
“What thou thyself hatest, do to no man.”
Nicocles or the Cyprians, 3.61
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727)
“What thou thyself hatest, do to no man.”
Nicocles or the Cyprians, 3.61
X, 30
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book X
Context: When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in what manner thou doest error thyself... For by attending to this thou wilt quickly forget thy anger, if this consideration is also added, that the man is compelled; for what else could he do? or, if thou art able, take away from him the compulsion.
Source: Instructions to his Son and to Posterity (published 1632), Chapter II
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727)
“Wouldst thou bestow some precious gift upon thy fellows, make thyself a noble man.”
Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 263
“Man know thyself; then thou shalt know the Universe and God.”
As quoted in Fragments of Reality: Daily Entries of Lived Life (2006) by Peter Cajander, p. 109
"To Shakespeare"
Poems (1851)
Context: The soul of man is larger than the sky,
Deeper than ocean, or the abysmal dark
Of the unfathomed center. Like that ark,
Which in its sacred hold uplifted high,
O'er the drowned hills, the human family,
And stock reserved of every living kind,
So, in the compass of the single mind,
The seeds and pregnant forms in essence lie,
That make all worlds. Great poet, 'twas thy art
To know thyself, and in thyself to be
Whate'er Love, Hate, Ambition, Destiny,
Or the firm, fatal purpose of the Heart
Can make of Man. Yet thou wert still the same,
Serene of thought, unhurt by thy own flame.
Golden Sayings of Epictetus
Context: Even as bad actors cannot sing alone, but only in chorus: so some cannot walk alone. Man, if thou art aught, strive to walk alone and hold converse with yourself, instead of skulking in the chorus! at length think; look around thee; bestir thyself, that thou mayest know who thou art! (103).