Epictetus Quotes

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175 Quotes for Timeless Wisdom on Self-Reflection, Truth, and Living with True Freedom

“These reasonings are unconnected: "I am richer than you, therefore I am better"; "I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better." The connection is rather this: "I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;" "I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours." But you, after all, are neither property nor style.”

“Upon all occasions we ought to have these maxims ready at hand:
Conduct me, Jove, and you, O Destiny,
Wherever your decrees have fixed my station. ~ Cleanthes.

I follow cheerfully; and, did I not,
Wicked and wretched, I must follow still
Whoever yields properly to Fate, is deemed
Wise among men, and knows the laws of heaven. ~ Euripides, Frag. 965.”

“If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?”

“In general, any methods of discipline applied to the body which tend to modify its desires or repulsions, are good—for ascetic ends. But if done for display, they betray at once a man who keeps an eye on outward show; who has an ulterior purpose, and is looking for spectators to shout, "Oh what a great man!" This is why Apollonius so well said: "If you are bent upon a little private discipline, wait till you are choking with heat one day—then take a mouthful of cold water, and spit it out again, and tell no man!"”

“Think you to be a philosopher while acting as you do? think you to go on thus eating, thus drinking, giving way in like manner to [your own] wrath and to displeasure? Nay you must watch, you must labor; overcome certain desires; quit your familiar friends, submit to be despised by your slave, to be held in derision by them that meet you, to take the lower place in all things, in office, in positions of authority, in courts of law. Weight these things fully, and then, if you will, lay to your hand; if as the price of these things you would gain Freedom, Tranquility, and passionless Serenity.”

“The anger of an ape—the threat of a flatterer—these deserve equal regard.”

“Dare to look up to God and say, "Make use of me for the future as Thou wilt. I am of the same mind; I am one with Thee. I refuse nothing which seems good to Thee. Lead me whither Thou wilt. Clothe me in whatever dress Thou wilt."”

“Do not give sentence in another tribunal till you have been yourself judged in the tribunal of Justice.”

“It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?”

“Every art and every faculty contemplates certain things as its principal objects.”

“Exceed due measure, and the most delightful things become the least delightful.”

“A man should also be prepared to be sufficient unto himself—to dwell within himself alone, even as God dwells with Himself alone… So should we also be able to converse with ourselves, to need none else beside, to sigh for no distraction, to bend our thoughts upon the Divine Administration, and how we stand related to all else; to observe how human accidents touched us of old, and how they touch us now; what things they are that still have power to hurt us, and how they may be cured and removed; to perfect what needs perfecting as Reason would direct.”

“Fortify thyself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.”

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

“No thing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”

“To you, all you have seems small: to me, all I have seems great. Your desire is insatiable, mine is satisfied. See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, and striving to pull out the nuts and figs it contains: if they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out again, and then they fall to tears.—'Let go a few of them, and then you can draw out the rest!'—You, too, let your desire go! covet not many things, and you will obtain.”

“Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.”

“When one maintains his proper attitude in life, he does not long after externals. What would you have, O man?”

“Remember that it is not he who gives abuse or blows who affronts, but the view we take of these things as insulting. When, therefore, any one provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes you.”

“A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.”

“Let thy speech of God be renewed day by day, aye, rather than thy meat and drink.”

“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 in handing over your own mind to be confused and mystified by anyone who happens to verbally attack you?”

“Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.”

“Even as the Sun doth not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so thou also wait not for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do thy duty; nay, do good of thine own accord, and thou wilt be loved like the Sun.”

“Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say, "Impression, wait for me a little. Let me see what you are and what you represent. Let me try you."”

“Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things, it ought not itself to be left in disorder.”

“My brother ought not to have treated me thus.' True: but he must see to that. However he may treat me, I must deal rightly by him. This is what lies with me, what none can hinder.”

“It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body; for it is better to die than to live badly.”

“For he who is unmusical is a child in music; he who is without letters is a child in learning; he who is untaught, is a child in life.”

“"But to be hanged—is that not unendurable?" Even so, when a man feels that it is reasonable, he goes off and hangs himself.”

“Till then these sound opinions have taken firm root in you, and you have gained a measure of strength for your security, I counsel you to be cautious in associating with the uninstructed. Else whatever impressions you receive upon the tablets of your mind in the School will day by day melt and disappear, like wax in the sun. Withdraw then somewhere far from the sun, while you have these waxen sentiments.”

“Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.”

“Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? "What sinews are those?" — A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised, careful resolutions; unerring decisions.”

“Everything has two handles, one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother sin against you lay not hold of it by the handle of his injustice, for by that it may not be borne: but rather by this, that he is your brother, the comrade of your youth; and thus you will lay hold on it so that it may be borne.”

“For on these matters we should not trust the multitude who say that none ought to be educated but the free, but rather to philosophers, who say that the educated alone are free.”

“Any person capable of angering you becomes your master.”

“Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.”

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

“If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonourable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.”

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

“If you wish to be a writer, write.”

“It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.”

“Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.”

“When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.”

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

“Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.”

“Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.”

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

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”