You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.

Yes, you can – if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.

Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don’t try pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don’t let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes.

Labor willingly and diligently, undistracted and aware of the common interest.

If you’re going through hell, keep going.

We are twice armed if we fight with faith.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn.

Open your mind. Get up off the couch. Move.

Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Take a moment before reacting, and you will find it is easier to maintain control.

When you have been compelled by circumstances to be disturbed in a manner, quickly return to yourself and do not continue out of tune longer than the compulsion lasts.

In whatever I do, either by myself or with another, I must direct my energies to this alone, that it shall conduce to the common interest and be in harmony with it.

The mind that is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and repel every attack.

We should discipline ourselves in small things, and from there progress to things of greater value. If you have a headache, practise not cursing. Don’t curse every time you have an earache. And I’m not saying that you can’t complain, only don’t complain with your whole being.

Look not round at the depraved morals of others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it.

From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness.

Abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich. 

The recognition that I needed to train and discipline my character. 

To read attentively – not to be satisfied with ‘just getting the gist of it’. And not to fall for every smooth talker.

Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.

Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable.

I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. The true success is the person who invented himself.

Self-control and resistance to distractions. 

Doing your job, without whining. 

Not to busy myself about trifling things. 

The sense he gave of ‘staying’ on the path rather than being ‘kept’ on it.

When you’re called upon to speak, then speak, but never about banalities like gladiators, horses, sports, food and drink – common-place stuff. Above all don’t gossip about people, praising, blaming or comparing them.

Drunkenness inflames and lays bare every vice, removing the reserve that acts as a chuck on impulses to wrong behaviour.

You are composed of three things: body, breath (life), intelligence. Of these the first two are yours insofar as it is your duty to take care of them; but the third alone is truly yours.

Justice will not be observed, if we either care for indifferent things or are easily deceived and careless and changeable.

Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbors, unless with a view to some mutual benefit. To wonder what so-and-so is doing and why, or what he is saying, or thinking, or scheming – in a word, anything that distracts you from fidelity to the ruler within you – means a loss of opportunity for some other task.

Turn your desire to stone. Quench your appetites. Keep your mind centered on itself.

Is a world without shameless people possible? No. So this person you’ve just met is one of them. Get over it.

Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.

The operations of the will are in our power; not in our power are the body, the body’s parts, property, parents, siblings, children, country or friends.

Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, “Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?” You’ll be embarrassed to answer.

True good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, good actions.

It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments.

I see no virtue that is opposed to justice; but I see a virtue that is opposed to love of pleasure, and that is temperance.

Settle on the type of person you want to be and stick to it, whether alone or in company.

It will even do to socialize with men of good character, in order to model your life on theirs, whether you choose someone living or someone from the past.

Remember, too, on every occasion that leads you to vexation to apply this principle: not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is good fortune.

Do not be perturbed, for all things are according to the nature of the universal; and in a little time you will be nobody and nowhere.

If you want to be a man of honour and a man of your word, who is going to stop you? You say you don’t want to be obstructed or forced to do something against your will – well, who is going to force you to desire things that you don’t approve, or dislike something against your better judgement?

Consider at what price you sell your integrity; but please, for God’s sake, don’t sell it cheap.

It is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself. For there is no retreat that is quieter or freer from trouble than a man’s own soul.

Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.

Independence and unvarying reliability, and to pay attention to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the logos.

Good morals and the government of my temper.

Compassion. Unwavering adherence to decisions, once he’d reached them. Indifference to superficial honors. Hard work. Persistence.

They saw him for what he was: a man tested by life, accomplished, unswayed by flattery, qualified to govern both himself and them.