Quotes By Epictetus

Silence is safer than speech.

If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.

Unless we place our religion and our treasure in the same thing, religion will always be sacrificed.

Only the educated are free.

If you seek truth you will not seek victory by dishonorable means, and if you find truth you will become invincible.

All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way.

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.

We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.

We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope.

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.

It is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows.

If virtue promises happiness, prosperity and peace, then progress in virtue is progress in each of these for to whatever point the perfection of anything brings us, progress is always an approach toward it.

When you are offended at any man's fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.

One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral.

No great thing is created suddenly.

If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.

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.

No man is free who is not master of himself.

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.

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.

Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.