5 Stoic Quotes on Control & Acceptance

  • "Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our actions." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 1.1

  • "The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have." — Epictetus, Discourses 4.4

  • "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, Enchiridion 8

  • "Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire." — Epictetus, Discourses 4.1.175

  • "Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant." — Seneca, Moral Letters 107.11