Epictetus

To pay homage to beauty is to admire Nature; to admire Nature is to worship God

It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.

To live a life of virtue, you have to become consistent, even when it isn't convenient, comfortable, or easy.

It takes more than just a good looking body. You've got to have the heart and soul to go with it.

Appear to know only this--never to fail nor fall.

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

No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage.

If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply; "you obviously don't know about my other vices, otherwise you would have mentioned these as well

I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am, they do not know what I think, they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.

Whoever is going to listen to the philosophers needs a considerable practice in listening.

-….when things seem to have reached that stage, merely say “I won’t play any longer”, and take your departure; but if you stay, stop lamenting.

You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will.

If any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy felicity and constancy of good.

Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man's task.

If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, "He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.

Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

Asked, Who is the rich man? Epictetus replied, �He who is content.

Seek not the good in external things;seek it in yourselves.

Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems

Difficulty shows what men are.

Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents." Translation by Sharon Lebell