Epictetus Quotes

Treat gain and loss the same.' Don't be Intimidated. Don't make a Big Deal of anything - just accept things as they come to you.

One must know the so-called 'lesson of a downpour.' A man, caught in a sudden rain en route, dashes along the road not to get wet or drenched. Once one takes it for granted that in rain he naturally gets wet, he can be in a tranquil frame of mind even when soaked to the skin. This lesson applies to everything.

Let come what comes, let go what goes. See what remains.

Once you accept, truly accept, that stuff will happen to you and there is nothing you can do about it, stress miraculously leaves your life.

"What is the secret of your serenity?" Said the master: "Wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable."

Vex not thy spirit at the course of things; they heed not thy vexation. How ludicrous and outlandish is astonishment at anything that may happen in life.

Don't demand or expect that events happen as you would wish them do. Accept events as they actually happen. That way, peace is possible.

Let come what comes, and accommodate yourself to that, whatever it is. If good mental images arise, that is fine. If bad mental images arise, that is fine, too. Look on all of it as equal, and make yourself comfortable with whatever happens.

The older I get the more laid back I am about whatever happens, happens.

I’m not sentimental about anything. Life flows by, and you flow with it or you don’t. Move on and move out.

The secret of zen is just two words: not... always... so.

No matter how many times I tell you this, you're still thinking, thinking, judging, judging, coming to conclusions, trying to work out your life. You have to let go. Totally, absolutely, completely. You have to let go so completely that you will feel no body, no mind, no pain, nothing.

Be content with doing calmly the little which depends upon yourself, and let all else be to you as if it were not.

Ain't no sense worryin' about the things you got control over, 'cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'. And ain't no sense worryin' about the things you don't got control over, 'cause if you don't got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'.

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.

This is the chief thing: be not perturbed, for all things are according to the nature of the universal.

You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.

Forget about winning and losing, forget about pride and pain

If it means something, take it to heart. If it means nothing, it's nothing. Let it go.

Happiness or sorrow- whatever befalls you, walk on untouched, unattached.

Vex not thy spirit at the course of things, they heed not thy vexations

In my life nothing goes wrong. When things seem to not meet my expectations, I let go of how I think things should be. It's a matter of not having any attachment to any fixed outcome.

Do not run away; let go. Do not seek; for it will come when least expected.

Anyone who enjoys inner peace is no more broken by failure as he is inflated by success. He is able to fully live his experiences in the context of a vast and profound serenity, since he understands that experiences are ephemeral and that it is useless to cling to them.

Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.