It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens." Epictetus

If you wish to be a writer, write.

Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?

Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well.

-….when things seem to have reached that stage, merely say “I won’t play any longer”, and take your departure; but if you stay, stop lamenting.

If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply; "you obviously don't know about my other vices, otherwise you would have mentioned these as well

On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.

You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will.

No great 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 that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.

-Who are those people by whom you wish to be admired? Are they not these whom you are in the habit of saying that they are mad? What then? Do you wish to be admired by the mad?

If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated.

It is better to do wrong seldom and to own it, and to act right for the most part, than seldom to admit that you have done wrong and to do wrong often.

[Do not get too attached to life] for it is like a sailor's leave on the shore and at any time, the captain may sound the horn, calling you back to eternal darkness.

Keep the prospect of death, exile and all such apparent tragedies before you every day – especially death – and you will never have an abject thought, or desire anything to excess.

In banquets remember that you entertain two guests, body and soul: and whatever you shall have given to the body you soon eject: but what you shall have given to the soul, you keep always.

Your happiness depends on three things, all of which are within your power: your will, your ideas concerning the events in which you are involved, and the use you make of your ideas.

The philosopher's school, ye men, is a surgery: you ought not to go out of it with pleasure, but with pain. For you are not in sound health when you enter.

Nothing great comes into being all at once, for that is not the case even with a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me now, ‘I want a fig,’ I’ll reply, ‘That takes time.

Take care not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. If you were to guard against this in every action, you should enter upon those actions more safely.

Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.

A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope

Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

Don't live by your own rules, but in harmony with nature

Epictetus being asked how a man should give pain to his enemy answered, By preparing himself to live the best life that he can.

Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the living, and her eyes they blind.

Everyone's life is a warfare, and that long and various.

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

There is but one way to tranquility of mind and happiness, and that is to account no external things thine own, but to commit all to God.

The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.

The big question about how people behave is whether they've got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.

It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction.

Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.

The best thing I did was to choose the right heroes.

We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.

It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.

Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.

I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.

We enjoy the process far more than the proceeds.

I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.

If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.

Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.

Our favorite holding period is forever.

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.

Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.

There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing.