Epictetus Quotes

External things are not the problem. It's your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now.

When you are angry or frustrated, what comes out? Whatever it is, it's a good indication of what you're made of.

Understand that thoughts are thoughts. If they are unreasonable, reason with them, even if you have no reason left. You are the observer of your mind, not its victim.

The problem is not what other people think, do or say; it is your reaction.

It's not what happens in life that bothers us. It's what we're believing about it that bothers us.

When we go slower, we are more patient and when we are more patient we have a choice in how we respond.

There is no actual stress or anxiety in the world, your thoughts create these false beliefs.

People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy.

Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.

When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it. It is not the things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor are they what they seem to be. They are what they are.

The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it's your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can't package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.

I think that ultimately your age is determined by your attitude. It's not the number; it's not how many wrinkles you have on your face. It's the energy that you project.

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

When we are fully conscious and aware, we actually know when we are about to overreact. When we are mindful, we have the mental space and are aware of when our moods change. When we are mindful, we are aware of when our mental models are being challenged and when expectation does not meet with reality, which can trigger an emotional response.

It's soothing to realize that my mind's processes are inherently uncontrollable.

I realized that if my thoughts immediately affect my body, I should be careful about what I think. Now if I get angry, I ask myself why I feel that way. If I can find the source of my anger, I can turn that negative energy into something positive.

A man is what he thinks about all day long.

It's not the situation... It's your reaction to the situation.

During the financial crisis, I worked with hundreds of executives who struggled as a result of their thoughts about job security. When their beliefs changed, so did their emotional experience - and they were then able to focus on the task at hand more effectively.

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

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.

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

Apparently, I'm the angriest man. I don't know. It's just an interpretation. If it was someone else, they might be called focused or competitive. I'm not that angry or grumpy, but if you want to say I'm angry because I'm focused or competitive, then that's okay.

I don't really feel any pressure. I can control only what I can control.