“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 Intelligence Quotes
“Sorrow are our best educator. A man can see further through a tear than a telescope.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 100)
“If other people having it worse than you means you can’t be sad, then other people having it better than you would mean you can’t be happy. Feel what you feel.”
Ideopunk, LessWrong
“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)