Epictetus
Epictetus
Epictetuswas a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia, and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in north-western Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion...
NationalityGreek
ProfessionPhilosopher
flower answers want
Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen.
men one-day each-day
It is no easy thing for a principle to become a man's own unless each day he maintains it and works it out in his life.
wise determination writing
Who exactly do you want to be? What kind of person do you want to be? What are your personal ideals? Whom do you admire? What are their special traits that you would make your own It's time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to become wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become. If you have a daybook, write down who you're trying to be, so that you can refer to this self-determination. Precisely describe the demeanor you want to adopt so that you may preserve it when you are by yourself or with other people.
play wells
What is yours is to play the assigned part well. But to choose it belongs to someone else
happiness troublesome
Happiness is an equivalent for all troublesome things.
god thinking breathe
Think of God oftener than you breathe.
adversity men ease
There are some things which men confess with ease, and others with difficulty.
men unendurable feels
But to be hanged is that not unendurable?" Even so, when a man feels that it is reasonable, he goes off and hangs himself.
friends adversity prosperity
In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is the most difficult of all things.
shapes reason disorder
Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things, it ought not itself to be left in disorder.
thinking
Think of God more often than thou breathest.
mind trying bears
We must ever bear in mind --that apart from the will there is nothing good or bad, and that we must not try to anticipate or to direct events, but merely to accept them with intelligence.
world purpose use
There is only one thing for which God has sent me into the world, and that is to develop every kind of virtue or strength, and there is nothing in all the world that I cannot use for this purpose.
contentment delight littles
Contentment, as it is a short road and pleasant, has great delight and little trouble.