“No one can harm you. ‘If someone succeeds in provoking you,’ Epictetus said, ‘realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.’ He meant that whatever other people do and say is on them. Whatever your reaction is to what other people do and say—that’s on you. No one can make you angry, only you have that power. Someone can certainly say something offensive or stupid or mean, but no one can make you upset—that’s a choice.”
Ryan Holiday
Emotional Control Quotes
“If you’re in a boxing ring and the boxer punches you in the face, you don’t whine about the unfairness or the cruelty. No, that’s just part of the game. I want you to see life like this: If someone does something to you that is nasty, get control of your emotions. Don’t react. Don’t get upset. Look at it as moves on a chessboard.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 190)
“I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories I’m going to hear. On you—if it’s Tuesday. Because we’re Tuesday people.”
Morrie Schwartz, via Tuesdays With Morrie (Page 57)
“Many of our vices exist only because they are supported by other vices; therefore, if we destroy our major vices, many others will disappear at once, in the same way as branches fall when you cut the trunk of a tree.”
Blaise Pascal, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 114)
“Petulance is not power, it is a sign of helplessness. People may temporarily be cowed by your tantrums, but in the end they lose respect for you. They also realize they can easily undermine a person with so little self-control.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 130)
“Conquer rage with humility, conquer evil with goodness, conquer greed with generosity, and conquer lies with truth.”
Dhammapada, via A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 110)
The Weight Of Envy—A Short Story About Letting Go
Excerpt: A teacher told his students to make a list of everybody they envied. But, instead of using paper, to write each name on a potato…
Read More »The Weight Of Envy—A Short Story About Letting Go
