Epictetus

"A city is not adorned by external things, but by the virtue of those who dwell in it."

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

"Any person capable of angering you becomes your master."

"Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you."

"Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens."

"Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself."

"Difficulties are things that show a person what they are."

"Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things."

"Do not try to seem wise to others."

"Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well."

"Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it."

"Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better."

"First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak."

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."

"Fortify yourself with contentment, for this is an impregnable fortress."

"Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire."

"Freedom is the only worthy goal in life."

"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

"He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at."

"If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it."

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."

"If you wish to be a writer, write."

"If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write."

"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows."

"It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them."

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

"Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly."

"Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly."

"Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens."

"No man is free who is not master of himself."

"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them."

"Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak."

"No great thing is created suddenly."

"No man is free who is not master of himself."

"Nothing is smaller than love of pleasure, and love of gain and pride. Nothing is greater than magnanimity, and gentleness and love of mankind."

"Only the educated are free."

"People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them."

"Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourself."

"Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourselves."

"Take care not to be harmed by your own thoughts."

"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it."

"The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best."

"There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

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

"To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education."

"To make anything a habit, do it; to not make it a habit, do not do it."

"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."

"We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with one hope."

"Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants."

"What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are."

"You are a little soul carrying around a corpse."

"You become what you give your attention to."