Stoic Quotes for a better life

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

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

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. - Epictetus

He who is wise does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. - Epictetus

You become what you give your attention to. - Epictetus

The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. - Epictetus

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

Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them. - Marcus Aurelius

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. - Epictetus

Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. - Epictetus

The highest good is a mind that scorns the happenings of chance, and rejoices only in virtue. - Seneca

Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now. - Epictetus

It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable. - Seneca

If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother. - Epictetus

We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do not wish to have, or avoid, things that other people control, because then you must serve as their slave. - Epictetus

No man is free who is not master of himself. - Epictetus

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. - Marcus Aurelius

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

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. - Seneca

I never spend a day in idleness; I appropriate even a part of the night for study. I do not allow time for sleep but yield to it when I must, and when my eyes are wearied with waking and ready to fall shut, I keep them at their task. - Seneca

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

Conduct yourself in all matters, grand and public or small and domestic, in accordance with the laws of nature. Harmonizing your will with nature should be your utmost ideal. - Epictetus

He who spares the wicked injures the good. - Seneca

If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, "He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone." - Epictetus

In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present - I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world? - Marcus Aurelius

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

Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you. - Epictetus