Epictetus Quotes

Epictetus, born around 50 AD in Hierapolis, Phrygia (modern-day Turkey), was a Greek Stoic philosopher who began life as a slave in Rome. Despite his status, he pursued philosophy with fervor, eventually gaining his freedom and becoming one of the most influential Stoic teachers of his time.

Unlike other Stoic philosophers who held positions of power, Epictetus’s teachings were grounded in the hardships he endured as a slave. His philosophy centered on the idea that while we cannot control external events, we can control our responses to them. This core Stoic principle is captured in his famous dictum: "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

Epictetus’s teachings were recorded by his pupil, Arrian, in the Discourses and the Enchiridion, which distill Stoic philosophy into practical guidance. He emphasized the importance of understanding what is within our control—our thoughts, beliefs, and actions—and accepting what is not. By focusing on inner virtues like wisdom, courage, and justice, Epictetus believed individuals could achieve freedom and tranquility, regardless of external circumstances.

• "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."
  
  

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

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

• "No man is free who is not master of himself."
  
  

• "First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."
  
  

• "Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it."
  
  

• "Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control."
  
  

• "He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at."
  
  

• "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."
  
  

• "Only the educated are free."
  
  

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

• "Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself."
  
  

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

• "It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."
  
  

• "The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests."
  
  

• "Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens."
  
  

• "If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it."
  
  

• "Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you."
  
  

• "To accuse others for one’s own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete."
  
  

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

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

• "Events happen as they do. People behave as they are. Embrace what you actually get."
  
  

• "He who is not happy with little will never be happy with much."
  
  

• "Freedom is the capacity to take a hand in your own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves."
  
  

• "You are a little soul carrying around a corpse."
  
  

• "You become what you give your attention to."
  
  

• "Control thy passions lest they take vengeance on thee."
  
  

• "The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have."
  
  

• "We should always be asking ourselves: 'Is this something that is, or is not, in my control?'"
  
  

• "When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval."
  
  

• "Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent."
  
  

• "If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write."
  
  

• "The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going."
  
  

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

• "No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen."
  
  

• "Whoever is free from passion is closer to the gods."
  
  

• "The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths."
  
  

• "You must be one man, either good or bad. You must either cultivate your own ruling faculty or else be enslaved to externals."
  
  

• "We all have the potential to make the best of ourselves, to contribute to humanity."
  
  

• "To make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it naturally happens."