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Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.
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“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.”

Epictetus

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Source
Enchiridion
Date
c. 125
English wording
George Long — Translator · from Ancient Greek
Meaning

Meaning of “Men are disturbed not by things, but by…”

Epictetus places much emotional disturbance in interpretation rather than in events alone, making judgment a central target for practice.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Enchiridion 5; English wording varies by translation.

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Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

AttitudeDeepMindShortStoicThinking Quotes About Reasoning, Reflection & JudgmentThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite ReflectionAnxietyWords of Wisdom: Practical & Philosophical Counsel
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To define is to limit.
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“To define is to limit.”

Oscar Wilde · The Picture of Dorian Gray — 1891 edition · 1891
Voice: Fictional character · Lord Henry Wotton
Meaning & context

Definitions clarify ideas but can also narrow them, especially when a label is treated as the complete reality of a person or experience.

Source details

The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891 edition, Chapter 17; Lord Henry answers the Duchess of Monmouth’s question “What are you?” with “To define is to limit.”

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There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
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“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

William Shakespeare · Hamlet · c. 1600
Voice: Fictional character · Hamlet
Meaning & context

The line separates events from the judgments people place on them, a useful distinction for thinking about perception and response.

Source details

Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2; Hamlet says this to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern while explaining that Denmark feels like a prison to him. The line is dramatic dialogue, not a detached psychological proposition by Shakespeare.

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It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.
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“It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.”

George Eliot · Middlemarch · 1871–1872
Voice: Narrator voice · Narrator
Meaning & context

Intellectual flexibility requires seeing how the same issue can appear from more than one position before settling on a judgment.

Source details

Middlemarch; the narrator contrasts narrow judgment with considering a subject from several points of view.

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