dawn, by day, and at night: the road to contentment is to release everything outside your choice,…
- Control Keep two rules ready: nothing is good or bad except our reasoned choice, and we should follow events rather than try…
- Control Learn to live as a healthy person lives: with confidence in what is dependable, unhindered, and cannot be taken—your…
- Mortality Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you…
- Discipline Life resembles a campaign: one person keeps watch, another scouts, another stands in the front line. Each life is a…
- Control Life's foremost work is this: distinguish matters clearly, so I can tell myself which are external and beyond my…
- Temperance Live as though at a shared feast. When something comes to you, take a modest portion. If it passes, do not grab after…
- Wisdom Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for…
- Control Misfortune, quarrels, blame, and agitation are judgments outside our choice. Restrict judgment to choice, and peace…
- Control My will has not been blocked or compelled, because I have joined my choices to the will of the divine. If it wills…
- Discipline Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to…
- Mortality Never say of anything, "I have lost it"; but, "I have returned it." Is your child dead? It is returned. Is your wife…
- Control Nothing outside my chosen judgment can obstruct or injure it; only it can damage itself. When we fail, blame no one…
- Wisdom Once standards are established, things can be tested against them. Philosophy examines and protects those standards;…
- Wisdom People are troubled not by events, but by the judgments they form about events.
- Discipline People who take in doctrines and immediately recite them resemble an ill stomach returning its food. Let teachings be…
- Discipline Philosophers tell us not to stop at learning: add practice and training, or time will make us forget our lessons and…
- Courage Philosophy is preparation for whatever may come. One who has prepared to endure can say to each trial: this is what my…
- Wisdom Philosophy promises no outward possession; its material is our own life, as wood is the carpenter’s and bronze the…
- Control Put no faith in reputation, wealth, or rank, but in your judgments about what is and is not yours to control. That is…
- Control Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the…
- Control Remember, that not he who gives ill language or a blow insults, but the principle which represents these things as…
- Acceptance Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one;…
- Acceptance Remember that you are an actor in a drama, assigned a role by another. Your task is to play it well, whether it is…
- Courage Show me someone cheerful in illness, danger, death, exile, or disgrace. If not a complete Stoic, then show me one who…
- Control Sickness is a hindrance to the body, but not to your ability to choose, unless that is your choice. Lameness is a…
- Discipline Socrates said: as one person enjoys tending a field and another training a horse, I enjoy improving myself each day.
- Control Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a…
- Control Some things depend on us and others do not. Our judgments, choices, desires, aversions, and actions are ours. Body,…
- Control Stop accusing gods and people. Govern your desires, avoid only what your judgment can govern, and release anger,…
- Temperance The body is to everyone the measure of the possessions proper for it, just as the foot is of the shoe. If, therefore,…
- Control The condition and characteristic of a vulgar person, is, that he never expects either benefit or hurt from himself,…
- Control The free person has what they will under every condition; whoever can be forced, restrained, or driven against their…
- Control The gods left us the ruling power: the ability to use appearances well, which governs all else. They gave no more, not…
- Control The good person is unconquerable because they do not enter contests where they are weak. Others may take possessions,…
- Mortality The greatest evil is not death but fearing it. Train against that fear in thought, practice, and study; this is the…
- Wisdom The mind's proper business is choosing and declining, pursuing and avoiding, preparing, intending, and assenting. What…
- Acceptance The soul is like water and impressions like light upon it. When water is stirred, the light seems to move, though it…
- Control The third topic, then, is necessary on the account of the second, and the second on the account of the first. But the…
- Discipline The true athlete trains against misleading impressions. Stand firm under pressure; do not let appearances carry you…
- Acceptance The will of nature may be learned from those things in which we don't distinguish from each other. For example, when…
- Wisdom There are three fields in which the person seeking wisdom and goodness must train. First are desire and aversion, so…
- Wisdom These paths cannot be combined. Be one person: devote yourself either to sound judgment or to externals; guard the…
- Wisdom These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you,…
- Control True education is learning to apply our natural ideas properly, and to distinguish what depends on us from what does…
- Wisdom Two things must be removed: proud certainty, which thinks nothing more is needed, and despair, which thinks happiness…
- Acceptance Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand: "Conduct me, Jove, and you, 0 Destiny, Wherever your…
- Courage We do not give up our efforts merely because perfect mastery is beyond us.
- Control We govern our rational choice and whatever follows from that moral will. Beyond our control are the body and its…
- Wisdom We test money with great care, yet for our governing mind we drowse, accepting every appearance that comes along.
- Discipline What aid is there against a habit? Practice its opposite.
- Wisdom What appears sensible or senseless, beneficial or harmful, varies from person to person. Education teaches us to bring…
- Control What can be stopped, seized, or compelled is not truly one’s own; what cannot be hindered belongs to us.
- Wisdom What comes from these teachings? The finest reward of genuine learning: calm, courage, and liberty. Do not accept the…
- Justice What makes a person beautiful is human excellence. If you would be beautiful, cultivate justice, composure, and…
- Wisdom What makes a person unimpeded and self-directed? Not wealth, office, public rank, or kingship. It is something else:…
- Discipline Whatever moral rules you have deliberately proposed to yourself. abide by them as they were laws, and as if you would…
- Temperance When a child grips too many sweets in a narrow jar, the fist cannot come out and the child cries. Let go of a few, and…
- Control When a painful impression comes, say: you are only an impression, not necessarily what you seem. Test whether it…
- Control When a raven happens to croak unluckily, don't allow the appearance hurry you away with it, but immediately make the…
- Control When any person harms you, or speaks badly of you, remember that he acts or speaks from a supposition of its being his…
- Wisdom When anyone shows himself overly confident in ability to understand and interpret the works of Chrysippus, say to…
- Discipline When attention slips, do not assume you can recover it at will. Though error is unavoidable, keep striving not to let…
- Control When caution is directed toward one's own judgments and actions, one also gains the power to avoid harm. But when…
- Control When I encounter someone anxious, I ask what they are seeking. If they sought nothing beyond their own power, what…
- Mortality When loss stings, remember that what you love is fragile and lent, not a possession. Hold child, sibling, and friend…
- Temperance When pleasure presents itself, do not be swept away. Delay your response. Consider both the enjoyment now and the…
- Control When troubling news reaches you, remember that no report can damage your power of choice. It may tell you of death;…
- Wisdom When walking, you are careful not to step on a nail or turn your foot; so likewise be careful not to hurt the ruling…
- Wisdom When you are going about any action, remind yourself what nature the action is. If you are going to bathe, picture to…
- Courage When you do anything from a clear judgment that it ought to be done, never shun the being seen to do it, even though…
- Justice When you eat with another, then, remember not only the value of those things which are set before you to the body, but…
- Temperance When you have brought yourself to supply the necessities of your body at a small price, don't pique yourself upon it;…
- Control When you have recourse to divination, remember that you know not what the event will be, and you come to learn it of…
- Justice When you see anyone weeping in grief because his son has gone abroad, or is dead, or because he has suffered in his…
- Acceptance Whenever you accuse providence, reconsider the matter and you may find that what occurred accords with reason.
- Control Who is unconquerable? The person whom nothing outside a considered choice can throw into disorder.
- Control Why call on heaven to remove your trouble? Were you not given hands? Wipe your own nose rather than hunting for…
- Courage With every accident, ask yourself what abilities you have for making a proper use of it. If you see an attractive…
- Wisdom Women from fourteen years old are flattered with the title of "mistresses" by the men. Therefore, perceiving that they…
- Control You are not your body or your style of hair, but your faculty for choosing well; make your choices fine, and you will…
- Control You may be unconquerable, if you enter into no combat in which it is not in your own control to conquer.
- Control You may restrain my body, but not even the highest god can destroy my power to choose.
- Discipline You must conform to rules, submit to a diet, refrain from dainties; exercise your body, whether you choose it or not,…
- Discipline You would rage if a stranger handed your body to another; yet you give your mind to every passerby to trouble and…