Philosophy Quote by Epictetus — Inspiring Words on Life, Love & Wisdom

“When a youth was giving himself airs in the Theatre and saying, 'I am wise, for I have conversed with many wise men,' Epictetus replied, 'I too have conversed with many rich men, yet I am not rich!’.”

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

“The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.”

“Freedom is the right to live as we wish.”

“If you wish to be a writer, write.”

“What would have become of Hercules do you think if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar - and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of such challenges?”

“If you were born with the ability to change someone’s perspective or emotions, never waste that gift. It is one of the most powerful gifts God can give—the ability to influence.”

“One never knows how the witch became wicked, or whether that was the right choice for her — is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if so is he not a devil? It is the very least question of definitions.”

“There’s an intelligence version of Catch-22, knowledge of which requires a special security clearance. As for how to obtain the clearance, you need to know the intelligence version of Catch-22.”

“This is the paradox of public space: even if everyone knows an unpleasant fact, saying it in public changes everything. One of the first measures taken by the new Bolshevik government in 1918 was to make public the entire corpus of tsarist secret diplomacy, all the secret agreements, the secret clauses of public agreements etc. There too the target was the entire functioning of the state apparatuses of power.”

“All is mystery; but he is a slave who will not struggle to penetrate the dark veil.”