Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Author & topic collection

Inspirational Quotes by Epictetus

Browse 18 quotations connecting Epictetus with Inspirational, with meanings, source notes and related themes.

All Epictetus quotesInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilitySourcesMatching quotes
Sources

Where these inspirational quotations appear

Sources represented here include The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, Discourses of Epictetus, Enchiridion.

The Golden Sayings of Epictetusc. 125 · 12 matching quotationsDiscourses of Epictetusc. 125 CE · 4 matching quotationsEnchiridionc. 125 CE · 2 matching quotations
18 shown
Quotations

18 matching quotations with meanings and source context

Source identified1
If you would make anything a habit, do it.
Read & copy

“If you would make anything a habit, do it.”

Discourses of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Habit formation is reduced to repeated action: the behavior itself is what trains the pattern.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter XVIII, “How we should struggle against appearances,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. This short catalog record is an excerpt of Long’s longer clause “Generally then if you would make any thing a habit, do it”; this collection lightly normalizes “any thing” to “anything.”

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified2
Generally then if you would make anything a habit, do it.
Read & copy

“Generally then if you would make anything a habit, do it.”

Discourses of Epictetus · c. 125 CE
Meaning & context

Repeated behavior trains the corresponding habit, so change depends on practicing the desired action rather than merely endorsing it in theory.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter XVIII, “How we should struggle against appearances,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. This collection lightly normalizes Long’s “any thing” to “anything”; this longer record contains the shorter retained habit excerpt represented by a separate legacy quote URL.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified3
No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.
Read & copy

“No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.”

Discourses of Epictetus · c. 108
Meaning & context

Epictetus treats worthwhile development as organic rather than instantaneous: ability, character and reconciliation require stages of growth that cannot be skipped simply because the final result is desired now.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book I, Chapter XV, “What Philosophy Promises,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. Epictetus answers a request for immediate improvement with the fig/grape analogy: nothing great is produced suddenly and development requires time.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified4
We shall both be cautious and confident, and indeed confident because of our caution.
Read & copy

“We shall both be cautious and confident, and indeed confident because of our caution.”

Discourses of Epictetus · c. 108
Meaning & context

Epictetus rejects confidence as recklessness: confidence becomes rational when caution is directed toward one’s own judgments and choices rather than toward externals that cannot be controlled.

Source details

Discourses of Epictetus, Book II, Chapter I, “That confidence (courage) is not inconsistent with caution,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. Epictetus distinguishes confidence toward externals from moral caution in the use of one’s own will.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified5
When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never avoid being seen doing it.
Read & copy

“When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never avoid being seen doing it.”

Enchiridion · c. 125
Meaning & context

Once judgment has concluded an action is right, misplaced criticism should not become a reason to hide or abandon the action.

Source details

Enchiridion, chapter 35, George Long translation; the following sentence distinguishes right action from fear of wrong criticism.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified6
On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.
Read & copy

“On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.”

Enchiridion · c. 125 CE
Meaning & context

Instead of beginning with what an event has taken away, the practice asks which capacity—endurance, restraint, patience, or judgment—can still be exercised.

Source details

Enchiridion, section X, George Long translation; Epictetus gives examples such as endurance under pain and patience under abuse.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified7
No man is free who is not master of himself.
Read & copy

“No man is free who is not master of himself.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Self-command is presented as a prerequisite for freedom because uncontrolled impulses can rule a person as effectively as an outside master.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XV, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified8
Freedom is the name of virtue: Slavery, of vice.
Read & copy

“Freedom is the name of virtue: Slavery, of vice.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Freedom is treated as an ethical condition of character rather than simply the absence of external restraint.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying X, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified9
Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men.
Read & copy

“Try to enjoy the great festival of life with other men.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Life is pictured as something shared rather than possessed privately, joining enjoyment with participation in a wider human community.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying III, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified10
Fortify thyself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.
Read & copy

“Fortify thyself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Contentment creates a form of inward security because satisfaction becomes less dependent on circumstances that can be taken away.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XVII, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified11
Place then thy happiness in that wherein thou art equal to the Gods.
Read & copy

“Place then thy happiness in that wherein thou art equal to the Gods.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Epictetus locates happiness in the rational and moral capacities a person can exercise rather than in rank, possessions, or bodily advantages.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XXXIII, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified12
A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.
Read & copy

“A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

The image warns against making one uncertain outcome carry the whole weight of a life; resilience benefits from more than one source of meaning and support.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XVI, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified13
Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.
Read & copy

“Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

A demanding way of living can become more natural through practice, so character is shaped partly by the customs a person repeatedly chooses.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XX, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified14
True instruction is this:—to learn to wish that each thing should come to pass as it does.
Read & copy

“True instruction is this:—to learn to wish that each thing should come to pass as it does.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Stoic instruction begins by reducing the conflict between reality and demand, leaving judgment and action to work with what actually occurs.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XXVI, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified15
What then? have you not received greatness of heart, received courage, received fortitude?
Read & copy

“What then? have you not received greatness of heart, received courage, received fortitude?”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

The rhetorical question redirects attention from hardship toward capacities already available for meeting it—courage, endurance, and largeness of spirit.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XIV, in the passage comparing life’s difficulties with enduring the Olympic festival.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified16
Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!
Read & copy

“Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Length alone does not make a life better; Epictetus places moral quality and nobility above mere duration.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying IX, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified17
Have this thought ever present with thee, when thou losest any outward thing, what thou gainest in its stead.
Read & copy

“Have this thought ever present with thee, when thou losest any outward thing, what thou gainest in its stead.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Loss is not automatically the whole story; the instruction asks what freedom, clarity, experience, or other value may accompany what has been given up.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XXVII, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified18
You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man’s own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life.
Read & copy

“You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man’s own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life.”

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus · c. 125
Meaning & context

Principles become character through repetition: they must be rehearsed, tested, and practiced until they survive ordinary pressure.

Source details

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XXX, Hastings Crossley translation.

↓ Download image (JPG)

More from this author

Other topic collections for Epictetus

Epictetus Quotes About Strength19 matching quotes · 2 sourcesEpictetus Quotes About Wisdom16 matching quotes · 2 sourcesMotivational Quotes by Epictetus13 matching quotes · 2 sourcesEpictetus Quotes About Courage10 matching quotes · 2 sourcesEpictetus Quotes About Mindfulness10 matching quotes · 2 sourcesEpictetus Quotes About Success6 matching quotes · 2 sources