Top 500 Epictetus Quotes (2024 Update)
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201. “Do not wish that all things will go well with you, but that you will go well with all things.”

— Epictetus

202. “A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.”

— Epictetus

203. “It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit, amid abundance.”

— Epictetus

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

— Epictetus

205. “What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.”

— Epictetus

206. “Man, what are you talking about? Me in chains? You may fetter my leg but my will, not even Zeus himself can overpower.”

— Epictetus

207. “If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.”

— Epictetus

208. “What is learned without pleasure is forgotten without remorse.”

— Epictetus

209. “Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.”

— Epictetus

210. “Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.”

— Epictetus

211. “As it is pleasant to see the sea from the land, so it is pleasant for him who has escaped from troubles to think of them.”

— Epictetus

212. “Confidence in nonsense is a requirement for the creative process.”

— Epictetus

213. “Freedom isn’t secured by filling up on your heart’s desire but by removing your desire.”

— Epictetus

214. “If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: ‘I used to be angry every day; then every other day; now only every third or fourth day.’ When you reach thirty days offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods.”

— Epictetus

215. “Wherever any one is against his will, that is to him a prison.”

— Epictetus

216. “If you wish to live a life free from sorrow, think of what is going to happen as if it had already happened.”

— Epictetus

217. “Survey and test a prospective action before undertaking it. Before you proceed, step back and look at the big picture, lest you act rashly on raw impulse.”

— Epictetus

218. “The origin of sorrow is this: to wish for something that does not come to pass.”

— Epictetus

219. “And have you not received faculties which will enable you to bear all that happens to you? Have you not received greatness of spirit? Have you not received courage? Have you not received endurance?”

— Epictetus

220. “There is no shame in making an honest effort.”

— Epictetus

221. “And the way to be free is to let go of anything that is not within your control.”

— Epictetus

222. “We do not choose our own parts in life, and have nothing to do with those parts. Our duty is confined to playing them well.”

— Epictetus

223. “Once you know who you are and to whom you are linked, you will know what to do.”

— Epictetus

224. “You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not.”

— Epictetus

225. “It is your own convictions which compels you; that is, choice compels choice.”

— Epictetus

226. “Some young women confuse their self-worth with their ability to attract the attention of men, and so pour all their energies into makeup, clothing, and jewelry. If only they realized that virtue, honor, and self-respect are the marks of a true beauty.”

— Epictetus

227. “You are the one who knows yourself – which is to say, you know how much you are worth in your own estimation, and therefore at what price you will sell yourself; because people sell themselves at different rates.”

— Epictetus

228. “It is the sign of a dull mind to dwell upon the cares of the body, to prolong exercise, eating and drinking and other bodily functions. These things are best done by the way; all your attention must be given to the mind.”

— Epictetus

229. “He is free who lives as he wishes to live; who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance, nor to force; whose movements to action are not impeded, whose desires attain their purpose, and who does not fall into that which he would avoid.”

— Epictetus

230. “Anything worth putting off is worth abandoning altogether.”

— Epictetus

231. “Difficulty shows what men are.”

— Epictetus

232. “In a word, neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.”

— Epictetus

233. “Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.”

— Epictetus

234. “Lampis the ship owner, on being asked how he acquired his great wealth, replied, My great wealth was acquired with no difficulty, but my small wealth, my first gains, with much labor.”

— Epictetus

235. “It is better by assenting to truth to conquer opinion, than by assenting to opinion to be conquered by truth.”

— Epictetus

236. “It is not the events but our viewpoint toward events that is the determining factor. We ought to be more concerned about removing wrong thoughts from the mind than removing tumors and abscesses from the body.”

— Epictetus

237. “Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast.”

— Epictetus

238. “No one who is in a state of fear or sorrow or tension is free, but whosoever is delivered from sorrows or fears or anxieties is at the same time delivered from servitude.”

— Epictetus

239. “Remember that the divine order is intelligent and fundamentally good. Life is not a series of random, meaningless episodes, but an ordered, elegant whole that follows ultimately comprehensible laws.”

— Epictetus

240. “Common and vulgar people ascribe all ills that they feel to others; people of little wisdom ascribe to themselves; people of much wisdom, to no one.”

— Epictetus

241. “It is unrealistc to expect people to see you as you see yourself.”

— Epictetus

242. “Consider first the nature of the business in hand; then examine thy own nature, whether thou hast strength to undertake it.”

— Epictetus

243. “Each man’s life is a kind of campaign, and a long and complicated one at that. You have to maintain the character of a soldier, and do each separate act at the bidding of the General.”

— Epictetus

244. “Do not try to seem wise to others. If you want to live a wise life, live it on your own terms and in your own eyes.”

— Epictetus

245. “The beginning of philosophy is the recognition of the conflict between opinions.”

— Epictetus

246. “If you have assumed a character above your strength, you have both acted in this matter in an unbecoming way, and you have neglected that which you might have fulfilled.”

— Epictetus

247. “It is not a demonstration of kindness or friendship to the people we care about to join them in indulging in wrongheaded, negative feelings. We do a better service to ourselves and others by remaining detached and avoiding melodramatic reactions.”

— Epictetus

248. “God save me from fools with a little philosophy – no one is more difficult to reach.”

— Epictetus

249. “You will do the greatest service to the state if you shall raise, not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens: for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses rather than for mean slaves to lurk in great houses.”

— Epictetus

250. “It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them.”

— Epictetus