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First say to yourself what you would be;
then do what you have to do.
- Epictetus
Related topics: Positive Values
We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how to respond to them.
- Epictetus 
When you have shut your doors, and darkened your room,
remember, never to say that you are alone,
for you are not alone, but God is within,
and your genius is within.
- Epictetus
Whoever does not regard what he has
as most ample wealth, is unhappy,
though he be master of the world.
- Epictetus
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- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
He is a wise man who does not grieve
for the things which he has not,
but rejoices for those which he has.
- Epictetus
Is freedom anything else than the right
to live as we wish? Nothing else.
- Epictetus
If thy brother wrongs thee,
remember not so much his wrong-doing,
but more than ever that he is thy brother.
- Epictetus
You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.
- Epictetus
No man is free who is not master of himself.
- Epictetus
The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live
that his happiness shall depend
as little as possible on external things.
- Epictetus
Men are disturbed not by things,
but by the view which they take of them.
- Epictetus
The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it.
Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
- Epictetus
Control thy passions lest they take vengeance upon thee.
- Epictetus
Fortify yourself with contentment,
for it is an impregnable fortress. -
- Epictetus
We have two ears and one mouth so that
we can listen twice as much as we speak.
- Epictetus
Anyone is free who lives as he wishes to live.
- Epictetus
Freedom is the right to live as we wish.
- Epictetus
You may be always victorious if
you will never enter into any contest
where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.
- Epictetus
Wealth consists not in having great possessions,
but in having few wants.
- Epictetus
No great thing is created suddenly.
- Epictetus
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things,
and then proceed to greater.
- Epictetus
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor,
nor should life rest on a single hope.
- Epictetus
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying
about things which are beyond the power of our will.
- Epictetus
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
- Epictetus
We tell lies, yet it is easy to show that lying is immoral.
- Epictetus
People are not disturbed by things,
but by the view they take of them.
- Epictetus
It is not he who reviles or strikes you who insults you,
but your opinion that these things are insulting.
- Epictetus
We can't control the impressions others form about us,
and the effort to do so only debases our character.
- Epictetus
Make the best use of what is in your power,
and take the rest as it happens.
- Epictetus
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,
but the fear of pain or death.
- Epictetus
We should not moor a ship with one anchor,
or our life with one hope.
- Epictetus
First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
- Epictetus
Difficulties are things that show a person what he is.
- Epictetus
Do not seek to bring things to pass
in accordance with your wishes,
but wish for them as they are,
and you will find them.
- Epictetus
When you are offended at any man's fault,
turn to yourself and study your own failings.
Then you will forget your anger.
- Epictetus
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you,
whose presence calls forth your best.
- Epictetus
If evil be spoken of you
and it be true, correct yourself,
if it be a lie, laugh at it.
- Epictetus
If you want to improve,
be content to be thought foolish and stupid.
- Epictetus
Whenever you are angry, be assured that
it is not only a present evil,
but that you have increased a habit.
- Epictetus
Not every difficult and dangerous thing
is suitable for training,
but only that which is conducive to success
in achieving the object of our effort.
- Epictetus
It is impossible to begin to learn
that which one thinks one already knows.
- Epictetus
No one is free who is not master of himself.
- Epictetus
No greater thing is created suddenly,
any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig.
If you tell me that you desire a fig,
I answer you that there must be time.
Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
- Epictetus
It's not what happens to you,
but how you react to it that matters.
- Epictetus
Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich,
for the hopes of the instructed
are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
- Epictetus
Never in any case say I have lost such a thing, but I have returned it.
Is your child dead? It is a return. Is your wife dead? It is a return.
Are you deprived of your estate? Is not this also a return?
- Epictetus
Imagine for yourself a character,
a model personality whose example you determine to follow,
in private as well as in public.
- Epictetus
All religions must be tolerated...
for every man must get to heaven in his own way.
- Epictetus
If anyone is unhappy, remember that
his unhappiness is his own fault...
Nothing else is the cause of anxiety or loss of tranquility
except our own opinion.
- Epictetus
Keep your attention focused entirely
on what is truly your own concern,
and be clear that what belongs to others
is their business and none of yours.
- Epictetus
To accuse others for one's own misfortunes
is a sign of want of education.
To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun.
To accuse neither oneself nor others
shows that one's education is complete.
- Epictetus
If someone irritates you, it is only
your own response that is irritating you.
Therefore, when anyone seems to be provoking you,
remember that it is only your judgment
of the incident that provokes you. -
- Epictetus
Difficulties show men what they are.
In case of any difficulty,
remember that God has pitted you
against a rough antagonist
that you may be a conqueror,
and this cannot be without toil.
- Epictetus
All philosophy lies in two words,
sustain and abstain.
- Epictetus
Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom
understand that the impulse to blame
something or someone is foolishness,
that there is nothing to be gained in blaming,
whether it be others or oneself.
- Epictetus
Faith is taking the first step,
even when you don't see the whole staircase.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
All things at first appear difficult.
- Chinese proverb
Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland
To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
- William Shakespeare
When we step on the battlefield, I will be
The First Boots On and the Last Boots Off.
- LtG. Hal Moore
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
- Anonymous
Seek first to understand,
then to be understood.
- Stephen Covey
Our "Rainbows and Butterflies" are the small miracles of our life -
the little things that are so easy to overlook,
yet so awe inspiring when we take a moment
to notice and to pay attention.
Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies,
for all God's creatures - large and small,
for the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain,
for the tree veiled in the season's first frost,
for the baby's laugh,
for the touch of a hand and the whispered "I love you."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love,
of kindness, of understanding, of peace.
Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God -
the rest will be given.
- Mother Teresa
Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies,
for all God's creatures - large and small,
for the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain,
for the tree veiled in the season's first frost,
for the baby's laugh, for the touch of a hand
and the whispered "I love you."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Tolerance is the first principle of community;
it is the spirit which conserves
the best that all men think.
- Helen Keller
The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was:
"If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"
But... the good Samaritan reversed the question:
"If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Let every day be the first day
of the rest of your life,
but especially let today be a new beginning.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
The first sigh of love is the last breath of wisdom.
- Anonymous
Know first that you have absolutely no power to change the world,
and then address all your energies and intent toward improving it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Do first things first, and second things not at all.
- Peter F. Drucker
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May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
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