Epictetus Quotes

Every man is the architect of his own life. He builds it just the way he wants it. However, after he has built what he wants, he sometimes decides that he doesn't like what he has built and looks for someone or something to blame instead of changing himself.

It ain't the rain, the snow, the boss, the competition, the spouse, the money, the car, the job, or the kids - it's you! And it always has been.

If a man is unhappy, remember that his unhappiness is his own fault, for God made all men to be happy.

If you suffer it is because of you, if you feel blissful it is because of you. Nobody else is responsible - only you and you alone. You are your hell and your heaven too.

The knowledge that we are responsible for living the life we have is our most powerful tool.

We all have experiences in our lives that change us, and we all learn from people, like my dad, but at the end of the day, it's only us. And we're only responsible to make ourselves happy.

My life motto is 'Do my best, so that I can't blame myself for anything.'

It is not God's will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy.

You are not condemned for anything, but you are also not excused from anything. See these two ideas together at the same time, and a powerful third force for self-awakening is created.

A lot of times, people make other people responsible for their joy: 'You're not making me happy, you're not doing this, you're not doing that.'

If a man coaches himself, then he has only himself to blame when he is beaten.

Looking for approval or blaming others or feeling like a victim. Whenever I feel myself doing that I try to stop and see myself as someone who's a creator in more ways than just what the word typically means.

Take responsibility for your last bad decision, and then let it go. Don't blame others or make excuses for yourself.

I have no one to blame for the construction for myself, of course, but I'm always surprised and slightly sulky when I realizeВ people are buying the whole thing.

One of man's greatest failings is that he looks almost always for an excuse, in the misfortune that befalls him through his own fault, before looking for a remedy-which means he often finds the remedy too late.

If you recognize that all of your inner hurts are caused by your own wrong actions or your own wrong reactions or your own wrong inaction, then you will stop hurting yourself.

You have yourself to blame.

Just as your hand has the power to hide the sun, mediocrity has the power to hide your inner light. Do not blame others for your own incompetence.

Happy people build their inner world; unhappy people blame their outer world.

It is better for you to take responsibility for your life as it is, instead of blaming others, or circumstances, for your predicament. As your eyes open, you'll see that your state of health, happiness, and every circumstance of your life has been, in large part, arranged by you - consciously or unconsciously.

If you don't accept responsibility for your own actions then you are forever chained to a position of defense.

Blame neither man, nor God, nor anyone in the world. When you find yourselves suffering, blame yourselves, and try to do better.

Freud tells us to blame our parents for all the shortcomings of our life, Marx tells us to blame the upper class of our society. But the only one to blame is oneself.

By oneself the evil is done, and it is oneself who suffers: by oneself the evil is not done, and by one's Self one becomes pure.

We are at once the problem and the only possible solution to the problem.