Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.
Read & copy the quotation
“Choose the life that is noblest, for custom can make it sweet to thee.”

Epictetus

Download image (JPG)

Source
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
Date
c. 125
English wording
Hastings Crossley — Translator and arranger · from Ancient Greek
Meaning

Meaning of “Choose the life that is noblest, for custom…”

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

Source context

Where does it come from?

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

Primary / edition source ↗

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

ConsistencyDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyHabitsInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityLifeMotivation For LifeMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePositive Quotes About a Constructive OutlookProductivityShortStoic
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

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

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

Epictetus · 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 identified
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
Read & copy

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”

Proverbs · King James Bible — Proverbs 6:6 · 1611
Meaning & context

The proverb uses the ant as an example of self-directed preparation, turning observation of repeated practical behavior into a lesson about disciplined habits.

Source details

Proverbs 6:6 in the King James Version; the following verses describe the ant preparing food without an overseer.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
To make each one many times was the best way to imbed it in his memory.
Read & copy

“To make each one many times was the best way to imbed it in his memory.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett · The Lost Prince · 1915
Voice: Narrator voice · Narrator
Meaning & context

The narration connects repeated practice with stronger recall, showing Marco deliberately using repetition to make a learned association more durable.

Source details

The Lost Prince; Project Gutenberg #384. The exercise involves repeatedly sketching faces connected with places for the novel’s secret mission.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
It is well to observe everything and to train one's self to remember faces and circumstances.
Read & copy

“It is well to observe everything and to train one's self to remember faces and circumstances.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett · The Lost Prince · 1915
Voice: Fictional character · Loristan
Meaning & context

Observation and memory are presented as trainable abilities strengthened by deliberate attention rather than fixed talents that either appear or do not.

Source details

The Lost Prince; Project Gutenberg #384. Loristan is training Marco for a fictional diplomatic and political mission, so the advice belongs to that narrative setting.

↓ Download image (JPG)