“When any person harms you, or speaks badly of you, remember that he acts or speaks from a supposition of its being his duty. Now, it is not possible that he should follow what appears right to you, but what appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges from a wrong appearance, he is the person hurt, since he too is the person deceived. For if anyone should suppose a true proposition to be false, the proposition is not hurt, but he who is deceived about it. Setting out, then, from these principles, you will meekly bear a person who reviles you, for you will say upon every occasion, "It seemed so to him."....”
Epictetus“When a youth was giving himself airs in the Theatre and saying, 'I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men,' Epictetus replied, 'I too have conversed with many rich men, yet I am not rich!’.”
Epictetus“It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens." Epictetus”
Epictetus“Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?”
Epictetus“Philosophy does not promise to secure anything external for man, otherwise it would be admitting something that lies beyond its proper subject-matter. For as the material of the carpenter is wood, and that of statuary bronze, so the subject-matter of the art of living is each person's own life.”
Epictetus“For in this Case, we are not to give Credit to the Many, who say, that none ought to be educated but the Free; but rather to the Philosophers, who say, that the Well-educated alone are free.”
Epictetus, All the Works of Epictetus“You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is.”
Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of Epictetus“Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.”
Epictetus“When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.”
Epictetus“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.”
Epictetus“Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.”
Epictetus