Quotes from Discourses and Selected Writings

“So what oppresses and scares us? It is our own thoughts, obviously, What overwhelms people when they are about to leaves friends, family, old haunts and their accustomed way of life? Thoughts.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Remember from now on whenever something tends to make you unhappy, draw on this principle: 'This is no misfortune; but bearing with it bravely is a blessing.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Sickness is a problem for the body, not the mind — unless the mind decides that it is a problem. Lameness, too, is the body's problem, not the mind's. Say this to yourself whatever the circumstance and you will find without fail that the problem pertains to something else, not to you.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“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, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Keep the prospect of death, exile and all such apparent tragedies before you every day – especially death – and you will never have an abject thought, or desire anything to excess.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“The gods do not exists, and even if they exist they do not trouble themselves about people, and we have nothing in common with them. The piety and devotion to the gods that the majority of people invoke is a lie devised by swindlers and con men and, if you can believe it, by legislators, to keep criminals in line by putting the fear of God into them.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“It is a universal law — have no illusion — that every creature alive is attached to nothing so much as to its own self-interest.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“There is no shame in making an honest effort.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“People with a strong physical constitution can tolerate extremes of hot and cold; people of strong mental health can handle anger, grief, joy and the other emotions.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Whenever anyone criticizes or wrongs you, remember that they are only doing or saying what they think is right. They cannot be guided by your views, only their own; so if their views are wrong, they are the ones who suffer insofar as they are misguided.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Protect what belongs to you at all costs; don't desire what belongs to another.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“So if you like doing something, do it regularly; if you don't like doing something, make a habit of doing something different.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“In literature, too, it is not great achievement to memorize what you have read while not formulating an opinion of your own.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Adopt new habits yourself: consolidate your principles by putting them into practice.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“For where you find unrest, grief, fear, frustrated desire, failed aversion, jealousy and envy, happiness has no room for admittance. And where values are false, these passions inevitably follow.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Tell yourself what you want to be, then act your part accordingly.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Free is the person who lives as he wishes and cannot be coerced, impeded or compelled, whose impulses cannot be thwarted, who always gets what he desires and never has to experience what he would rather avoid.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Freedom is not archived by satisfying desire, but by eliminating it.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“You should be especially careful when associating with one of your former friends or acquaintances not to sink to their level; otherwise you will lose yourself. If you are troubled by the idea that ‘He’ll think I’m boring and won’t treat me the way he used to,’ remember that everything comes at a price. It isn’t possible to change your behavior and still be the same person you were before.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Never praise or blame people on common grounds; look to their judgements exclusively. Because that is the determining factor, which makes everyone's actions either good or bad.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Restrict yourself to choice and refusal; and exercise them carefully, with discipline and detachment.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Don't put your purpose in one place and expect to see progress made somewhere else.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“You ought to realize, you take up very little space in the world as a whole—your body, that is; in reason, however, you yield to no one, not even to the gods, because reason is not measured in size but sense. So why not care for that side of you, where you and the gods are equals?”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“That is the way things are weighed and disagreements settled — when standards are established. Philosophy aims to test and set such standards. And the wise man is advised to make use of their findings right way.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Most people are impulsive, however, and having committed to the thing, they persist, just making more confusion for themselves and others until it all end in mutual recrimination.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“He wants what he cannot have, and does not want what he can't refuse — and isn't aware of it. He doesn't know the difference between his own possessions and others'. Because, if he did, he would never be thwarted of disappointed.
Or nervous.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“We aren't filled with fear except by things that are bad; and not by them, either, as long as it is in our power to avoid them.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

“Don't concern yourself with other people's business. It's his problem if he receives you badly. And you cannot suffer for another person's fault. So don't worry about the behavior of other.”
― Epictetus, quote from Discourses and Selected Writings

About the author

Popular quotes

“Love?
Yes.
Gideon chuckled.
Why did you say yes like that?
Oh, I thought you were asking me a question.
I see.
Then he truly did see what she meant, and his heart flipped over in his chest.
Darling?
Gideon smiled at the warmth the endearment flooded him with.
Yes, Neliss?
Oh, nothing. Just fulfilling my end of the deal.
The deal?
Yes. You made me a deal.
You lost me, he sighed.
Legna lifted her head, propped an elbow up against the pillow of his chest, and settled her chin in her palm so she could look down at him.
“You said that I would get something very special if I called you that.”
“Did I?” he asked, his eyes brightening with speculation as he thought back on it. “Actually, I think you have that confused with the deal about saying my name.”
“I like your name,” she said with a smile. “I always thought mine was awful snobbish. But yours has me beat hands down.”
“My name is one of the finest and oldest names in all of our history.”
“That’s only because you have lived to be such an older tosser.”
“Tosser?”
“British vernacular, luv.”
“What are you, my dialect coach all of a sudden? Is this your idea of postcoital pillow talk?”
Legna giggled, apologizing with a clinging kiss on his lips. It clearly calmed him, making him smile in a very cat-versus-canary way.
“Is there something you would prefer I say?” she asked compliantly.
“That yes a few sentences back was great. Short, sweet, to the point.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“Yes?” he asked, arching a brow.
“Oh, yes,” she assured him, her own brows doing a little lecherous dance.
“Mmm, yes,” he murmured as her mouth lowered to his.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Legna?
Yes?
Do not talk with your mouth full.
No?
No.”
― Jacquelyn Frank, quote from Gideon

“Cats," he said succinctly. "You two-legs think they're so inscrutable. They are the world's worst gossips. And they are everywhere."
Andie had to agree to that statement. The Palace was full of cats. Lean, hardworking cellar cats, energetic kitchen cats, pampered, aloof darlings of Cassiopeia's ladies- you couldn't walk ten feet without seeing a cat somewhere. The Queen didn't mind, because cats didn't demand attention the way dogs did, nor were they noisy, and as long as her maids could keep her gowns cat-hair free, she tolerated the creatures.
And as if they understood the limits of that tolerance, they kept their territorial squabbles and amorous serenades out of earshot of the Queen's Wing.”
― Mercedes Lackey, quote from One Good Knight

“It was a truism that all civilizations were basically neurotic until they made contact with everybody else and found their place within the ever-changing meta-civilisation of other beings, because, until then, during the stage when they honestly believed they might be entirely alone in existence, all solo societies were possessed of both an inflated sense of their own importance and a kind of existential terror at the sheer scale and apparent emptiness of the universe.”
― Iain M. Banks, quote from The Algebraist

“The most important thing a man has to tell you is what he’s not telling you,” he said. “The most important thing he has to say is what he’s trying not to say.”
― Robert A. Caro, quote from Master of the Senate

“for in history there is nothing more pleasing than clear and brilliant brevity.”
― Gaius Julius Caesar, quote from The Conquest of Gaul

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.