Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the living, and her eyes they blind.
EpictetusRead
Ask yourself: Does this appearance (of events) concern the things that are within my own control or those that are not? If it concerns anything outside your control, train yourself not to worry about it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on what you can control and let go of what you can't.
This quote by Epictetus emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and mental clarity in facing life's challenges. It encourages individuals to differentiate between what is within their control and what is not, teaching that worrying about outside factors only leads to distress and distraction. By training ourselves to focus solely on our actions and responses, we can foster a more peaceful and productive mindset.
Themes
ControlWorryMindfulnessPhilosophyStoicism
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about resilience, one might quote Epictetus to illustrate the importance of focusing on personal agency.
More from Epictetus
All quotes →Learn to distinguish what you can and can't control. Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, desires and the things that repel us. They are directly subject to our influence.
EpictetusRead
Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.
EpictetusRead
Nothing truly stops you. Nothing truly holds you back. For your own will is always within your control. Sickness may challenge your body. But are you merely your body? Lameness may impede your legs. But you are not merely your legs. Your will is bigger than your legs. Your will needn't be affected by an incident unless you let it.
EpictetusRead
The people have a right to the truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
EpictetusRead
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things, and thence proceed to greater.
EpictetusRead
Similar quotes
What is the real breath of a man — the breathing out or the breathing in?
Margaret AtwoodRead
American cities are like badger holes, ringed with trash--all of them--surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered in rubbish. Everything we use comes in boxes, cartons, bins, the so-called packaging we love so much. The mountain of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use.
John SteinbeckRead
Every one of us has a bad conscience, which he tries to escape by going to sleep as quickly as possible.
Franz KafkaRead
Under the strain of this continually impending doom and by the sleeplessness to which I now condemned myself, ay, even beyond what I had thought possible to man, I became, in my own person, a creature eaten up and emptied by fever, languidly weak both in body and mind, and solely occupied by one thought: the horror of my other self.
Robert Louis StevensonRead
Men owe us what we imagine they will give us. We must forgive them this debt.
Simone WeilRead
Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of Government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.
Thomas PaineRead