6 Stoic Quotes on Self-Control

  • "Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power." — Seneca, Moral Letters 90.34

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

  • "People who know no self-restraint lead stormy and disordered lives, passing their time in a state of fear commensurate with the injuries they do to others, never able to relax." — Seneca, Moral Letters 105.7

  • "Restrict yourself to choice and refusal; and exercise them carefully, with discipline and detachment." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 2

  • "All philosophy lies in two words, sustain and abstain." — Epictetus, Attic Nights (by Aulus Gellius) 17.19

  • "We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free." — Epictetus, Discourses 2.1.22