Epictetus Quotes

Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can't control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.

I will not be afraid because I understand ... And understanding is happiness.

I didn't lose my mind, it was mine to give away

The man of control lives in choice, and the man of understanding lives in choicelessness.

Running is the one part of my life in which I fundamentally feel like the observer instead of the observed.

The person who is developing freely and naturally arrives at a spiritual equilibrium in which he is master of his actions, just as one who has acquired physical poise can move freely.

The source of a true smile is an awakened mind. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding.

When we try to control, we become controlled; when we release, we become free.

Life can be pleasant or miserable. To lead a fruitful life, and to make it positive, practice analytical meditation.

And freedom comes with grace, kindness, understanding, and love. Don't take anything personal, folks. Whatever is said about you or rumored or you heard something - you haven't done anything wrong and it's not your fault. That is your own self-invisible anchor that will stop your boat of life from going forward.

The real enemy of happiness is the mind's fixations and delusions... If you have the right mind, you can overcome anything - you can be happy, no matter what.

Whoever is just willingly and without compulsion will not lack happiness; he will never be utterly destroyed.

We feel good about ourselves to the exact degree we feel in control of our lives.

I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.

If we want spiritual development, the practice of patience is essential.

My days are whatever I want them to be. I don't have to go worry about chasing some chemical to make me feel OK for a minute, and then make me feel worse.

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but organically, through understanding an gradual training.

We can be unhappy about many things, but jy can still be there... It is important to become aware that at every moment of our life we have an opportunity to choose joy... It is in the choice that our true freedom lies, and that freedom is, in the final analysis, the freedom to love.

Meditation means: put the mind aside and watch. The first step - LOVE YOURSELF - will help you tremendously. By loving yourself you will have destroyed much that society has implanted within you. You will have become freer from the society and its conditioning.

Happiness is your choice. You can choose today.

Transcending gives a human being a chance to think before acting. And experiencing this beautiful treasury within gets rid of torment and replaces it with happiness, inner peace, creativity intelligence, love, energy. This fuels a real good life and fuels an appreciation for all human beings. It's so powerful and it's a blessing for humanity.

Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is

Everybody in the world is seeking happiness - and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn't depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.

The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himself as to what is going on and win back as much independent ground for himself as possible

I tried to hold on to this compassion, sensing its preciousness, but even as I reached to grasp it, it dissipated into wisps. No revelation can endure unless it is bolstered by a calm pure mind- and I'm afraid I didn't possess that.