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What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.

Epictetus

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Epictetus
Philosopher
Epictetus of Hierapolis
Way
Frightens
Things
Dismay
Think
Disturb
Thinking
External
Life
Interpretation
Significance
Events
Really

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Everything has two handles,-one by which it may be borne another by which it cannot.
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If you would improve, submit to be considered wihout sense and foolish with respect to externals. Wish to be considered to know nothing and if you shall seem to someone to be a person of importance, distrust yourself.
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If thou rememberest that God standeth by to behold and visit all that thou doest whether in the body or in the soul, thou surely wilt not err in any prayer or deed and thou shalt have God to dwell with thee.
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Embrace reality. Think about what delights you - the small luxuries on which you depend, the people whom you cherish most. But remember that they have their own distinct character, which is quite a separate matter from how we happen to regard them.
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No living being is held by anything so strongly as by its own needs. Whatever therefore appears a hindrance to these, be it brother, or father, or child, or mistress, or friend, is hated, abhorred, execrated.
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I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived - and dying I will tend to later.
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Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things, and thence proceed to greater.
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You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be.
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All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven in his own way.
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Dare to look up to God and say, Deal with me in the future as Thou wilt I am of the same mind as Thou art I am Thine I refuse nothing that pleases Thee lead me where Thou wilt clothe me in any dress Thou choosest.
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We must be afraid of neither poverty nor exile nor imprisonment of fear itself only should we be afraid.
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I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment?
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As in walking it is your great care not to run your foot upon a nail, or to tread awry, and strain your leg so let it be in all the affairs of human life, not to hurt your mind or offend your judgment. And this rule, if observed carefully in all your deportment, will be a mighty security to you in your undertakings.
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To a reasonable creature, that alone is insupportable which is unreasonable but everything reasonable may be supported.
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To know that you do not know and to be willing to admit that you do not know without sheepishly apologizing is real strength and sets the stage for learning and progress in any endeavor.
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Freedom isn't the right or ability to do whatever you please. Freedom comes from understanding the limits of our own power and the inherent limits set in place by nature. By accepting life's limits and inevitabilities and working with them rather than fighting them, you become truly free.
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Never say of anything I have lost it, only say that I have given it back.
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What is a child? Ignorance. What is a child? Want of instruction.
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People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.
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Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours.
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