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Epictetus Quotes

    “Don’t consent to be hurt and you won’t be hurt – this is a choice over which you have control” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

      “Focus not on what he or she does, but on keeping to your higher purpose. Your own purpose should seek harmony with nature itself. For this is the true road to freedom.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

        “A half-hearted spirit has no power. Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Average people enter into their endeavors headlong and without care.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

          “Authentic happiness is always independent of external conditions.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

            “Although we can’t control which roles are assigned to us, it must be our business to act our given role as best we possibly can and to refrain from complaining about it. Where ever you find yourself and in whatever circumstances, give an impeccable performance.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

              “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, The Art of Living

                “Inner peace begins when we stop saying of things, ‘I have lost it’ and instead say, ‘It has been returned to where it came from.’  Why should it be any concern of yours who gives your things back to the world that gave them to you?  The important thing is to take great care with what you have while the world lets you have it.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

                  “Getting distracted by trifles is the easiest thing in the world… Focus on your main duty” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

                    “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” ~ Epictetus

                      “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”  ~ Epictetus

                        “All human beings seek the happy life, but many confuse the means – for example, wealth and status – with that life itself.  This misguided focus on the means to a good life makes people get further from the happy life.  The really worthwhile things are the virtuous activities that make up the happy life, not the external means that may seem to produce it.” ~ Epictetus

                          “Regardless of what is going on around you, make the best of what is in your power, and take the rest as it occurs.” ~ Epictetus

                            “When you actively engage in gradually refining yourself, you retreat from your lazy ways of covering yourself or making excuses.  Instead of feeling a persistent current of low-level shame, you move forward by using the creative possibilities of this moment, your current situation.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

                              “We need to regularly stop and take stock; to sit down and determine within ourselves which things are worth valuing and which things are not; which risks are worth the cost and which are not.  Even the most confusing or hurtful aspects of life can be made more tolerable by clear seeing and by choice.”  ~ Epictetus

                                “It’s so simple really:  If you say you’re going to do something, do it.  If you start something, finish it.” ~ Epictetus

                                  “Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new.”

                                  Epictetus, Art of Living

                                    “We all carry the seeds of greatness within us, but we need an image as a point of focus in order that they may sprout.” ~ Epictetus

                                      “When we blather about trivial things, we ourselves become trivial, for our attention gets taken up with trivialities. You become what you give your attention to.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

                                        “Every difficulty in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and to invoke our own submerged inner resources. The trials we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living

                                          “Nothing truly stops you.  Nothing truly holds you back.  For your own will is always within your control.  Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But your are not merely your legs. Your will is bigger than your legs. Your will needn’t be affected by an incident unless you let it.” ~ Epictetus, The Art of Living