Epictetus
Epictetus
Epictetuswas a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia, and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in north-western Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
running action habit
Every habit and faculty is preserved and increased by correspondent actions, as the habit of walking, by walking; of running, by running.
evident
Things true and evident must of necessity be recognized by those who would contradict them.
thinking sorrow wish
If you wish to live a life free from sorrow, think of what is going to happen as if it had already happened.
friends speak treats
When our friends are present we ought to treat them well; and when they are absent, to speak of them well.
running hurt feet
As in walking it is your great care not to run your foot upon a nail, or to tread awry, and strain your leg; so let it be in all the affairs of human life, not to hurt your mind or offend your judgment. And this rule, if observed carefully in all your deportment, will be a mighty security to you in your undertakings.
cowardice dread happens
Cowardice, the dread of what will happen.
physicians discrimination ought
You ought to choose both physician and friend, not the most agreeable, but the most useful.
giving wicked charity
It is wicked to withdraw from being useful to the needy, and cowardly to give way to the worthless.
fear poverty should
We must be afraid of neither poverty nor exile nor imprisonment; of fear itself only should we be afraid.
brother kindness two
Everything has two handles; the one soft and manageable, the other such as will not endure to be touched. If then your brother do you an injury, do not take it by the hot hard handle, by representing to yourself all the aggravating circumstances of the fact; but look rather on the soft side, and extenuate it as much as is possible, by considering the nearness of the relation, and the long friendship and familiarity between you--obligations to kindness which a single provocation ought not to dissolve. And thus you will take the accident by its manageable handle.
flower answers want
Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen.
men one-day each-day
It is no easy thing for a principle to become a man's own unless each day he maintains it and works it out in his life.
wise determination writing
Who exactly do you want to be? What kind of person do you want to be? What are your personal ideals? Whom do you admire? What are their special traits that you would make your own It's time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to become wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become. If you have a daybook, write down who you're trying to be, so that you can refer to this self-determination. Precisely describe the demeanor you want to adopt so that you may preserve it when you are by yourself or with other people.
play wells
What is yours is to play the assigned part well. But to choose it belongs to someone else