Epictetus

What should a man have ready in such circumstances? This: what is mine and what is not, what is permitted and what is not. I must die. Must I die lamenting? I must be chained. Must I lament that too?

What is proposed to us. To live with desire and aversion free from restraint. Never to be disappointed in what you seek, nor to fall into what you avoid. All exercise tends toward this.

The thief thinks man's good consists in fine clothes — the very thing you also think. Must he not come and take them? Show a cake to the greedy and swallow it yourself — will they not snatch it?

When the tyrant threatens and calls you, ask: whom do you threaten? Chains threaten only your hands and feet. Beheading threatens only your head. Prison threatens only the body. None of it touches what matters.

Two things are mingled in us: body, which we share with the animals, and reason, which we share with the gods. Most people incline toward the body — the mortal, miserable kinship. Few choose the divine.

It is not the philosopher’s business to look after externals, his wine, oil, or poor body. His business is his own ruling power. As to externals, only do not be careless.

Such is the condition of things around us: cold and heat, bad roads, voyages, winds, and various circumstances destroy one man, banish another, throw one into service.

Have you a wild beast's disposition, the urge for revenge? A horse is not wretched when he cannot crow but when he cannot run. A dog, not when he cannot fly but when he cannot track.

What punishment for those who refuse to accept? To remain what they are. Is someone dissatisfied with solitude? Let him remain alone. With his parents? Then a bad son. With his children? A bad father.