
“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.”
Book I, ch. 12.
Discourses
Golden Sayings of Epictetus
Context: Knowest thou what kind of speck you art in comparison with the Universe?—That is, with respect to the body; since with respect to Reason, thou art not inferior to the Gods, nor less than they. For the greatness of Reason is not measured by length or height, but by the resolves of the mind. Place then thy happiness in that wherein thou art equal to the Gods. (33).
“Reason is not measured by size or height, but by principle.”
Book I, ch. 12.
Discourses
“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.”
Title of poem (1942)
1940s
“The measure of a man's life is the well spending of it, and not the length.”
Consolation to Apollonius
“The success of a relationship should be measured by its depth, not by its length.”
The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships (2015)
“He is a fool who looks at the fruit of lofty trees, but does not measure their height.”
Stultus est qui fructus magnarum arborum spectat, altitudinem non metitur.
VII, 8.
Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedonis Libri Qui Supersunt, Book VII
“For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured. At least by the person who's waiting.”
Source: South of the Border, West of the Sun
Source: Intuitions and Summaries of Thought (1862), Volume II, p. 82.