Stoiq
But, you object: "If you place before me the fear of death, you do compel me." No, it is not what is placed before you that compels, but your opinion that it is better to do so and so than to die.
― EpictetusDiscourses (Book I, Chapter 17)
Share this quote

More from Epictetus

View all quotes
“It is the act of an ill-instructed man to blame others for his own bad condition; it is the act of one who has begun to be instructed, to lay the blame on himself; and of one whose instruction is completed, neither to blame another, nor himself.”
“Remember that it is not the person who insults you or strikes you who offends you, but your opinion about these things as being offensive. When a man then irritates you, you must know that it is your own opinion which has irritated you.”
― EpictetusEnchiridion (Chapter 20)
“The condition and characteristic of an uninstructed person is this: he never expects from himself profit (advantage) nor harm, but from externals. The condition and characteristic of a philosopher is this: he expects all advantage and all harm from himself.”