Is there anything in Judaism or Christianity that can surpass this?
The following are several sayings by the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus (c. 55 CE — c. 135) who, along with other philosophers, was banished from Rome by the Emperor Domitian in 89 CE, then taught in Greece. He exerted an enormous influence on Roman and Greek Stoic philosophy by showing how it could be lived by the average person, as opposed to Seneca, a statesman and high court official, and Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor.
Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not.
What is a good person? The one who achieves tranquility by having formed the habit of asking on every occasion, “What is the right thing to do now?”
Practice self-sufficiency. Don’t remain a dependent, malleable patient: Become your own soul’s physician.
The habit of walking makes us better walkers; regular running makes us better runners. It is the same with the soul. Whenever you are angry, you increase your anger; you have increased a habit and added fuel to a fire.
Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor what they seem to be. They are what they are.
Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your will is always within your control.
A half-hearted spirit has no power. Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes.
Those who pursue the higher life of wisdom, who seek to live by spiritual principles, must be prepared to be laughed at and condemned. Never live your life in reaction to these diminished souls.
Self-mastery depends on self-honesty. Try to be as kind to yourself as possible. Do not measure yourself against others or even against your ideal self. Human betterment is a gradual, two-steps-forward, one-step-back effort.
Books are the training weights of the mind. When the idea of any pleasure strikes your imagination, make a just computation between the duration of the pleasure and that of the repentance that is likely to follow it.
One of the best ways to elevate your character immediately is to find worthy role models to emulate. We all carry the seeds of greatness within us, but we need an image as a point of focus in order that they may sprout.
The virtue that leads to enduring happiness is not a quid pro quo goodness. I’ll be good to get something. Goodness in and of itself is the practice and the reward.
How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. 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.”
Content yourself with being a lover of wisdom and a seeker of the truth. Return and return again to what is essential and worthy.
Fortify yourself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.
Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.
It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.
Skillful ship captains gain their reputation from storms and tempests.
I laugh at those who think they can damage me. They do not know who I am; they do not know what I think; they cannot even touch the things which are really mine and with which I live.
It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself.
Unless we fully give ourselves over to our endeavors, we are hollow, superficial people and we never develop our natural gifts.
Except for extreme physical abuse, other people cannot hurt you unless you allow them to.
Refrain from trying to win other people’s approval and admiration. You are taking a higher road.
Desire and aversion, though powerful, are but habits. And we can train ourselves to have better habits. Restrain the habit of being repelled by all those things that aren’t within your control, and focus instead on combating things within your power that are not good for you.
It is incumbent that your thoughts, words, and deeds conform to one another. This is a higher standard than held by the masses.
Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.
It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live amid abundance with a troubled spirit.
It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body; for it is better to die than to live badly.
Virtue is not a matter of degree, but an absolute.
Most people don’t realize that both help and harm come from within themselves. Instead they look to what is outside of them.
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.
Difficulty shows what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a strong opponent. Why? So that you may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat.
The virtuous life depends on reason first and foremost. If you safeguard your reason, it will safeguard you.
No man is free who is not master of himself.
Grow up! Who cares what other people think about you?
Do you wish to be invincible? Then don’t enter into combat with what you have no real control over. When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or reject it.
One who desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent.
Most people tend to delude themselves into thinking that freedom comes from doing what feels good or what fosters comfort and ease. The truth is that people who subordinate reason to their feelings of the moment are actually slaves of their desires and aversions.
Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you.
Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.
Never depend on the admiration of others. There is no strength in it.
Personal merit cannot be derived from an external source.
The surest sign of the higher life is serenity. Moral progress results in freedom from inner turmoil.
Philosophy’s main task is to respond to the soul’s cry; to make sense of and thereby free ourselves from the hold of our griefs and fears.
Small-minded people habitually reproach others for their own misfortunes. Average people reproach themselves. Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom understand that the impulse to blame something or someone is foolishness and that there is nothing to be gained in blaming, whether it be others or oneself.
In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside. From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself.
Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do — now.
All philosophy lies in four words, endure and do without.
This is our predicament: Over and over again, we lose sight of what is important and what isn’t. We crave things over which we have no control, and are not satisfied by the things within our control.
Practice having a grateful attitude and you will be happy.
Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your control.
Take care not to casually discuss matters that are of great importance to you with people who are not important to you. Your affairs will become drained of preciousness.
It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be their slave.
It’s better to be a good person and fulfill your obligations than to have renown and power.
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
Other people’s views and troubles can be contagious. If you encounter a downhearted friend, a grieving parent, or a colleague who has suffered a sudden reversal of fortune, be careful not to be overcome yourself by the apparent misfortune.
Character matters more than reputation.
In any event, however seemingly dire, there is nothing to prevent us from searching for its hidden opportunity. It is a failure of the imagination not to do so. But to seek out the opportunity in situations requires a great deal of courage, for most people around you will persist in interpreting events in obvious ways: success or failure, good or bad, right or wrong.
Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.
The first step to living wisely is to relinquish self-conceit.
If any man be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone. For God hath made all men to enjoy happiness and constancy of good. The good or bad of a man lies within his own will.
What is the first business of one who studies philosophy? To part with self-conceit. All human beings seek the happy life, but many confuse the means — for example, wealth and status — with that life itself.
Open your eyes: See things for what they really are, thereby sparing yourself the pain of false attachments and avoidable devastation. A wise man is he who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices in those which he has.
Only the educated are free. Practice yourself in small things; and thence proceed to greater.
Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? — a will undisappointed, evils avoided, powers daily exercised, careful resolutions, and unerring decisions.
Appearances to the mind are of four kinds. Things either are what they appear to be; or they neither are, nor appear to be; or they are, and do not appear to be; or they are not, and yet appear to be. Rightly to aim in all these cases is the wise man’s task.
Just because some people are nice to you doesn’t mean you should spend time with them. Just because they seek you out and are interested in you or your affairs doesn’t mean you should associate with them.
The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.
Control your passions lest they take vengeance on you. 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 you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
Neither should a ship rely on one small anchor, nor should life rest on a single hope.
Be on your guard against a false sense of self-importance.
Frank Breslin is a retired high-school teacher in the New Jersey public school system.