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Epictetus Quotes About Strength

Browse 19 quotations connecting Epictetus with Strength, with meanings, source notes and related themes.

Sources

Where these strength quotations appear

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

19 shown
Quotations

19 matching quotations with meanings and source context

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

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

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.”

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

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

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.

Source identified3
We shall both be cautious and confident, and indeed confident because of our caution.

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

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.

Source identified4
Wish the things which happen to be as they are.

“Wish the things which happen to be as they are.”

The advice is not passivity; it is a call to stop fighting reality before deciding how to respond to it.

Source details

A concise clause from Enchiridion 8, where Epictetus contrasts demanding preferred outcomes with accepting what occurs.

Source identified5
Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party.

“Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party.”

The dinner-party image recommends waiting for what comes in proper order instead of grabbing anxiously, turning restraint into a model for daily conduct.

Source details

Enchiridion, chapter 15; the following sentences explain waiting until things come round to you.

Source identified6
Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.

“Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things.”

Epictetus separates an event from the judgment placed on it, making interpretation a practical point of leverage.

Source details

Enchiridion 5 in George Long’s translation; the passage distinguishes events from the opinions that disturb us.

Source identified7
The man did not know the rest of my faults, for he would not have mentioned these only.

“The man did not know the rest of my faults, for he would not have mentioned these only.”

Epictetus answers insult without retaliation by turning attention toward his own fallibility; the joke reduces the critic’s power because reputation is treated as an external judgment rather than something that must be avenged.

Source details

Enchiridion, section 33 in George Long’s public-domain translation, Project Gutenberg #10661. The line is the suggested reply after hearing that someone has spoken ill of you; it is Stoic self-command, not an instruction to accept abuse without boundaries.

Source identified8
When you have decided that a thing ought to be done, and are doing it, never avoid being seen doing it.

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

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.

Source identified9
Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.

“Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well.”

Peace is sought by aligning desire with reality rather than requiring reality to obey preference, a central Stoic distinction between response and circumstance.

Source details

Enchiridion, section 8; Epictetus applies Stoic acceptance to events outside personal control.

Source identified10
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.

“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.”

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.

Source identified11
No man is free who is not master of himself.

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

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.

Source identified12
Freedom is the name of virtue: Slavery, of vice.

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

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.

Source identified13
Fortify thyself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.

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

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.

Source identified14
A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.

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

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.

Source identified15
True instruction is this:—to learn to wish that each thing should come to pass as it does.

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

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.

Source identified16
What then? have you not received greatness of heart, received courage, received fortitude?

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

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.

Source identified17
Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

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

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.

Source identified18
Have this thought ever present with thee, when thou losest any outward thing, what thou gainest in its stead.

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

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.

Source identified19
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.

“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.”

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.

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